2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Preview

2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Preview

 

The Atlantic Coast Conference expands to 14 teams this year, with two long-time Big East schools joining the fold.  This gives the ACC five former Big East members with a sixth to come next year.

 

The league has three teams that could compete for national honors this year, and at least one player, Clemson QB Tajh Boyd must be considered a key Heisman Trophy candidate.

 

There are new coaches in the league as well.  Dave Doeren takes over at North Carolina St. after guiding Northern Illinois to a spot in the Orange Bowl.  The former defensive coordinator at Wisconsin produced multiple top defenses in Badgerland, and he can only hope to find the next J. J. Watt and get him to Raleigh.

 

Steve Addazio moves from Temple to Boston College to try to reverse the Eagles’ slide.  BC has fallen from 11 to 9 to 8 to 7 to 4 to 2 wins.  Addazio has 18 starters returning, and BC should see an end to the decline.

 

Scott Shafer is the new man at Syracuse.  He has a tough job replacing Doug Marrone who matriculated to the NFL.  He had been the defensive coordinator for Marrone.

 

In the Atlantic Division, Clemson and Florida St. should decide the division title when they meet in Clemson on October 19.  The other five should split games and finish two or more games in back of second place.  Maryland, North Carolina St. ,and Wake Forest appear to have the talent to become bowl eligible.

 

In the Coastal Division, we believe Coach Al Golden has amassed enough talent to send the Miami Hurricanes to the conference championship game in year three in Coral Gables.  Golden won big at Temple, so Miami’s recruiting woes created by the prior coaching administration won’t prevent Golden from taking the “U” to a big bowl this year.

 

Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina will all challenge for conference honors, and it would not be a big surprise if any of these teams emerged as the division winner.

 

Georgia Tech has an experienced option quarterback, two quality fullbacks, and talented slotbacks for Coach Paul Johnson’s spread option attack.  The Yellow Jackets topped 300 rushing yards per game last year and should do even better in 2013.  If the defense can improve enough to shave a touchdown per game off what it did last year, then Tech could win seven conference games and nine or ten overall.

 

Virginia Tech has the top defense in the league, but the offense has been too inconsistent to be a division winner.  Logan Thomas needs to show considerable improvement in the passing game before the Hokies can return to the top of the league.  The opening game in Atlanta against Alabama could be as one-sided as the Alabama opener against Michigan last year.

 

North Carolina is waiting in ambush.  Larry Fedora’s Tar Heels benefit from having a week off prior to the Georgia Tech game in Atlanta and prior to the Miami game at home (so does Miami).

 

Virginia, Duke, and Pittsburgh all figure to lose more than they win this year.  Virginia has bitten off more than they can chew.  The Cavaliers open the season with games against BYU and Oregon.  An early October game at home against Ball St. is a trap game for sure.

 

After beginning 2012 6-2, Duke finished with five consecutive losses, giving up more than 49 points per game.  The Blue Devils lose their top two tacklers on defense and their QB and two star receivers on offense, so it looks like another year where Duke fans will have to wait for the basketball season to begin.

 

Pittsburgh coach Paul Chryst was the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin for seven years.  He built the Badgers’ offense on power running and excellent double tight end play, and he is trying to do the same at Pitt.  So far, he has yet to isolate a Lance Kendricks or Travis Beckum, and the Panther offense has not played with the consistency of his UW offenses.  Six times in 2012, Pitt failed to reach 21 points.

 

 

New Teams: Pittsburgh and Syracuse join from the Big East

 

Departures: None in 2013

 

2014 Additions: Lousville joins to make the ACC even stronger on the hardwoods.  Notre Dame begins its affiliation with the league and will host Louisville, North Carolina and Wake Forest and play at Florida State and Syracuse.

 

2014 Departures: Maryland leaves for the Big Ten

 

Pre-season PiRate Ratings

Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Clemson	0-0	0-0	116.5	112.2	117.5
Florida St.	0-0	0-0	112.9	112.8	113.3
Syracuse	0-0	0-0	101.5	96.6	100.8
Boston College	0-0	0-0	100.4	96.6	101.1
Wake Forest	0-0	0-0	98.3	101.6	98.4
North Carolina St.	0-0	0-0	97.0	102.0	97.5
Maryland	0-0	0-0	94.7	105.1	96.5
Coastal Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Miami	0-0	0-0	114.7	114.1	115.2
Virginia Tech	0-0	0-0	110.9	110.8	110.9
Georgia Tech	0-0	0-0	110.5	108.7	110.8
North Carolina	0-0	0-0	107.3	109.3	108.6
Pittsburgh	0-0	0-0	101.1	97.6	101.1
Duke	0-0	0-0	97.5	97.1	96.5
Virginia	0-0	0-0	95.9	97.6	96.1
League Averages			104.2	104.4	104.6

 

 

Official Pre-season Media Poll
Pos.		Team	Points			1st Place
Atlantic Division
1		Clemson	815			102
2		Florida St.	731			18
3		North Carolina St.	490			0
4		Wake Forest	392			0
5		Maryland	373			0
6		Syracuse	320			0
7		Boston College	211			0
Coastal Division
1		Miami	736			65
2		Virginia Tech	654			27
3		North Carolina	649			22
4		Georgia Tech	522			6
5		Pittsburgh	313			0
6		Virginia	230			0
7		Duke	228			0
ACC Championship Game Winner
1		Clemson	95
2		Florida St.	15
3		Georgia Tech	3
3		Miami	3
3		North Carolina	3
6		Virginia Tech	1
ACC Championship Game Predictions
1		Clemson over Miami						55
2		Clemson over Virginia Tech						19
3		Clemson over North Carolina						18
4		Florida State over Miami						7
5		Florida State over Virginia Tech						7
6		Clemson over Georgia Tech						3
7		Georgia Tech over Clemson						3
8		Miami over Clemson						2
9		North Carolina over Florida State						2
10		Virginia Tech over Clemson						1
11		North Carolina over Clemson						1
12		Miami over Florida State						1
13		Miami over Florida State						1
14		Florida State over North Carolina						1

