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Virginia Tech will look rather cartoonish when they kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET at Boston College on ACC Network. Five days before Thanksgiving, the Hokies will wear cartoon turkeys on their helmets. Here's hoping for Frank Beamer's sake these turkeys meet better ends than their real life counterparts next week.
Photo credit: @VTFBEquipment
Florida State at Virginia Tech (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) On paper this should be a certain win for Florida State. Jimbo Fisher's team is the clear statistical leader in the ACC, ranking first or second within the league in 11 of the 17 official categories tracked by the NCAA. The Seminoles pace the ACC in total offense and total defense, scoring offense and scoring defense as well as passing efficiency and passing efficiency defense. The problem, however, is that certain wins have so often turned out not to be the case over the past decade for Florida State. According to Matt Hinton at SundayMorningQB.com, Florida State is 0-8 in ACC play while playing on the road as a ranked team against an unranked underdog since 2005. That number includes the Seminoles' only setback in 2012, a 17-16 setback at N.C. State on Oct. 6. (FSU is a two touchdown favorite tonight.) Since that loss, Fisher's squad has rebounded to win three straight; at 8-1 overall and 5-1 in conference play the Seminoles stand in first place of the ACC's Atlantic Division. That brings us to tonight as Florida State travels to Blacksburg to face a Virginia Tech team in the midst of a very un-Frank Beamer-like season. At 4-5 overall and 2-3 in league play, the five-time ACC Coastal champions are one game above the basement in the division. They come into tonight off a 30-12 loss to Miami last Thursday night, a game in which the Hokies were the team that endured a blocked punt, an 81-yard kickoff return, a missed field goal and a missed extra point. Tonight marks Florida State's first visit to Lane Stadium since 2007, a place where Virginia Tech has won its last seven games. Frank Beamer's team is 19-6 on Thursday nights and 25-3 in November since joining the ACC. Those sterling marks will be put to test against Florida State, the only squad that ranks among FBS's top eight in total offense and total defense. Louisiana - Monroe at Arkansas State (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU) The Sun Belt title could be decided tonight when two of the league's top offenses square off in Jonesboro, Ark. ULM leads the league at nearly 38 points per game, while Arkansas State checks in at No. 3 with 34 points per game. Gus Malzahn's team enters tonight with a four-game winning streak in which they've posted nearly 40 points per game. Red Wolves quarterback Ryan Aplin has heated up over the last month, connecting on 78-of-108 (72.2 percent) of passes for 1,023 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Arkansas State's stretch of good football hasn't just been limited to Aplin; the Red Wolves have rushed 157 times for 714 yards (4.5 ypc) for 13 touchdowns over their past four games while limiting opponents to 580 yards on 151 attempts (3.8 ypc) and three scores. Arkansas State has also secured a 10-to-3 turnover margin over that span. Todd Berry's team had its five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday, but still claims the Sun Belt's top scoring offense and turnover margin. Offensive coordinator Steve Farmer calls a balanced offense as ULM averages 40 passes per game to go with 36 rushes per game. That balance was thrown off in the 40-24 loss to Louisiana - Lafayette as the Warhawks only managed 74 rushing yards on 20 attempts. The Warhawks will need to run the ball better tonight without starting quarterback Kolton Browning, who suffered an injury early against ULL, in the lineup. Browning was working on a Sun Belt Player of the Year campaign, leading the league in total offense and accounting for 27 touchdowns. Senior Cody Wells steps in for Browning, bringing in a resume that includes 226 attempts for 1,499 yards and an 11-to-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio over his career. Both teams share a 4-1 conference record coming into tonight, sitting atop the league along with Middle Tennessee (also 4-1 in