Another year of football is almost upon us. The first FBS game of the season is Aug. 24, Miami and Florida in Orlando. The first ACC-ACC matchup is Georgia Tech at Clemson on Aug. 29 and will be televised by the new ACC Network. Coastal Division favorite Virginia (what??) kicks off its season Aug. 31 at Pittsburgh. It is going to be really tough to believe that is true even after saying it over and over. After being picked last in the division for five straight seasons, the media picked UVa first this time at ACC media days. What is going on?? Clearly though, the reasoning behind the expectations in Charlottesville is legit, and I'll of course get more into that later.
As fresh college football and basketball seasons draw near, I want to take a moment and pat myself on the back and thank you all, my readers, too. From July 2018 through June 2019, I went 12 straight months with at least 2,000 pageviews, including two months, September 2018 and January 2019, with more than 3,000 views. The streak ended in July 2019. I was boosted last July by posting my UVa basketball season lookahead on June 30, so a lot of the attention that post got bled into July 2018. Obviously, I think the surprisingly good 2018 football season and the run to the basketball national championship helped those numbers, so let's see what 2019-20 brings.
I actually have no idea if those numbers are good for a one-man blog, but I don't think they are bad, and my readership has generally gone up, haphazardly and slowly, but steadily, since I began the blog in September 2010. I've never asked for money, never clogged up the blog with ads, and try to put out solid content for UVa fans in my free time that is based on facts and stats while also adding in my own commentary -- and hopefully fans of other ACC teams that might stop by and notice previews or recaps with their teams involved get something out of my posts. It is a lot of work, and I appreciate those of you who appreciate what I post.
OK, now that is out of the way, I'll focus more on what is actually going to transpire on the gridiron this fall. For those of you unfamiliar with my blog, I do ACC football team previews every year. I start with the Atlantic Division and go north to south, and then do the Coastal and do the same, except I save Virginia for last. This year, I'll probably change it up a little bit when I get to the Coastal, since Miami and Georgia Tech have games before anyone else, and I usually don't post their previews until the last few days of August, right before Virginia's. They will likely have to get moved up this year.
First up, though, we have the Orange, one of the surprises of the 2018 college football season, and the Eagles, who seemingly always end up with seven victories.
Syracuse
Last year: 10-3 (6-2 ACC) Best win: vs. No. 15 West Virginia, 34-18, in Camping World Bowl Worst loss: at Notre Dame, 36-3
Coach: Dino Babers (fourth year, 18-19 at Syracuse, 55-35 career)
Starters returning: 17 (6 offense, 8 defense, 3 specialists)
Offensive player to watch: QB Tommy DeVito. Eric Dungey, a true gamer, has graduated after putting his blood, sweat, and tears into helping turn around the program. But he was hurt a lot, and DeVito is a former four-star recruit who had pass attempts in seven games as a freshman. The 6-2 212-pounder completed 50.6 percent of his passes and recorded four touchdowns and three interceptions. He does not have the running ability of Dungey, but he possesses a big arm, and hype is
building that he can keep the Orange’s high-octane offense running smoothly.
Defensive player to watch: DE Alton Robinson. The senior was my player to watch in 2018 and is again after he piled up 17 tackles for losses, 10 sacks, and three forced fumbles a year ago. His teammate on the other side, Kendall Coleman, is back as well and also had 10 sacks.
Special teams player to watch: K Andre Szmyt. Only a sophomore, Szmyt entered the program as a walk-on true freshman and won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top kicker after nailing 30 of his 34 field goal attempts, including all three from 50+ yards.
Schedule: at Liberty, at Maryland, vs. Clemson, vs. Western Michigan, vs. Holy Cross, at N.C. State, vs. Pittsburgh, at Florida State, vs. Boston College, at Duke, at Louisville, vs. Wake Forest.
Win-loss prediction: 7-5 or 8-4. The schedule is manageable. There’s no Notre Dame here, and the big Clemson game is at home, where Syracuse toppled the Tigers two seasons ago. Cuse also almost won in Death Valley in 2018. Road games at FSU and N.C. State could be tricky, but Cuse can be considered second fiddle to Clemson in the Atlantic again. A question mark is how the offense performs with DeVito taking over as starter. Dungey was often running for his life, and DeVito is not a scrambler. But Babers’ offense averaged 40.2 points and 464 yards a season ago as it seemed to become consistent for the first time in his tenure (in addition to big plays), and the defense returns plenty of experience and a playmaker in safety Andre Cisco, who had seven picks.
