No one enjoys piling on when things go wrong. But nonetheless, we’ve got to call out the ACC players who were counter-productive in helping their teams grab a victory this weekend. On the bright side for them, they can always get off this list next week. And for their sake, let’s hope they do.
ACC Goat of the Week, Week 7: Duke Blue Devils Defense
Amazing to see Duke’s defensive unit at the top of this week’s list of “goats,” especially since the group’s been such a large part of the Blue Devils’ resurgence this year. Yet, here we are. Up 20-0 early against Virginia Tech, the defense simply needed to play well enough to hold on for the win. And this doesn’t excuse the offense either. Rather, just paying deference to Virginia Tech’s defense, which managed to play lights-out from the second half on. But without the Blue Devils allowing long runs throughout the contest, and 525 total yards of offense (269 on the ground), perhaps things go a bit differently. To make matters worse, Tech came in struggling to generate any offense. And yet, 41 points later, they pull off a huge comeback en route to a season-rehabilitating season. If Duke hopes to get to six wins, the problems of last week must be corrected immediately.
Honorable Mention:
Ryan Nassib, QB/Syracuse (356 yards passing, 1 TD, 4 turnovers)
Stephen Morris, QB/Miami (155 passing yards, 2 INT)
Phillip Sims, QB/Virginia (139 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT)
Chase Rettig, QB/Boston College (122 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT)
Comment, share this post, follow/like the blog and follow @JohnCassillo on Twitter