Sun Belt play). ULM already owns a victory over the Blue Raiders, while Arkansas State hosts MTSU in the season finale on Dec. 1. A win tonight will go a long way toward a first conference championship for Berry's program, while Malzahn's squad hopes to defend its 2011 league title. Noth Alabama at West Alabama (7:30 p.m. ET, GSC-TV) Bobby Wallace returns to Livingston, Ala., to face his old team and former offensive coordinator Will Hall, who is now at the helm of West Alabama. North Alabama (5-4) enters tonight ranked tenth in D2Football.com's Super Region 2 rankings, while West Alabama (7-3) checks in at No. 7. Hall's offense puts opposing defenses under a tremendous amount of pressure when things are clicking. The Tigers score nearly 44 points per game in their seven wins but just 16 points per game in their losses. Tonight marks Wallace's first trip back to West Alabama, where he led the program for five years. He is in his second stint at North Alabama, returning to the school where he coached from 1988-97 and won three NCAA Division II national titles. After winning four straight games in which they allowed a total of 28 points, the Lions have dropped three straight games and surrendered 100 points in the process. Five total games on the schedule tonight. We've highlighted what stands out about three of the matchups. Eastern Michigan at Ohio (6 p.m. ET, ESPNU) Simply put, this game is a mismatch for head coach Ron English and the Eagles. Eastern Michigan enters the game at 1-7 overall and 0-4 in the MAC, while Ohio stands at 7-1 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Bobcats suffered their first loss of the season last week against Miami (Ohio), 23-20. In the Eagles' win, quarterback Tyler Benz threw for 369 yards and five touchdowns. The Bobcats gave up 311 passing yards in last week's loss, so Eastern Michigan's best chance at pulling the upset seems to be through the air. Another place the Eagles can victimize Ohio is in the red zone. Frank Solich's bunch places 113th nationally in red zone defense, allowing opposing offenses to score 22 times in 24 trips. Meanwhile, Eastern Michigan has produced points in 14 times in 16 trips, including 10 touchdowns. Virginia Tech at Miami (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) Miami enters tonight in first place of the ACC Coastal Division despite carrying an overall three-game losing streak. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, has lost four of its past six games. Needless to say, both teams are desperate for a W. Miami has struggled mightily on defense, ranking 11th or lower in the ACC in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense and pass efficiency defense. For Frank Beamer's team there has been a large defensive dichotomy between wins in losses. In the Hokies' four wins they have held opponents to 11 points per game, but in their four losses that number jumps to 37 points per game. The Hokies are Thursday night veterans as tonight will be their 25th appearance on ESPN's Thursday Night Football. They have won 19 of their previous 24 appearances. Tonight is their first of two straight Thursday night games; Florida State heads to Blacksburg next week. Virginia Tech is also 25-2 in November as a member of the ACC. Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky (9:15 p.m. ET, ESPNU) For what it's worth, this game was unanimously named the best matchup of the night among the FootballScoop staff. Both groups carry 3-1 Sun Belt records; WKU is 6-2 overall and MTSU is 5-3. In Western Kentucky's lone Sun Belt loss, a 43-42 overtime setback to ULM, the Hilltoppers still managed to win the box score. Willie Taggart's team outgained the Warhawks by 64 yards, converted 11-of-17 third downs while holding ULM to 5-of-14, achieved seven more first downs, split the turnover battle and held nearly a 20-minute edge in time of possession. Rick Stockstill's team has posted 40 points per game in its five wins, but less than 14 points per game in its three defeats. That's potentially a telling statistic as Middle Tennessee braces to face the Sun Belt's best defense. WKU leads the conference in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense and pass efficiency defense. The Hilltoppers have also posted more sacks and tackles for loss than anyone in the Sun Belt.
