Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Headlines: Blaudschun Changing His Tune?

Brian: I know one game a season doesn’t make, but Blaudschun’s Labor Day column asks the question as to whether the Eagles can contend for a third straight ACC Atlantic Division title this season?
"The point is this: BC has the right ingredients to continue its bowl run for another season. Spaziani knows what he is doing and he knows how to do it. The offensive line is solid, the running backs are solid, the wide receivers are solid, the defense just needs experience and the quarterbacks can manage -- if not win -- games on their own.

And the ACC looks like it has for the last few years -- a basketball conference that has some fun in the fall before concentrating on contending for national hoops championships."

With Virginia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest and Maryland falling flat against BCS conference competition this weekend, and Duke and Virginia dropping to I-AA programs, can the Eagles compete for the ACC title this season? Or is Blaudschun simply overstating the importance of the ACC's week 1 results?

Jeff: Blaudschun is calling it the way we have all offseason. We predicted the Eagles would contend for the division once again but maybe fall a little short while others in the media were predicting either 0-8 or 2-6 seasons in ACC play for the Eagles. Even though it was a very weak opponent that the Eagles beat up on, everyone in sports media has to up their expectations for BC after the 54-0 win on Saturday.

As for the rest of the ACC, Blaudschun is completing over-reacting to a small sample of games. Duke and Virginia are in the Coastal Division and were never expected to do much this season. Meanwhile, Wake Forest and NC State lost close games that were supposed to be close. Finally, Virginia Tech lost to Alabama, but proved that they could beat them on any given Saturday (which was a sharp contrast to what Clemson showed in the same stadium a year ago).

With Florida State getting off to a 0-1 start in ACC play, there is no doubt that the Eagles will be in the mix for another trip to Tampa going into November. Whether they will get some luck as far as injuries go and whether some young players will develop throughout the season enabling them to actually head to Tampa, however, remains to be seen.

1 comment:

Big Jack Krack said...

Hey Jeff and Brian - great job and keep it up, please. I really enjoy your column.

Go BC - we've got a chance this year and let's invade Charlotte for sure next year for the ACCCG!