North Carolina coach Mac Brown isn’t probably seeing much sunshine, and in his mind, he might likely be wondering why he’s back in Carolina.
OK, I tried my darndest to bring some James Taylor lyrics into this opening paragraph.
But Brown’s Tar Heels did get hit from behind last night in Blacksburg as Virginia Tech gave UNC a crushing opening game loss, 17-10.
The night started as usual with “Enter Sandman” at Lane Stadium. It ended with Sam Howell’s premature exit from the Heisman Trophy race. Tech dominated UNC all night from the line of scrimmage and frazzled Howell throughout the contest.
The Tar Heels are far from the first team to see its season crushed early, but last evening’s debacle may have dealt a severe blow to the ACC in its reach to establish a more football relevance outside of Clemson.
Tobacco Road didn’t help Friday evening.
UNC can’t take all the blame for the hit to the ACC, as Duke collapsed late in its loss to the 49ers 31-28, and not those 49ers, but rather the Charlotte 49ers, who have only played football for nine years, fielding its initial team when Duke played in the ACC championship game, posting its lone 10-win season.
Nearly a decade later Duke football is, well, Duke football.
Wake Forest: OK they destroyed ODU
Wake Forest did what they were supposed to do, marching to a 42-10 win over ODU, an also-ran team from Conference USA. The biggest news coming out of Truist Field, home of the Deacons, was the unveiling of a new craft beer, Deacon Brew, $5 for a college-party style cup. Booze or not, a gathering of just 25,000 bothered to come out.
On tap Saturday: Two made-for TV matchups
Clemson gets the post-Trevor Lawrence era started facing the Georgia Bulldogs from the SEC. The game is being played in Charlotte, and the ACC is hoping the Tigers can clean up after the mess the Blue Devils left across town Friday evening.
It’s a high-profile game between No. 5 Georgia and No. 3 Clemson. It’s a prime-time Saturday night showdown, and it follows and afternoon matchup between No. 1 Alabama and No. 14 Miami
You know the brass in Greensboro is hoping for at least a split from those two marquee matchups.
The rest of Saturday’s league’s games
Colgate at Boston College, UMass at Pitt, Northern Illinois at Georgia Tech, and under the lights at Scott Stadium Virginia host in-state foe William and Mary.
Where’s those Alliance games when you need them?
Looks like WVU dodged a bullet
Not that the story had any legs, but there were some rumblings about West Virginia moving from the on-life-support Big 12 to the ACC. Well, not so fast. With the recent developments of the Big 12 adding BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston, the Big 12 solidifies its standing as a member of the Power 5.
Any of those four schools would be on even-keel with every team in the ACC not named Clemson.
Can’t wait for that WVU-BYU blood bath.
Story by Scott German
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