ACC Recap: Hokies sew up Coastal title

An injury to the starting quarterback can disrupt a team’s rhythm and destroy an offense’s production. But in the case of Virginia Tech this season, the Hokies’ opponents are the ones who have ended up getting hurt.

Quarterbacks Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor split duties again Saturday — as they have since Taylor returned from a sprained ankle that kept him out of two games earlier this season — to lead Virginia Tech past Virginia 33-21 for the ACC Coastal Division title. Glennon passed for 260 yards and a touchdown, and Taylor rushed for two touchdowns as the Hokies (10-2, 7-1) earned a date with Boston College (10-2, 6-2) in the ACC championship game in Jacksonville, Fla.

“It hasn’t been easy. You’re talking about Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami and then this crowd [Virginia],” Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said, referring to the last part of his team’s schedule. “That’s a tough stretch.”

Good thing Beamer’s team developed a balanced offense it could rely upon. Taylor replaced Glennon as the starting quarterback after Virginia Tech’s 48-7 loss at LSU in the second week of the season, but the Hokies continued to struggle offensively because Taylor is much better as a runner than a passer as a true freshman.

But when Taylor suffered a high ankle sprain against Duke, Glennon was able to return to the field. That turned out to be a stroke of good fortune for the Hokies and their talented group of senior wide receivers.

“I thought he did a terrific job,” Virginia coach Al Groh said of Glennon after watching him complete 13 of 19 passes without an interception against the Cavaliers. “To tell you the truth, when Tyrod got hurt and Sean got into the game [against Duke], I thought to myself, ‘This is going to be trouble.’ I have a high respect for the firepower of those four receivers. I thought, ‘This is going to open it up for those guys and put them back in the game.’

“Over the course of the last six or seven weeks, that’s been the case. They were the biggest factor in the game offensively.”

Eddie Royal, Josh Hyman, Josh Morgan and Justin Harper all run faster than 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and they all have at least 1,000 career receiving yards. The quartet burned the Cavaliers on Saturday, combining for 16 receptions for 296 yards and a touchdown.

Royal led the way with six catches for a career-high 147 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown grab 12 seconds before halftime that allowed the Hokies to take a 20-14 lead into the locker room, but he had plenty of help. Morgan (four catches for 75 yards), Hyman (four catches for 63 yards) and Harper (two catches for 11 yards) each made an impact as Virginia Tech outgained its rival 430-241.

Those receivers are part of a Virginia Tech senior class that has won at least 10 games in four consecutive seasons. With their offense clicking to the tune of 36 points per game over the last four contests, the Hokies believe they can keep adding to that total in the postseason.

“We’ve been waiting for this opportunity,” Royal said, “and now we’ve got it.”

Scoreboard
Virginia Tech 33, Virginia 21
The Hokies won their second Coastal Division title in three years, beating Virginia for the eighth time in the last nine tries and improving to 15-1 in ACC road games since they joined the conference in 2004.

Boston College 28, Miami 14
The Eagles snapped their 15-game losing streak against the Hurricanes, preventing Miami from qualifying for a bowl berth for the first time in 10 years.

Maryland 37, N.C. State 0
In a game that each team needed to win to become bowl-eligible, the Terrapins rushed for a season-high 249 yards and limited the Wolfpack to just 10 yards on the ground.

North Carolina 20, Duke 14, OT
The Blue Devils had more yardage (360-249), more time of possession (36:23-23:37) and one fewer turnover than UNC, but they missed three field goals en route to their 25th consecutive loss in conference play.

Clemson 23, South Carolina 21
The Tigers improved to 9-1 on their archrival’s home field since 1989, making a last-second field goal to send the Gamecocks to their fifth consecutive loss.

Florida 45, Florida State 12
The Gators scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions, converted 7 of 11 third-down plays and outgained the Seminoles 541-287 en route to their fourth consecutive victory in the series.

Georgia 31, Georgia Tech 17
Tailback Tashard Choice rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Bulldogs from beating the Yellow Jackets for the seventh consecutive season.

Wake Forest 31, Vanderbilt 17
The Demon Deacons, who led 31-3 before Vanderbilt scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 11 minutes, stopped their four-game losing streak in the series with the Commodores.

Offensive player of the week: Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College
As usual, Ryan was at his best when it mattered most. The 6-5, 220-pound senior completed 26 of 43 passes for 369 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in his team’s victory over Miami, tossing a go-ahead touchdown pass in the fourth quarter after the Hurricanes had rallied from a 14-0 deficit to tie the game at 14.

Boston College defeated Miami for the first time since Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary pass in 1984, and Ryan made sure Flutie was involved in this year’s edition of the game. He increased his season total of touchdown passes to 28 during his final home game, breaking the school of record of 27 that Flutie established during the ’84 season.

