1. There is no question as to whether the ACC is one of the toughest conferences this year as far as its constituents are concerned.  Currently, 4 teams are bowl eligible while 5 are within one game of reaching eligibility.  Is it mediocrity, or is the ACC on its way to being the powerhouse that expansion was supposed to bring?

It’s not mediocrity, it’s not great, but there are a number of positive signs indicating that the league will get much better before it gets any worse. The parity is..ahem… unparalleled among other conferences. UNC and Duke are caring about a sport other than basketball in November. FSU has rebounded from some slow years. Virginia has largely turned their season around, even with the heartbreaking loss to Miami. PJ has rejuvenated GT. VT is having a fairly solid season considering their QB woes. Maryland is running pretty steady. Miami’s youngsters are living up to high expectations. There’s a huge upside here.

2. With a few notable exceptions, quarterback play in the ACC has been poor across the past couple of seasons, contributing at least in some part to the lack of offensive potency in the conference.  Where does the ACC stand today in terms of quarterback play, and do you think our offenses are improving?

Clemson’s QB play and offensive execution have been poor. Duke, UNC, and GT are some schools just off the top of my head who have seen a large increase in offensive efficiency and QB performance. FSU has had some success with their multiple QBs. UVA has struggled at times after booting Lalich, Crane at BC has had trouble, so the league’s QBs are a mixed bag for sure.

3. There are 5 out-of-conference games left for the ACC - BC/Notre Dame, Wake Forest/Vandy, Clemson/USC, GT/Georgia, and FSU/Florida. We went 3-2 in those games last year, and then 2-5 in bowl play (with the only wins coming over Michigan State and UConn). How do you feel we as a conference will compete against the rest of the NCAA in the final weeks of the season, and are you confident in our bowl play?

I think BC and Wake are wins. The other three are likely losses for our conference. Our bowl play will probably be good across the board, with the notable exception of the BCS tie-in. While the league is highly competitive internally, the top of our league just doesn’t match up with the elite from other conferences who are sure to be matchups in the BCS game.

4. As far as Tech fans are concerned, ACC officiating is absolutely atrocious, both in conference (helmet-to-helmet, lack of holding calls) and out of conference. Are you in agreement? List any specific, obvious grievances, or use this opportunity to verbally assault ACC refs.

This question is pretty lame. Everybody bitches about officiating, every conference’s fans think their officials are the worst, it’s not a new or remotely interesting argument. You (GT blogger) complain about helmet-to-helmet calls when this year that is a point of emphasis for league officials. Of course they’re going to fucking call that. Lack of holding calls? If officials called holding every time there was holding there’d be a flag every single play. It’s called in the most egregious cases, with few notable exceptions. This has been the case for a while on the holding front, eventually you’ll get the gist and quit whining. Clemson seemingly got jobbed on a holding call this year, too. It happens, we’ve moved on. The haranguing of guys who already are shit on by commentators and reporters and have zero venues from which to respond to such criticism without losing their jobs is something we’re not going to engage in. And we never have, nor will we ever, care what GT fans are concerned about. GOOD DAY SIR.

5. Every college football fan has a favorite player not on their team.  Who is that player for you in the ACC?

While NoleCC is a big fan of Riley Skinner’s modeling work, I think Florida State safety Myron Rolle is a guy worthy of our respect and admiration. He’s the kind of student-athlete that has been largely missing from FSU in recent years. Per SI:

Rolle, a preseason All-ACC and All-America candidate, is an astounding anomaly in a sport synonymous with low graduation rates and dumbed-down majors. He’s a 3.75 pre-med student who will finish his undergraduate degree in just two-and-a-half years; a National Leadership Honor Society inductee; the recipient of a $4,000 research grant for his work studying human mesenchymal stem cells and the facilitator of a health and living program at a charter school run by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Very, very impressive.

These answers are admittedly half-assed, but Chili has been sick and/or busy lately and Willy Mac has been AWOL, so we’re doing this just to get our contribution in to the Roundtable and hopefully do a bit better for the next one. Here’s a link to Tar Heel Mania’s responses. VT blog CollgeGameBalls’ responses. Legacy x4, From Old Virginia, BC Interruption, Gobbler Country.

