This Week in ACC Football |
NOTING THE ACC
Tech-Navy game to feature two of the nation's youngest offensive coordinators Georgia Tech's game at Navy Saturday will match two of the nation's youngest offensive coordinators. Georgia Tech's Bill O'Brien, at 31, is the youngest coordinator (offensive or defensive) in the ACC and the third youngest among Division I-A coordinators while his Navy counterpart Mark Hudspeth is 32 years old. Division I-A Offensive Coordinators Name (School) Age Bill Lazor (Buffalo, offensive) 29 Rob Boras (UNLV, offensive) 30 Bill O'Brien (Georgia Tech, offensive) 31 Mark Hudspeth (Navy, offensive) 32 Rob Chudzinski (Miami, offensive) 33 Butch Jones (C. Michigan, offensive) 33 Bill Musgrave (Virginia, offensive) 33 Florida State has nation's longest home field win streak Florida State has won 35 straight games in Doak Campbell Stadium - currently the nation's longest current home field winning streak. The Seminoles are also unbeaten in their last 52 home games dating back to a 17-16 loss to Miami in 1991. Overall, Bobby Bowden is 128-16-2 in Doak Campbell. Home Field Winning Streaks 1. Florida State 35 games 2. Oregon 21 games 3. Fresno State 16 games 4. Oklahoma 14 games Boise State 14 games 5. Virginia Tech 13 games Nebraska 13 games GAME PREVIEWS Thursday, September 6 Indiana (0-0) at NC State (0-0, 0-0) ESPN, 7:30 p.m. Carter-Finley Stadium (51,500) THE GAME: NC State's Wolfpack bring up the curtain on their 109th season hosting Big Ten foe Indiana in a nationally-televised affair on ESPN ... NC State has won the three previous games in the series, including last year's wild 41-38 come-from-behind victory in Bloomington ... the Pack has also won in Bloomington, 27-0, in 1975 and 24-21 in Raleigh in 1976. LAST YEAR: Philip Rivers tossed three of his five TD passes in the fourth quarter, including a 47-yarder to WR Koren Robinson with 54 seconds left to play as NC State rallied from a 18-point deficit to post a 41-38 win at Indiana. THE COACHES: Cam Cameron is 13-31 starting his fifth season at Indiana ... Chuck Amato is 8-4 starting his second year at the helm of the Wolfpack. GAME NOTES: Indiana, 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the Big Ten a year ago, averaged 30.6 points per game, the second highest per game in school history ... Indiana's Antwaan Randle El paced all I-A quarterbacks with 1,270 yards rushing last year ... with only 69 more rushing yards and 195 additional passing yards, Randle El would become the only player in college football history to pass for 6,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards in a career ... NC State is 77-27-4 in its previous 108 season openers ... the Wolfpack is 11-23-1 all-time against Big Ten opponents ... a year ago the NC State won both of its contests against Big Ten foes in come-from-behind fashion; in addition to coming from 18 points back to beat Indiana, the Wolfpack was down 24-0 to Minnesota before mounting a comeback to win the Micronpc.com Bowl 38-30 ... State TB Ray Robinson is eighth on the school's career rushing list (2,048) and 11th in all-purpose yaradge (2,709) ... QB Philip Rivers threw for 3,054 yards and 25 TDs as a freshman last season and is already ninth among Pack career passing yardage leaders and fifth in career TD passes ... senior LB Levar Fisher, the 2000 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, is seventh on the school's career tackle list (344). Saturday, September 8 North Carolina (0-2, 0-1) at #6 Texas (1-0) ABC, Noon Darrell Royal Memorial (80,082) THE GAME: For the second time in three weeks, North Carolina will take on a Top 5 team on the road when the Tar Heels tangle with third-rated Texas in Austin ... the Longhorns lead the series 4-3 ... the last three meetings have been bowl games ... this is the first regular season meeting between the two schools since 1952. THE COACHES: John Bunting is 0-2 in his first season at UNC and 38-16 in five years overall ... Mack Brown is 28-11 in four years at Texas and is 114-85-1 in 17 seasons overall, including a 69-46-1 mark as the Tar Heels' head coach from 1988-1997. (prior NMexSt) GAME NOTES: For the first time since 1893, UNC will open the season with