Defensive player of the week: Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest
Smith tallied five tackles, two interceptions and a sack in his team’s victory over Vanderbilt, pacing a Wake Forest defense that produced five turnovers. He set the tone for the day by picking off a pass on the game’s first play from scrimmage, and he later added his eighth interception of the season. The 5-9, 191-pound fourth-year junior increased his career total of interceptions to 14, moving into third place on Wake Forest’s all-time interceptions list, and he broke the single-season school record of seven interceptions set by A.J. Green in 1987.

“I had a feeling that if they kept throwing it my way, I could keep making plays,” said Smith, who has returned three interceptions for a touchdown this season. “I just try to have fun out there.”

Specialist of the week: Gary Cismesia, K, Florida State
The Seminoles couldn’t find their way to the end zone in their loss to in-state rival Florida, but that wasn’t Cismesia’s fault. Cismesia was 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts, all in the first half, and established an ACC record with his 60-yarder on the final play of the second quarter.

Cismesia, who also was successful on field-goal attempts of 21, 38 and 28 yards, broke Sebastian Janikowski’s previous school record of 56 yards and tied Janikowski’s school record for field goals in one season. The 5-11 senior has converted on 27 of his 33 attempts this season.

Honorable mention for this week goes to Virginia Tech senior Jud Dunlevy, who made all four of his field-goal attempts against Virginia. In addition to converting on kicks of 20, 37, 29 and 26 yards, Dunlevy produced touchbacks on three of his eight kickoffs.

Freshman of the week: Greg Little, RB, North Carolina
Little delivered a big-time performance in his second start of the season, lifting the Tar Heels past Duke in the annual battle for the Victory Bell. Little finished with 26 carries for 154 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-ending 25-yard scoring run on UNC’s first play of overtime.

“It’s definitely big,” Little said of the victory over Duke, which is located in his hometown of Durham, N.C. “I know if we would have lost to Duke, I would have had a lot of people on me about that. Not to degrade them because they’re a really good team and they’re a growing program, but I just know that I’m 5 minutes away from them, and it wouldn’t have been too sweet.”

Little rebounded from a costly penalty in the third quarter to enjoy the most productive day of his college career. Little was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct when he flexed his biceps after running over Duke safety Chris Davis near the UNC sideline, short-circuiting a promising drive when the game was tied 7-7. But after the Blue Devils took a 14-7 lead, Little carried seven times on a nine-play drive and scored the game-tying touchdown on a 7-yard run.

After Duke’s Nick Maggio missed a 40-yard field-goal try on the final play of regulation and Joe Surgan missed from 42 yards on the opening possession of overtime for the Blue Devils, Little took a handoff to the right side on UNC’s overtime series. He broke a tackle and outran Duke’s pursuit to the end zone, sending out UNC’s seniors with a victory in their final college game.

The foolish penalty, for which UNC coach Butch Davis chewed out Little on the sideline, provided Little all the fuel he needed.

“Two players or so later,” Davis said, “he came up and put his arm around me and said, ‘Coach, I promise you. If you give me the opportunity, I will help us win this game.’ He said, ‘I apologize. It won’t happen again.’

“Don’t you love it when guys can deliver on their promises? It was a great performance by him. He ran hard, he ran physical, and he ran tough.”

Game of the week: Clemson 23, South Carolina 21
Clemson kicker Mark Buchholz made a 35-yard field goal as time expired for the winning points, but the Tigers wouldn’t have been in that position if not for the heroics of junior wide receiver Aaron Kelly. Kelly, who made nine catches for 134 yards in the game, caught four passes for 70 yards on Clemson’s game-winning drive.

Success in the clutch was sweet redemption for Kelly, who dropped what might have been a game-winning 55-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of Clemson’s 20-17 loss to Boston College in the Atlantic Division title game the previous week.

“It’s definitely special,” said Kelly, who on Saturday surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season and broke Rod Gardner’s school record of receptions in a season. “It’s definitely special that we had the confidence to call my number at the end of the game, especially with what happened last week. It makes me feel good to have that type of confidence.”

The Tigers began their final drive on their own 22-yard line with 2:09 remaining, and Kelly got it started with a 26-yard reception. Three plays later, Kelly began a stretch in which he caught passes on three consecutive plays. He made a 14-yard catch on third and 18 from the Clemson 40, moved the chains with a 12-yard grab on fourth and 4 from the South Carolina 46 and then put the Tigers in field-goal range with an 18-yard catch to the South Carolina 16.

His teammates weren’t surprised.

“He’s made plays for us all year,” said quarterback Cullen Harper, who completed 28 of 38 passes for 229 yards. “He stepped up for us and made plays. To finish the season off right, that’s huge for us.”

Team of the week: Maryland
The Terrapins met N.C. State in a game that both teams needed to win to become bowl eligible, so the competition figured to be fierce between the most injury-ravaged squads in the conference. It wasn’t.

Maryland dominated the game, outgaining the Wolfpack 466-250 while enjoying nearly 16 more minutes of possession time. The Terrapins converted 8 of 16 third-down plays and allowed N.C. State to move the chains just once on 13 third-down opportunities, pitching their first shutout since they blanked The Citadel 61-0 on Sept. 3, 2004.