1. Okay, first things first: could someone please explain what the hell just happened this past Saturday?

Well…. didn’t catch too many other games in the league. Clemson had a hell of a TUMULTUOUS week in which preparation for Saturday’s game took a backseat to a coaching change for a while. The team played better in some areas, but the offensive line still is pretty bad and that was reflected in the lack of running  game (plus, Spiller was out) and the beating our QBs took, which led to some INTs. Penalties also screwed us, and the chorus of boos in the stadium evidenced the fact that the average Clemson fan still does not grasp the fact that you can be blocked into the kicker and flagged for it, as long as you weren’t illegally blocked into the kicker, and that a ref is going to flag it no matter how bad the kicker was acting. Coach Swinney and Billy Napier called plays a bit better than did Rob Spence, but you aren’t going to change up the entire offensive system in 96 hours.  We now can be pretty sure the Tigers aren’t going to make a bowl this year, which is just fucking pathetic, regardless of how poor our line play is.

2. Good Maryland, Bad Maryland, we.ve seen a fair share of both in 2008. Good Maryland may be the best team in the ACC, while Bad Maryland could probably lose by 20 to anyone left on their schedule. Which Maryland do we see for the rest of the season and where do you expect the Terps to finish?

Well, personally, I won’t see any Maryland for the rest of the season. I guess they’ll continue to vacillate between dangerous and a danger to themselves, but overall have a respectable season and go to a decent bowl game.

3. Injuries are a part of college football, but they seem to have ravaged ACC offenses this year. Wake Forest has been without Sam Swank, Clemson is without C.J. Spiller, UNC is without T.J. Yates and Brandon Tate, Virginia Tech is without Kenny Lewis Jr., and NC State is without?just about everybody. Which team misses their fallen star(s) most and why?

I think that UNC will suffer the most. The loss of two key components of their offense in Yates and Tate will be a blow to a very special season that was in the makings for the Tarheels. However there is still some good talent in Chapel Hill and they could make it into the Championship Game.

Clemson, without a doubt, misses their linemen. The line was not terribly strong coming into this season, but nobody could’ve predicted that we’d see five different lineups in seven games and four different linemen missing playing time with injuries. Without a line making holes, Davis and Spiller have had reduced production. Without good blocking up front, our QBs have gotten injured and made hurried passes that derail our air attack. With an unproductive offense, our comparitively stout defense has had to be on the field way too much. A healthy offensive line wouldn’t have made this season as bountiful as some thought, but it certainly would’ve made it less miserable than it is now.

4. Last one: the pretty much unanimous division champs were Virginia Tech and Wake Forest last week. Given all the craziness that just happened, give us your updated ACC Championship scenario.

Florida State and either Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech.

What we have here a Q&A with the other two notable Clemson blogs. The Sporting Gnomes and TBIG will join us on this one. As of now, the Gnomes submitted a research thesis that might be considered by many to be the largest post that site has ever seen. TBIG packed it’s bags up and left last Tuesday, we haven’t see or heard from them since. They didn’t even leave us a note.

1) At this point, if you were coaching who do you start as your top three receivers? Who would you start as quarterback? Linebackers?

You definitely start Aaron Kelly, Rendrick Taylor, and Tyler Grisham. We say this because the majority of our plays will be runs and receivers blocking is on of the key components of the running game. Aaron and Tyler have some good hands on them and neither are slow. Don’t start Jacoby because he’s still a little too small for us. True he’s a burner, but he’s still a lil’ guy. You do bring him in on four/five wide pass sets. Honestly, we do start Cullen Harper simply because he’s been in the system longer, he’s still a talented QB, and you don’t want to damage Korn’s psyche via baptism by fire. It’d be nice to ease him into real game situations. He’s never seen college game speed in a real game. Linebacker wise, you’d have to start Tramaine Billie even though he has a hairline fracture in one of his hands. You also have to start Antonio Clay, simply because he’s got the best head on his shoulders and can be a good leader on the field. Lastly, you’ve got to get Nick Watkins on the field. This is definitely his breakout year.

2) Game-by-game season outlook… GO.

Check out this link for our answers to that.

2a) What’s our one dumb loss of the year?