three straight road games ... QB Ronald Curry is second on the UNC's career total offense yardage list with 5,115 yards and third in passing with 4,117 yards ... Curry needs just two yards to become only the third UNC quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards or more in a career ... WR Kory Bailey is ninth on the school's all-time reception list with 101 catches ... despite the 0-2 start, the Tar Heel defense is yielding only 266.5 yards per game ... DE Julius Peppers had three QB sacks against Maryland Saturday giving the junior All-American 24 for his career and tying him with Marcus Jones for second on UNC's all-time list; Greg Ellis is first with 32.5 ... sophomore TB Willie Parker ran for 102 yards on 13 carries against Maryland, including a 77-yard TD run on the Tar Heel's first offensive play - the 77-yard scoring jaunt was the UNC's longest since 1993 ... Texas opened their 109th season with a 41-7 win over New Mexico State Saturday ... the Longhorns are fourth on the NCAA's all-time win list with 745 wins ... starting QB Chris Sims completed 17 of 37 passes for 182 yards and two TDs against New Mexico State ... backup QB Major Applewhite is Texas' all-time leading passer with 7,974 yards ... the Longhorns have scored in a Big 12 record 240 straight games. Saturday, September 8 #13 Georgia Tech (2-0, 0-0) at Navy (0-1) Fox, Noon Navy-Marine Corps Stadium (35,000) THE GAME: The 12th-ranked Yellow Jackets will be shooting for their third-straight victory to open the season when they take on a Navy team that opened with a 45-26 loss at Temple on Aug. 30 ... Navy and Georgia Tech are two of only 10 schools who have played in each of the four major bowl games - the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl ... Tech has defeated Navy in each of the past two years, snapping a three-game series winning streak by the Midshipmen ... Tech lead the series 15-9 and is 20-10 against the three service academies overall. LAST YEAR: George Godsey completed 10 of 19 passes for 166 yards and three touchdown passes, two of them to Will Glover in the Yellow Jackets' 40-13 win. Tech forced six Navy fumbles, recovering four, including Greg Gathers' six-yard return for a touchdown. THE COACHES: Charlie Weatherbie is 30-39 in eight years at Navy and 45-58 in 11 seasons overall ... George O'Leary is 47-28 in seven years at Georgia Tech. GAME NOTES: Tech plackicker Luke Manget kicked five PATs in Tech's 35-7 win over The Citadel Saturday and extended his consecutive PAT streak to an ACC-record 97 straight ... Tech WR Kelly Campbell, who missed the Citadel game with a sprained right ankle, is Tech's all-time leader in receiving yardage (2,392) and is second in career receptions (149) ... Campbell is also 14th on the ACC's all-time receiving yardage list ... TB Joe Burns is 12th on the school's career rushing list with 1,609 yards ... Georgia Tech QB George Godsey completed 14 of 16 passes for 222 yards and two TDs in less than one half of action against The Citadel ... Godsey is sixth on Tech's career passing yardage list with 3,498 yards ... Tech has held nine of its last 14 opponents under 100 yards rushing ... E Greg Gathers is fourth on the school's all-time QB sack list with 21 ... Gathers has 19 tackles, including three QB sacks, in his two previous games against Navy ... Navy is 99-73-1 in their 43rd season in Navy-Marine Corp Stadium ... the Midshipmen have a 30-game losing streak to ranked opponents. Saturday, September 8 Wofford (0-0) at #19 Clemson (1-0, 0-0) 1:00 p.m. Memorial Stadium (81,474) THE GAME: Nineteenth-ranked Clemson has held the upper hand in this intrastate rivalry since the two teams first met on the gridiron in 1896 ... the Tigers won the last meeting, 45-3, in their national championship season of 1981, and have won nine of the previous 12 meetings, including all six games at home ... Wofford's last win over Clemson was a 14-13 decision in 1933. THE COACHES: Mike Ayers is 77-65-1 in 13 years at Wofford and 88-86-2 in 16 seasons overall ... Tommy Bowden is 16-9 in his first two years at Clemson and 34-13 in four seasons overall. GAME NOTES: Clemson is 209-81-7 all-time in Memorial Stadium ... five first-year