It's hard to believe we're sitting at the halfway point of the 2012 college football season. We could have sworn Labor Day was just a week or two ago. Regardless, 50 percent of the season is already in the books. Here's what we found noteworthy from Week 7 of the college football slate. 1. Move over Ohio, is New Hampshire the new Cradle of Coaches? Probably not, but this stat (courtesy of Bruce Feldman) is astounding: Coaches from the state of New Hampshire, Chip Kelly and Dan Mullen, currently sit at 12-0 so far this season. Not bad for a state with zero FBS programs and just one FBS signee in 2012. 2. Speaking of the Buckeye State, Ohio stands as the top state in college football right now. Urban Meyer is 7-0 and ranked No. 7 in the AP poll in his first season at Ohio State. Butch Jones is 5-0 and ranked No. 21 at Cincinnati. Frank Solich has Ohio at 7-0 and No. 25 in the AP. In fact, the MAC East standings read Ohio, Kent State (5-1, 3-0), Bowling Green (4-3, 2-1) and Miami of Ohio (3-4, 2-1) while Toledo also sits atop the MAC West at 6-1 and 4-0 in the league. Ohio's seven FBS teams are a combined 38-14. Oh yeah, and Mount Union is also 5-0 and has allowed only seven points all season. 3. Arkansas seems to have put the wheels back on the wagon. One week after handling Auburn 24-7, the Razorbacks again looked like the top 10 team many expected to see in a 49-7 dismantling of Kentucky. No coach in the country could use a two-game winning streak more than the embattled John L. Smith. Yes, the wins came against teams that are a combined 0-8 in the SEC. But when you are 1-4, a two-game winning streak is a two-game winning streak. 4. Duke missed its first chance at bowl eligibility. David Cutcliffe's team jumped out in front of Virginia Tech 20-0 only to see the Hokies reel off the game's final 41 points. Duke's next three opponents (North Carolina, Clemson and Florida State) are a combined 16-4 until a date with 2-4 Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Nov. 17.
5. Congrats to James Franklin and Vanderbilt for finally cracking the code to Florida's fourth quarter defense. After not allowing a point in any fourth quarter this season, Vanderbilt managed to register 10 points in the final frame on Saturday night. It wasn't enough to pull the upset as Will Muschamp's team improved to 6-0 with a 31-17 win. After being outscored 72-22 in fourth quarters last season, the Gators hold a 54-10 fourth quarter edge this season. Florida also claims come-from-behind wins over Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU and Vanderbilt. Conditioning was clearly an emphasis of Muschamp in the off-season, and strength coach Jeff Dillman has definitely succeeded in transforming his team. 6. We're glad to see that Jerry Kill plans to coach again this Saturday. Kill suffered a seizure in his private locker room less than an hour after Minnesota's 21-13 loss to Northwestern on Saturday. Coach Kill was released from a Minneapolis hospital on Sunday morning. 7. Wisconsin has returned to form after a shaky start to the season. New offensive coordinator Matt Canada and interim offensive line coach Bart Miller have found their footing, and the Badgers' offense is back to its old ways. In a 38-14 win over Purdue, the Wisconsin offense rushed 57 times for 467 yards and four touchdowns. Starting tailback Montee Ball contributed 247 yards and three touchdowns on 29 rushes. After rushing for just 3.3 yards per carry over their first five games, Wisconsin is churning out 7.1 yards per attempt over its last two games. The Badgers are 5-2 and 2-1 in the Big Ten, a full two wins ahead of the pack of bowl-eligible teams in the Leaders Division. 8. Oregon will face an interesting challenge at Arizona State on Thursday night. In his first season in Tempe, Todd Graham has the Sun Devils sitting at 5-1 and ranked No. 24 in the Coaches Poll. Paul Randolph's defense is far and away the best unit in the Pac-12 on paper. Arizona State leads the league in total defense by nearly 60 yards per game over second place USC. The Sun Devils is giving up just 3.92 yards per play, nearly a full yard better than the rest of the conference. Randolph's unit also leads the conference in pass efficiency defense (4.86 yards per attempt), and its 3.23 yards per carry allowed is over a full yard better than Oregon's Pac-12 opposition to date. And then there's this: the last time Oregon traveled to the Grand Canyon State on a Thursday night was in 2007 when the No. 2 ranked Ducks lost to Arizona, 34-24. Chip Kelly and co. will hope history doesn't repeat itself this week. Scott and Zach from our staff will be at this game. More on this to come later in the week. 9. Notre Dame trailed for the first time this season on Saturday. The Fighting Irish actually trailed for a full quarter against Stanford after falling behind 10-3 at halftime; they didn't tie the game until a 24-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. Brian Kelly's team trailed again 13-10 before scoring the game's final 10 points in a 20-13 overtime win. Bob Diaco's defense still has not (officially) surrendered an offensive touchdown in four full games. 10. Midweek action begins this week in college football. Starting with Louisiana - Lafayette at North Texas tomorrow night, we will have Tuesday or Wednesday night football all but one week through Thanksgiving. |