If it happens again this year, it will be against Central Michigan. They are not a bad team and we could easily overlook them. They play a tough schedule including West Virginia and will not be intimidated by playing at a much larger venue. If some of our slump-era games last year are any indication, the environment at DV for lesser games can be kinda lame at times, the fans will have to bring their A-game for this one, too.

2b) What’s the one game where we step up as the underdog?

Willy Mac: Probably Virginia Tech. Hopefully we are both ranked by that point and Gameday will come back. Clemson could definitely step up here. Just remember, we never had a chance in hell against FSU in 2003. You have to keep hope. If it’s a night game, chances are good for the upset. But don’t buy completely into this. VT is a complete team and they could also drop 40 on us at home.
Chili: While I don’t think Gameday will be in Clemson for VT, it will still be that sort of an electric environment. I’ve seen Tiger teams rise to the occasion and falter miserably in this sort of a heavily-hyped night game, so historically these things could go either way. I think VT gets the best of us, but if we’re going to win as a ‘dog, it’ll be this one. We could be underdogs at Maryland and pull that one out if VT doesn’t go our way.

3) Sub Korn, who’s your breakout player of the year? Who is a flop for you?

The best candidates for breakout players would be Phil Merling and Michael Hamlin. Merling, if he keeps working hard, might be able to fill the shoes that Gaines Adams left behind. That’s a big hole to fill but Merling is that friggin talented to be able to make the key sacks and big plays. He’s also as exciting to watch as Charles Bennett and Gaines were. Hamlin also has a great chance to have a breakout year as well. He’s got experience, strength, and the skill set to be a stellar safety this year. He could potentially emerge as the best player on our defense this year. As for the flops, we don’t know that there will be any player who absolutely bombs. You have to be disappointed that Antonio Clay is struggling, but we wouldn’t categorize him as a flop by any means. He’s been through a lot and we hope he rebounds strong this season.

4) What will be the most overused ineffective play this season? Think 2005-2006 Bubble Screen, people.

While we’re well aware that the bubble screen was used to set up other packages, it was still futile 90% of the time and just looked silly when we were trying to gain 15 yards on a third down. I would just vote again for the ol’ bubble screen. I just don’t think Spence is done with it.

5) Who’s your pick to win the ACC Atlantic division? The Coastal division? Who walks away with that big ugly trophy?

The Atlantic division will probably come down to FSU or Maryland, with the Tigers having an outside shot. Coastal is either GT or VT, and we think odds are Virginia Tech takes the trophy home.

6) Who would you like to see us blowout this year (GT 2003, USC 2003, GT 2006, etc). Don’t initially vote USC, unless you REALLY want to blow them out.

Chili: I’d like to blow out VT and pay them back for giving us an American History X style curbing last year. I’d secondly like to demolish Maryland because, well, they’re Maryland.

Willy Mac: I would fully like to embarrass those Jesuit “Sweet Carolina” wastes of life otherwise known as Boston College. I just hate BC, and if you went up to Boston for the game last year, you’d know why. Their fans are just drunk assholes who try to fight anyone wearing opposing colors. Polar opposite of a Clemson game day experience and I feel that they don’t deserve such a good team.

7) What’s our toughest game this year? What’s our easiest game?

Toughest game with either be Virginia Tech at home or South Carolina in Willy Brice. Virginia Tech because of their defensive skill and talented coaching staff. They absolutely shut us down this year and perfectly analyzed our strengths and weaknesses to exploit lack of QB ability. We also say South Carolina depending on their momentum. Last year they were a couple breaks away from a high-water mark kind of season. If they catch a couple breaks this year the hype will build and culminate in the November match up against the Tigers. Not only will both teams’ seasons be riding on the game, but Gamecock fans — ever eager to buy into the Spurrier mythos — will circle this game if they win it as proof of the OBC’s ownership of the Tigers and they’re certainly delusional enough to think it would be the start of a winning streak to even up the series between the two teams.

8) Will this be Tommy’s last season? Why or why not?

No, this won’t be Tommy’s last season. Even if we finish out at 6-6, the worst realistic scenario, we think he sticks around for another year. Odds are we win 7 or 8, plenty for Bowden to stick around. He’s too much of a yes man to the AD and has burrowed himself and his job security deep in the bosom of the front office.

4 DAYS TILL KICKOFF