freshmen played in the Tigers' season opener against Central Florida ... senior QB Woodrow Dantzler ran for 46 yards against UCF and became the school's all-time rushing leader by a QB with 1,746 yards ... Dantzler, who accounted for 200 of the Tigers' 292 yards against UCF, is sixth on Clemson's career passing list (3,613) yards and 19th in rushing (1,746) ... Dantzler set the ACC single season for most yards rushing by a quarterback (947) a year ago ... Clemson's Travis Zachery, a Doak Walker Award nominee, is fifth among school career rushing yardage leaders with 2,530 yards ... true freshman WR Roscoe Crosby had a team-high 64 yards receiving on three catches against UCF ... Wofford is the smallest football playing member in Division I-A or I-AA with an enrollment of just 1,100 students ... nearly one out of every six males at Wofford is on the football team ... Wofford, 7-4 a year ago, returns six starters on both sides of the ball ... Wofford senior QB Travis Wilson threw for 1,203 yards and ran for a team-high 779 yards last season. Saturday, September 8 UAB (1-0) at #5 Florida State (1-0, 1-0) ESPN2, 5:30 p.m. Doak Campbell Stadium (80,000) THE GAME: Florida State will put its 52-game home unbeaten streak on the line Saturday when the fifth-ranked Seminoles host UAB in a nationally televised affair on ESPN2 ... this will be the first meeting between the two schools on the gridiron. THE COACHES: Watson Brown is 32-35 in seven seasons at UAB and 64-112-1 in 17 seasons overall ... Bobby Bowden is 243-55-4 in his 26th season at Florida State and 316-87-4 in 36 years overall. GAME NOTES: FSU is the only team in college football history that has finished among the Top Five in the AP poll for 14 consecutive years ... Florida State has been ranked in every AP poll since the fifth week of the 1989 season spanning 199 consecutive weeks ... WR Atrews Bell had at least one catch in 14 straight games for the Noles ... FSU's freshmen quarterbacks - Chris Rix and Adrian McPherson - combined to complete 16 of 30 passes for 189 yards and two TDs against Duke Saturday ... Rix completed nine of 18 for 135 yards and two TDs while McPherson completed seven of 12 for 54 yards ... first-year freshmen Xavier Beita made all six of his extra point attempts and both field goal attempts from 31 and 40 yards in his college debut against the Blue Devils ... in his first career start at tailback, junior Nick Maddox rushed for 85 yards and one TD on only eight carries against Duke ... UAB got 122 yards rushing on 25 carries from TB Jegil Dugger and opened their season last Thursday night with a 41-13 win over Montana State ... senior DE Bryan Thomas led the Blazers with 10 sacks a year ago. Saturday, September 8 Eastern Michigan (1-0) at Maryland (1-0, 1-0) 6:00 p.m. Byrd Stadium (48,055) THE GAME: Maryland opens its 2001 non-conference slate when it hosts Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan under the lights at Byrd Stadium ... Saturday's game marks the first meeting between the two teams ... the Terps are 3-2 against teams currently in the Mid-American Conference. THE COACHES: Jeff Woodruff is 4-8 in his second season at EMU ... Ralph Friedgen, a 1969 Maryland graduate, is 1-0 in his first season with the Terps. GAME NOTES: Maryland opened the season with a 23-7 win over ACC foe North Carolina ... Ralph Friedgen became the first Terp coach in 42 years to begin his career with a win and the first Maryland head coach ever to win his ACC debut; the last Maryland coach to win his first game was Tom Nugent in 1959 ... senior LB Aaron Thompson had three QB sacks against UNC Saturday and became the school's all-time tackle for losses leader with 38 TFLs ... senior QB Shaun Hill completed 10 of 26 passes for 86 yards and two TDs against UNC ... 