Week 2 Bad for the ACC

In two weeks this season, the ACC has had its chances to prove that it is a conference worthy of national attention this year, something it has sorely lacked since FSU and Miami fell from grace ten years ago. In week, one they fared adequately with the only losses being a very tight game between Virginia Tech and Boise State and a depleted North Carolina team putting up a good fight but coming up short against LSU.

Week 2, however, was a much different story. All four of the ACC's ranked teams - Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Florida State - had disappointing losses. FSU and Miami's losses were to highly ranked opponents Oklahoma and Ohio State, matchups which were viewed as big time chances to see what the ACC is made of this year. Miami put up a decent fight but Florida State gave up nearly 500 yards of offense and 3 turnovers en route to a 30 point loss.

The Hurricanes remained in the game for the most part against Ohio State but 4 interceptions from Jacory Harris were too much to overcome. Any hopes he - or Christian Ponder - had of being Heisman candidates this year all but went away after Saturday's performance. The other two highly regarded ACC quarterbacks - Tyrod Taylor and Joshua Nesbitt - lost as well, to far inferior opponents. Nesbitt can't be blamed for Georgia Tech's loss to Kansas. He helped the Jackets to over 400 yards of offense. The Jayhawks offense was totally different than the one that lost to an FCS school 6-3 in week one. They capitalized on every scoring opportunity and made some crucial stops of the potent triple option.

Virginia Tech was playing on slightly short rest and coming off a very emotional hard fought game on Monday, which is probably partly to blame for the lackluster performance against FCS school James Madison. Virginia Tech committed 2 fumbles and 1 interception to no turnovers by James Madison but they still had a chance at the end to pull away with a victory.

So, the ACC certainly is not ready for national prominence and this season looks to be another one with incredible parity within the league. I'm still looking forward to the intra-conference battles.