Boston College
Last year: 7-5 (4-4 ACC), First Responders Bowl against Boise State was canceled because of weather Best win: at Virginia Tech, 31-21 Worst loss: at Purdue, 30-13
Coach: Steve Addazio (seventh year, 38-38 at BC, 51-49 career)
Starters returning: 11 (6 offense, 4 defense, 1 specialist)
Offensive player to watch: QB Anthony Brown. Junior running back AJ Dillon is a known quantity. He went into last season as a Heisman darkhorse and had another great season, though not quite as good as his breakout freshman campaign, but that’s because the Eagles generally lack other big-time weapons, and Dillon missed two games with an injury. He’s carried the ball 527 times in his two seasons, and BC can’t rely on just him. Brown must be better as a passer, and he has improved a little in each of his first two seasons. In 2017, he completed 51.9 percent of his passes for 1,367 yards, 11 TDs and nine interceptions. In 2018, he inched up to 55.4 percent, 2,121 yards, 20 scores, and nine picks. Those numbers need to be even better for an offense that lost four starters on the line.
Defensive player to watch: LB Isaiah McDuffie. For a defense that only returns four starters, McDuffie needs to be a bright spot. He was the second-leading tackler on last year’s team (85) and
also posted 5.5 tackles for losses and 3.5 sacks.
Special teams player to watch: P Grant Carlson. As a sophomore, Carlson averaged 40.2 yards per punt and put 25 inside the 20-yard line.
Schedule: vs. Virginia Tech, vs. Richmond, vs. Kansas, at Rutgers, vs. Wake Forest, at Louisville, vs. N.C. State, at Clemson, at Syracuse, vs. Florida State, at Notre Dame, at Pittsburgh.
Win-loss prediction: 5-7 or 6-6. The Eagles haven't been spectacular under Addazio, but remarkably consistent, winning seven games in four of his five seasons, with three of those four campaigns finishing at 7-6. The other year, 2015, BC went 3-9. Last year's bowl game against Boise State was canceled, but I would've put my money on the Eagles losing and finishing ... 7-6. Last year held great promise with the Eagles 7-2, ranked No. 17, and facing Clemson at home, but they lost their last three regular-season games. Taking a step this season could be difficult with so many starters lost from a defense that was decent but not great, but had NFL-caliber players in CB Hamp Cheevers and DEs Zach Allen and Wyatt Ray. Looking for more, Addazio demoted former UVa defensive coordinator Jim Reid from Eagles DC to DEs coach and promoted LBs coach Bill Sheridan to DC. On the other side of the ball, Brown has been slowly getting better but really needs to take a big step for the Eagles to be more dynamic and give the running game, and specifically Dillon, a break. This unit will also be under new guidance from OC Mike Bajakian, who was most recently the QBs coach for the Buccaneers. Former BC OC Scot Loeffler became head coach at Bowling Green. If BC hopes to make a move in the division and get over the seven-win mark, it needs to get off to a good start. The second half of the schedule looks tough.
As fresh college football and basketball seasons draw near, I want to take a moment and pat myself on the back and thank you all, my readers, too. From July 2018 through June 2019, I went 12 straight months with at least 2,000 pageviews, including two months, September 2018 and January 2019, with more than 3,000 views. The streak ended in July 2019. I was boosted last July by posting my UVa basketball season lookahead on June 30, so a lot of the attention that post got bled into July 2018. Obviously, I think the surprisingly good 2018 football season and the run to the basketball national championship helped those numbers, so let's see what 2019-20 brings.
I actually have no idea if those numbers are good for a one-man blog, but I don't think they are bad, and my readership has generally gone up, haphazardly and slowly, but steadily, since I began the blog in September 2010. I've never asked for money, never clogged up the blog with ads, and try to put out solid content for UVa fans in my free time that is based on facts and stats while also adding in my own commentary -- and hopefully fans of other ACC teams that might stop by and notice previews or recaps with their teams involved get something out of my posts. It is a lot of work, and I appreciate those of you who appreciate what I post.
OK, now that is out of the way, I'll focus more on what is actually going to transpire on the gridiron this fall. For those of you unfamiliar with my blog, I do ACC football team previews every year. I start with the Atlantic Division and go north to south, and then do the Coastal and do the same, except I save Virginia for last. This year, I'll probably change it up a little bit when I get to the Coastal, since Miami and Georgia Tech have games before anyone else, and I usually don't post their previews until the last few days of August, right before Virginia's. They will likely have to get moved up this year.
First up, though, we have the Orange, one of the surprises of the 2018 college football season, and the Eagles, who seemingly always end up with seven victories.