5-9 redshirt sophomore Bruce Perry led all rushers with 116 yards, including 70 on Maryland's back-to-back TD drives in the second half ... punter Brooks Barnard punted eight times for an average of 50.4 yards per kick against UNC ... junior LB E.J. Henderson totaled a team-high 12 tackles against UNC, marking his fifth-straight game in double figures ... the Terp defense had three interceptions, four QB sacks and limited the Tar Heels to 276 yards of total offense ... Freshman Chris Roberson rushed for 101 yards, including the game-winning touchdown with 1:47 left to lead Eastern Michigan to a 16-12 comeback win over visiting Southeast Missouri State ... EMU's Toller Starnes is one 30 kickers on the watch list for the Lou Groza Award. Saturday, September 8 Appalachian State (1-0) at Wake Forest (1-0, 0-0)) 6:30 p.m. Groves Stadium (31,500) THE GAME: Wake Forest looks for win No. 2 of the young season Saturday night when it hosts Appalachian State in one of the state's more tightly contested series ... the last five meetings have been decided by a combined 17 points ... the Demon Deacons lead the rivalry 13-7-1 with 15 of previous 21 meetings decided by seven points or less ... the Mountaineers have won two in a row, including last year's 20-16 victory, and three of the last four series' meetings. THE COACHES: Jerry Moore, 126-95-2 in 20 seasons as a head coach, is the winningest coach in Appalachian State history with a 13-year mark of 99-47 ... Jim Grobe is 1-0 in his first season at Wake Forest and 34-33-1 in seven seasons at Ohio University. GAME NOTES: Wake Forest opened the 2001 season with a 21-19 win at East Carolina while the Mountaineers brought the curtain up on their season with a 46-26 victory over Liberty ... Tarence Williams rushed 35 times for 162 yards and one TD against the Pirates and now has scored eight TDs in his last five games ... the Deacs had 451 yards in total offense against East Carolina, including 290 yards rushing on 69 attempts ... against the Pirates, Anthony Young and James McPherson alternated series at quarterback ... Young completed four of eight passes for 75 yards and one TD while McPherson completed five of eight for 86 yards ... Young had 136 yards of total offense, McPherson 109 ... John Stone is 20th on the ACC's all-time kickoff return yardage list with 1,321 yards ... Wake Forest junior DE Calvin Pace recorded his 12th career sack against ECU, moving him into sixth place on the school's all-time sacks list ... Saturday's game with Wake Forest will mark the 750th game in Mountaineer history ... Appalachian State WR Sterling Hayward had six receptions for 147 yards and two TDs in the win over Liberty. Saturday, September 8 Duke (0-1, 0-1) at Rice (1-0) 8:00 p.m. Rice Stadium (70,000) THE GAME: Duke and Rice renew their interstate rivalry for the first time since a 17-12 Blue Devil win in 1992 ... Duke leads the series 4-0 including a 2-0 mark at Rice Stadium ... the Blue Devils are 6-0 against teams currently in the Western Athletic Conference. THE COACHES: Carl Franks is 3-20 in his third season at Duke ... Ken Hatfield is 35-42-1 in eight seasons with the Owls and 148-104-4 overall in 23 seasons ... the fifth-winningest active college football coach, Hatfield was 4-0 against Duke while the head coach at Clemson from 1990-1993. GAME NOTES: Duke opened the 2001 season with a 55-13 loss to fifth-ranked Florida State ... Chris Douglas, who led all freshmen nationally in all-purpose yardage (131.1) a year ago, accounted for 304 yards against FSU, including 188 yards on eight kickoff returns ... Douglas' 303 all-purpose yards mark the 10th best single-game total in ACC history and the most all-purpose yards against the Seminoles since they joined the ACC in 1992 ... for the second straight year Ronnie Hamilton returned a punt against FSU for a touchdown ... Duke QB D. Bryant threw for 167 yards and one score against the Seminoles ... freshman LB Jim Scharrer led the Blue Devils with 10 tackles against FSU, including seven solo hits ... Scharrer, who joined Duke in January after playing six seasons of professional baseball, was playing in his first football game since 1994 ... Rice started the season with a 21-14 win over Houston ... freshman QB Kyle Herm ran for 119 yards as the Owls rolled up 354 yards on the ground in snapping an eight-game road losing streak ... the Owls' spread option offense averaged 233.0 yards rushing last season, the 11th best per game average in the NCAA. STANDINGS
Conference Points Overall Points
Team W L T For Opp Pct W L T For Opp Pct
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