ACC delivers, right on schedule...

Ahh... another Thursday night in college football and all is right in the universe. Three things remain certain; death, taxes and turmoil in the ACC.

Last week brought us the N.C. State upset of Florida State, 24-20 and tonight we witnessed Boston College rolling Virginia Tech, 22-3 in front of raucous Alumni Stadium. I loved it. The hater in me, the one who still can't fathom being 3-2. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Florida State and Virginia Tech go down back-to-back weeks.

Throw in a new episode of The Office afterwards and we may be describing the perfect evening.

Give me a Gators loss this Saturday and this three day span will rival Christmas and New Year's.

When Miami is down, I enjoy seeing other teams lose almost as much as I dig seeing us win. College football misery loves company; especially when it's two hated rivals.

Tonight's game was on another level, though. Virginia Tech didn't just lose, they got "Sluggered" - as in what Louisville did to The U in September.

This wasn't a coming out party for Boston College as some elite team. They beat up an average Hokies team. The same way the Cardinals can't chest thump too hard for beating an average bunch of Canes.

Miami took it on the chin and has rebounded nicely. Not the blowouts fans have been clamoring for, but effective wins with positive strides made each game, each quarter, every down, every snap. The Canes appear to be putting things together, but will they do so in time for an October 28th trek to Georgia Tech?

We'll see. Right now, it's all about the Chokies. I'm still a little surprised at how this one went down.

That didn't look like a Frank Beamer-let team. Sloppy. Out of position. Not twisting ankles in piles. No focus.

I haven't seen Virginia Tech lose a game like that in a while. Even 27-7 against the Canes last year, they played harder. Marcus Vick killed them and Miami capitalized, but they had some fight in them. Against BC, Virginia Tech looked very average and beatable. How will they respond?

After Louisville, Miami was looking at one above average match up (Houston) and three cupcakes (North Carolina, FIU and Duke). Virginia Tech get a minor breather with Southern Miss, but then sees Clemson and Miami in back-to-back games. There isn't much time to rebound from tonight's debacle. Where will their season go.

Prior to joining the ACC, Virginia Tech spent the better part of this decade beefing up on nobodies en route to a 5-0 start and overbloated ranking. They'd lose a game they shouldn't, never rebounded and wound up going 6-5 on the year. A similar pattern in surrounding years.

For the sake of the ACC, I want Virginia Tech and Florida State to be pretty good - in theory.

When they're down, it makes life miserable when debating friends who pull for schools in other conferences. I lived in Gainesville for two years, so I get the SEC pukes calling me every week something big happens there.

Living in San Diego, it's all USC crap. Well, since 2003, at least.

Before that it was ratty old San Diego Aztecs sweatshirts and people telling me about the time they almost beat us (30-28, 1990) or when The Rock smacked up their mascot. Now all the faux-Trojans here pull the "Reggie Bush - Helix High" card and that's supposed to make them legit.

SEC, Pac 10, Big Ten, Big XII... you name it. They'll all bagging on Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech. All were supposed make the ACC the baddest conference and instead it's old schoolers like Clemson and Georgia Tech who are stealing the headlines.

Miami can steal them back, if they step up. There's no dominating team in the Coastal Division. Virginia Tech showed that tonight and Georgia Tech hasn't exactly stomped out their competition (like Clemson has), needing a goal line stand against Maryland last week to survive, 27-23.

24-7 against a horrendous Virginia team. Samford? 38-6. Troy? 35-20? "Good", but hardly "great".

Would they beat Miami tomorrow? Probably. Are they the 1995 Cornhuskers? Not quite.

The ACC maybe schitzo right now, but it's about to get fun. Check out how it all unfolds the next few weeks:

Miami - (10/21) - @ Duke, (10/28) - @Georgia Tech, (11/04) - Virginia Tech.
Georgia Tech - (10/21) - @Clemson, (10/28) - Miami, (11/04) - @ North Carolina State.
Virginia Tech - (10/21) - Southern Miss, (10/26) - Clemson, (11/04) - @Miami.
Clemson - (10/21) - Georgia Tech, (10/26) - @Virginia Tech, (11/04) - Maryland.

All four teams are going to see some serious challenges. This already-turned-on-its-ear conference is about to get flipped again. Call it a gut feeling. By November 4th this thing is gonna be wide open.

Stay focused and the Canes might be able win or survive a few games here. No one is dominating and everyone is choking somewhere. Miami is due for a good game and it's time to watch someone else fall apart. Who will be this year's Marcus Vick, making mistakes and handing the game to Miami's defense?

For the Canes' sake, they best hope it's one Reggie Ball.


.:Canes305:.