Syracuse
Last year: 10-3 (6-2 ACC) Best win: vs. No. 15 West Virginia, 34-18, in Camping World Bowl Worst loss: at Notre Dame, 36-3
Coach: Dino Babers (fourth year, 18-19 at Syracuse, 55-35 career)
Starters returning: 17 (6 offense, 8 defense, 3 specialists)
Offensive player to watch: QB Tommy DeVito. Eric Dungey, a true gamer, has graduated after putting his blood, sweat, and tears into helping turn around the program. But he was hurt a lot, and DeVito is a former four-star recruit who had pass attempts in seven games as a freshman. The 6-2 212-pounder completed 50.6 percent of his passes and recorded four touchdowns and three interceptions. He does not have the running ability of Dungey, but he possesses a big arm, and hype is
Defensive player to watch: DE Alton Robinson. The senior was my player to watch in 2018 and is again after he piled up 17 tackles for losses, 10 sacks, and three forced fumbles a year ago. His teammate on the other side, Kendall Coleman, is back as well and also had 10 sacks.
Special teams player to watch: K Andre Szmyt. Only a sophomore, Szmyt entered the program as a walk-on true freshman and won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top kicker after nailing 30 of his 34 field goal attempts, including all three from 50+ yards.
Schedule: at Liberty, at Maryland, vs. Clemson, vs. Western Michigan, vs. Holy Cross, at N.C. State, vs. Pittsburgh, at Florida State, vs. Boston College, at Duke, at Louisville, vs. Wake Forest.
Win-loss prediction: 7-5 or 8-4. The schedule is manageable. There’s no Notre Dame here, and the big Clemson game is at home, where Syracuse toppled the Tigers two seasons ago. Cuse also almost won in Death Valley in 2018. Road games at FSU and N.C. State could be tricky, but Cuse can be considered second fiddle to Clemson in the Atlantic again. A question mark is how the offense performs with DeVito taking over as starter. Dungey was often running for his life, and DeVito is not a scrambler. But Babers’ offense averaged 40.2 points and 464 yards a season ago as it seemed to become consistent for the first time in his tenure (in addition to big plays), and the defense returns plenty of experience and a playmaker in safety Andre Cisco, who had seven picks.
Boston College
Last year: 7-5 (4-4 ACC), First Responders Bowl against Boise State was canceled because of weather Best win: at Virginia Tech, 31-21 Worst loss: at Purdue, 30-13
Coach: Steve Addazio (seventh year, 38-38 at BC, 51-49 career)
Starters returning: 11 (6 offense, 4 defense, 1 specialist)
Offensive player to watch: QB Anthony Brown. Junior running back AJ Dillon is a known quantity. He went into last season as a Heisman darkhorse and had another great season, though not quite as good as his breakout freshman campaign, but that’s because the Eagles generally lack other big-time weapons, and Dillon missed two games with an injury. He’s carried the ball 527 times in his two seasons, and BC can’t rely on just him. Brown must be better as a passer, and he has improved a little in each of his first two seasons. In 2017, he completed 51.9 percent of his passes for 1,367 yards, 11 TDs and nine interceptions. In 2018, he inched up to 55.4 percent, 2,121 yards, 20 scores, and nine picks. Those numbers need to be even better for an offense that lost four starters on the line.
Defensive player to watch: LB Isaiah McDuffie. For a defense that only returns four starters, McDuffie needs to be a bright spot. He was the second-leading tackler on last year’s team (85) and
Special teams player to watch: P Grant Carlson. As a sophomore, Carlson averaged 40.2 yards per punt and put 25 inside the 20-yard line.
Schedule: vs. Virginia Tech, vs. Richmond, vs. Kansas, at Rutgers, vs. Wake Forest, at Louisville, vs. N.C. State, at Clemson, at Syracuse, vs. Florida State, at Notre Dame, at Pittsburgh.
Win-loss prediction: 5-7 or 6-6. The Eagles haven't been spectacular under Addazio, but remarkably consistent, winning seven games in four of his five seasons, with three of those four campaigns finishing at 7-6. The other year, 2015, BC went 3-9. Last year's bowl game against Boise State was canceled, but I would've put my money on the Eagles losing and finishing ... 7-6. Last year held great promise with the Eagles 7-2, ranked No. 17, and facing Clemson at home, but they lost their last three regular-season games. Taking a step this season could be difficult with so many starters lost from a defense that was decent but not great, but had NFL-caliber players in CB Hamp Cheevers and DEs Zach Allen and Wyatt Ray. Looking for more, Addazio demoted former UVa defensive coordinator Jim Reid from Eagles DC to DEs coach and promoted LBs coach Bill Sheridan to DC. On the other side of the ball, Brown has been slowly getting better but really needs to take a big step for the Eagles to be more dynamic and give the running game, and specifically Dillon, a break. This unit will also be under new guidance from OC Mike Bajakian, who was most recently the QBs coach for the Buccaneers. Former BC OC Scot Loeffler became head coach at Bowling Green. If BC hopes to make a move in the division and get over the seven-win mark, it needs to get off to a good start. The second half of the schedule looks tough.
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