The goose egg on the scoreboard at Carter-Finley Stadium was an unusual sight for the Wolfpack. N.C. State had scored in 150 consecutive games — the longest active streak in the ACC and the fourth-longest streak in league history — since falling to Baylor 14-0 on Sept. 23, 1995. Maryland had not shut out an ACC opponent since posting a 52-0 win over Wake Forest on Oct. 19, 1996, and the Terrapins had not shut out a league foe on the road since they defeated the Demon Deacons 14-0 on Oct. 17, 1987.

Moving on
North Carolina coach Butch Davis agreed to a $291,000 raise and a one-year contract extension during the week, but not all of his colleagues in the ACC have such job security. Duke’s Ted Roof and Georgia Tech’s Chan Gailey were both fired Monday.

Gailey guided the Yellow Jackets to a bowl game in each of his six seasons at the helm, the only coach in school history to accomplish that feat, but his teams are 0-6 against archrival Georgia during that span. Roof, meanwhile, had a 6-45 record after his predecessor, Carl Franks, compiled a 7-45 mark before being fired.

Roof proclaimed during the preseason that Duke, which now has just one victory in its last 32 games, would be bowl eligible in 2008. But he won’t get a chance to make good on that promise.

“Would I like the opportunity to coach the football team next year? Absolutely,” Roof said after Duke’s season-ending loss at UNC. “But that’s for somebody else to decide. I coach football, and I lead young men.”

Gator bait
Florida State linebacker Geno Hayes had some strong words during the week leading into his team’s matchup with Florida. Hayes was quoted as saying that Gators sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow was “going down” and that the Seminoles planned to “shatter his dreams for the Heisman.”

In the end, all the Seminoles did was help Tebow strengthen his case for college football’s biggest award. Tebow completed 19 of 28 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and he also rushed 13 times for 89 yards and two touchdowns. Plus, he continued playing after suffering a broken bone in his right hand on a third-quarter touchdown run.

Count Florida State coach Bobby Bowden among those who were impressed as Tebow led the Gators to 541 yards of total offense.

“You know, he’s always been better than I thought,” Bowden said. “I saw him in high school, and I knew he was good. I’ve seen him in college, and he’s better than I thought. I knew before we played against him that he was good. But after we played against him, he was better than I thought. We could not get him down.

“If he doesn’t win the Heisman Trophy, it’s because of the sophomore thing. But if he doesn’t, he should win the next two years.”

Quick outs
*Virginia Tech tailback Branden Ore appears back at full speed after being hindered by an assortment of injuries this season. Ore carried 31 times for 147 yards against the Cavaliers in his first 100-yard rushing game of the season.

*Maryland senior right guard Andrew Crummey, who entered this season as an All-America candidate, returned to action against N.C. State. Crummey had not played since suffering a fractured fibula against Georgia Tech on Oct. 6.

*North Carolina sophomore wide receiver Hakeem Nicks caught six passes for 38 yards against Duke, establishing a school record for receptions in a season (74) but falling short in his bid to become the first 1,000-yard receiver in school history. “I just want to stay humble and work on whatever other records there are for me to break as far as being the first 1,000-yard receiver,” said Nicks, who finished the year with 958 receiving yards, 32 yards shy of Sam Aiken’s school record. “I came up a little short this year, but it’s still up for grabs next year. I’m not worried about it. We came out with a win for the seniors, and that was my main focus.”

*The Tar Heels were in danger of going an entire season without a 100-yard rusher for the first time since 1966 before Greg Little gained 154 yards on the ground against the Blue Devils. Duke, meanwhile, had not rushed for 100 yards as a team in any game this season before Saturday. The Blue Devils, who entered the game averaging an NCAA-worst 56.6 rushing yards per game, picked up 145 yards rushing against UNC.

*Florida State quarterback Drew Weatherford completed 20 of 37 passes for 188 yards in his team’s loss to Florida. Those numbers aren’t eye-popping, but this one is: Weatherford has not thrown an interception in his last 234 passes.

*Georgia Tech senior Travis Bell broke a school record against Georgia when he kicked the 61st field goal of his career. Bell also became the first Georgia Tech kicker to score 100 points in a season, topping the previous school record of 97 points that Luke Manget established in 2001.

*The Yellow Jackets were expecting to have a more efficient passing game this season with Taylor Bennett replacing Reggie Ball at quarterback, but that hasn’t happened. Ball completed 48.6 percent of his passes and compiled a 104.4 passer rating as a four-year starter from 2003-06. After connecting on just 9 of 27 throws Saturday against Georgia, Bennett will head into Georgia Tech’s bowl game with a completion rate of 49.0 percent and a rating of 104.7 this season.

*Wake Forest senior Kevin Marion returned the opening kickoff of the second half 81 yards to set up a touchdown that gave his team a 21-3 lead over Vanderbilt. Marion, who leads the ACC and ranks fourth nationally in kickoff-return average (31.3 yards), has four returns of at least 80 yards this season.

Del.icio.us | Digg it | Athlon Sports RSS Feeds