ACC Preview 2011 Coastal Division

by Amy Lamare

I bet you all thought this wasn’t going to happen, right?! Ha ha Psych! (As we used to say in high school.)

Well here I am with your ACC Coastal Division Preview for 2011. Here is the Atlantic Division Preview, where I had a longish intro about the state of the conference this year, and blah blah blah what it comes down to is:

Virginia Tech and Florida State

However, it occurred to me this morning that this Seminole team is largely an unknown quantity and will be until Week Three when the Oklahoma Sooners roll their pioneer wagon into Tallahassee. And this worries me, because I am pulling for Florida State. Yet Jimbo Fisher’s team has played Louisiana-Monroe and this week faces Charleston Southern.  Are they really going to be adequately prepared for the total attack the Sooners will bring? Landry Jones and Justin Blackmon are a scary combo to face. Will the Seminoles D be up to the task?

Anyway, enough Atlantic Division talk.

Let’s take a look at the Coastal division, from worst to first.

Note: I am not taking Week 1 into consideration.

DUKE

Do we need to discuss this? Duke is the perennial bottom feeder in the ACC.  The Blue Devils, like Indiana, are a basketball school. They’ve won 13 games in the past five seasons.  But, let me tell you a story about a similar school out west. They too were a perennial bottom feeder with academic requirements for admission that often ruled out the best athletes. But now look at Stanford.  All it took was a hot shot coach (Jim Harbaugh) and things fell into place.  Duke’s head coach, David Cutcliffe, believes the talent is getting better and they are building depth. Whether this means they will start winning is yet to be determined. Doubtful though. There are some cultures you just can’t beat and Duke’s losing one in football might be one of them.

That said, Blue Devil QB Sean Renfree is the only QB in the ACC that passed for 3,000 yards last year and is still in college t

his year.  Renfree has a pair of wideouts to pitch to in Conner Vernon and Donovan Varner (what? That’s confusing.)  Five experienced running backs return for the Blue Devils, led by Desmond Scott.

Last year, Duke’s D finished last in all categories but one. DT Charlie Hatcher and S Matt Daniels have the experience, but can they hold his defense together ?

I wouldn’t call Duke pitiful. But it’s not going to be an 8 or 9 win season, either, so…

Georgia Tech

Y’all, I literally have nothing to say about the Yellow Jackets. Sad, isn’t it?  The offense is going to be young. QB Tevin Washington had limited playing time last year. As for weapons, it looks bleak. RB Roddy Jones fills the A-back slot well, but at wideout they’ve got a couple of guys that have issues with holding onto the ball. (I’m looking at you Tyler Melton and Stephen Hill)

Defensively , all three linemen return but the entire secondary needs to be replaced.

Last season GA Tech lost five of their final six games, and if the D can’t pull it together, and the O can’t find a way to move the ball… well, it could be a grim season for Georgia Tech.

Virginia

The offense is a wreck. The QB and RB positions need to be replaced. The good news is the Cavaliers  have a pair of senior wide receivers to throw to in Matt Snyder and Kris Burd.

STOP. I have to take a moment here folks. One of my dearest and best friends was a proud UVA (and Delta Gamma) alumna. She passed away in April. She was an amazing woman and a beautiful soul and not a day goes by that I don’t think about her.  So, to say I have a soft spot for Virginia is an understatement.  And, for the love of all you hold dear, get screened for cancer! My friend was only 42.

OK shake it off.

Offensively, the Wahoos have two 4-star recruits (good for them!) that should give the Cavaliers both speed and a deep threat.  The bit of good news is that the O line has experience, which should give the QB time to settle in, eh?

Defensively, things look a bit better, Seven starters return for the second year of the 4-3 scheme that was installed in Charlottesville last year. If the D can bring more pressure and close the gaps – UVA could be in decent shape.

North Carolina

UNC  lost 14 players to graduation and the draft, not to mention longtime head coach Butch Davis. Their QB is a sophomore (Bryn Renner- dude, can we talk about that name, does it conjure a certain image for you? HA! Just googled him- spot on!) but he has a pair of WRs in Dwight Jones and Jheranie Boyd to make his job a bit easier.

Defensively the Tarheels do have All-American DE Quinton Coples, which is good especially considering the secondary is crazy inexperienced.

Yeah, that’s all I’ve got for UNC.

Miami

Well now, isn’t the situation down in Coral Gables interesting?  Without talking about last week, which almost doesn’t count since so many starters had to sit out NCAA suspensions… Jacory Harris didn’t have a great year last year, yet great things are expected of him.  There is talent on this Hurricane team and it will be up to brand new head coach Al Golden to keep them focused and on track. WRs LaRon Byrd and Travis Benjamin had a habit of making a lot of mistake last year, including wrong routes and dropped passes, but RB Lamar Miller will lead a crop promising running backs.

Defensively, the Canes lack critical depth. LB Sean Spence, DE Olivier Vernon and S Vaughn Telemaque return and are both experienced and talented. Beyond that – it is dicey. The Canes also have a very rough road schedule this year, playing at Virginia Tech, Florida State, South Florida and UNC.

Virginia Tech

Well, it’s going to come down to the Hokies and the Seminoles for the ACC title. And by the way, VA Tech head coach Frank Beamer should easily cruise his way into win number 200 for the Hokies this fall. The Hokies are breaking in a new starting QB (Logan Thomas) and RB (David Wilson) but this is a team that is pretty good at reloading. Sure Tyrod Taylor and his tandem backs (Williams and Evans) will be missed but the towering (6’6) Thomas can look to WR Jarrett Boykin for assistance.

Defensively, this is a young unit. The leadership of returning LB Bruce Taylor and CB Jayron Hosley should help carry and gel the defense a bit. Hosley led the NCAA in interceptions last year with nine – so that’s a big help to an inexperienced D. The plus side is that the Coastal division isn’t that tough, to be honest, and VA Tech should not have a problem running the table in their own division.

Of course a signature of Virginia Tech is special teams and this year should not be any exception. The Hokies have a great home schedule that includes Miami, Clemson and UNC, so, like I said it will be VA Tech vs. FSU for the ACC crown.

And that concludes the official Gridiron Goddess 2011 ACC Preview. Holy Crap, only one more to do.