Fortuna Files: Strange days in ACC land
Fortuna Files: Strange days in ACC land
Down is up and up is down in the ACC (and the Big Ten). Plus, should we add another SEC job to the growing list of potential hot seats?
Seventeen thoughts as the ACC’s 17-team era is in full swing moving forward. (SMU starts conference play Saturday vs. FSU.)
1. Show of hands: At the outset of the season, who had Rutgers opening as a 2-point favorite over Washington, Indiana as a 9-point favorite over Maryland, Duke as a 2-point favorite over UNC, or Louisiana-Wake Forest as a pick ‘em? Those are two Big Ten games and two ACC games, each of which could influence their respective conference’s races for very different reasons.
2. No, neither Rutgers nor Indiana will not win the Big Ten. But they sure could ruin conference title plans for other contenders. For Rutgers, that could be on a Friday night late kick at USC on Oct. 25. For Indiana, that could be Nov. 9 against Michigan. It is more likely than not that the Scarlet Knights and Hoosiers will enter those respective games with at least one loss apiece. And yet, the fact we can even speak about the possibility of the alternative with either of these programs is a pretty strong indicator of just how far they have come.
3. As for those ACC teams? Well, we may as well start with the North Carolina team we didn’t mention above, NC State. (NCSU opens as 8-point favorites over Northern Illinois.) The Wolfpack have given up 110 total points to the two power conference teams they have faced this season, Tennessee and Clemson. Their normally reliable defense is struggling. Their star transfer QB, Grayson McCall, missed this past week’s game in Death Valley. Yes, the Pack are normally overhyped as a preseason darkhorse. (Guilty here.) And yes, they almost always start slow. But the way they have lost has been discouraging, and now Doeren’s old team, which beat Notre Dame this month, is coming to town. It’s time to get right. Fast.
4. UNC, which has had QB injuries and issues of its own, probably did not expect to find itself as an underdog to Duke in Manny Diaz’s first year running the Blue Devils. But win or lose, this is clearly a Tar Heels program with some issues. How does one give up 70 points to JMU — in its first year under a new coach, in its third year of FBS play — and 53 points in the first half? More concerning is that the Mack Brown retirement smoke has now reached the point that Brown had to clarify to ESPN some postgame locker room comments. Whatever Brown’s intentions, this topic will surely come up regularly throughout this season. Especially if the Heels don’t turn things around soon.