 

The Official ACC Media Preseason All-Conference Teams

 

2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Team
1st Team Offense
Pos.	Player		School
WR	Sammy Watkins		Clemson
WR	Michael Campanaro		Wake Forest
TE	Eric Ebron		North Carolina
T	James Hurst		North Carolina
T	Morgan Moses		Virginia
G	Tre’ Jackson		Florida St.
G	Brandon Linder		Miami
C	Bryan Stork		Florida St.
QB	Tajh Boyd		Clemson
RB	Duke Johnson		Miami
RB	James Wilder Jr.		Florida St.
1st Team Defense
Pos.	Player		School
DE	Jeremiah Attaochu		Georgia Tech
DE	Kareem Martin		North Carolina
DT	Nikita Whitlock		Wake Forest
DT	Timmy Jernigan		Florida St.
LB	Jack Tyler		Virginia Tech
LB	Christian Jones		Florida St.
LB	Kevin Pierre-Louis		Boston College
CB	Ross Cockrell		Duke
CB	Lamarcus Joyner *		Florida St.
S	Tre Boston		North Carolina
S	Jason Hendricks		Pittsburgh
1st Team Specialists
Pos.	Player		School
PK	Chandler Catanzaro		Clemson
P	Will Monday		Duke
SP	Stefon Diggs		Maryland
Lamarcus Joyner received 11 votes at safety
2nd Team Offense
Pos.	Player		School
WR	Stefon Diggs		Maryland
WR	Rashad Greene		Florida St.
TE	Nick O’Leary		Florida St.
T	Brandon Thomas		Clemson
T	Seantrel Henderson		Miami
G	Will Jackson		Georgia Tech
G	Tyler Shatley		Clemson
C	Macky MacPherson		Syracuse
QB	3-players tied *		See Below
RB	Jerome Smith		Syracuse
RB	Devonta Freeman		Florida St.
* QB	3-players tied
	Logan Thomas		Virginia Tech
	Bryn Renner		North Carolina
	Stephen Morris		Miami
2nd Team Defense
Pos.	Player		School
DE	James Gayle		Virginia Tech
DE	Mario Edwards		Florida St.
DT	Aaron Donald		Pittsburgh
DT	Derrick Hopkins		Virginia Tech
LB	Steele Divitto		Boston College
LB	Dyshawn Davis		Syracuse
LB	Stephone Anthony		Clemson
CB	Antone Exum		Virginia Tech
CB	Kyle Fuller		Virginia Tech
S	Kyshoen Jarrett		Virginia Tech
S	Travis Blanks		Clemson
2nd Team Specialists
Pos.	Player		School
PK	Ross Martin		Duke
P	Tommy Hibbard		North Carolina
SP	Duke Johnson		Miami

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings Summary

 

About Grades

93-100         A+

86-92           A

79-85           A-

72-78           B+

65-71           B

58-64           B-

51-57           C+

44-50           C

37-43           C-

30-36           D

0-29             F

 

About Predictions

Predictions are based on the PiRate Ratings with home field advantage factored in.  The PiRate Ratings use different home field advantages for every game, since the opponent factors into the equation.

 

Atlantic Division

 

Team	Boston College Eagles
Head Coach	Steve Addazio
Colors	Maroon and Gold
City	Chestnut Hill, MA
2012 Record
Conference	1-7
Overall	2-10
Grades
Run Offense	65
Pass Offense	74
Run Defense	59
Pass Defense	62
Ratings
PiRate	100.4
Mean	96.6
Bias	101.1
Rankings
PiRate	54
Mean	76
Bias	48
Prediction
Conference	1-7
Overall	4-8

 

 

Team	Clemson Tigers
Head Coach	Dabo Swinney
Colors	Orange and Purple
City	Clemson, SC
2012 Record
Conference	7-1
Overall	11-2
Grades
Run Offense	77
Pass Offense	96
Run Defense	70
Pass Defense	79
Ratings
PiRate	116.5
Mean	112.2
Bias	117.5
Rankings
PiRate	18
Mean	23
Bias	16
Prediction
Conference	8-0 (lose ACC title game)
Overall	10-3

 

 

Team	Florida St. Seminoles
Head Coach	Jimbo Fisher
Colors	Garnet and Gold
City	Tallahassee, FL
2012 Record
Conference	7-1 (won ACC Championship Game)
Overall	12-2
Grades
Run Offense	80
Pass Offense	87
Run Defense	73
Pass Defense	71
Ratings
PiRate	112.9
Mean	112.8
Bias	113.3
Rankings
PiRate	31
Mean	20
Bias	30
Prediction
Conference	7-1
Overall	10-2

 

 

Team	Maryland Terrapins
Head Coach	Randy Edsall
Colors	Red, White, Black, and Gold
City	College Park, MD
2012 Record
Conference	2-6
Overall	4-8
Grades
Run Offense	59
Pass Offense	64
Run Defense	53
Pass Defense	61
Ratings
PiRate	94.7
Mean	105.1
Bias	96.5
Rankings
PiRate	78
Mean	41
Bias	76
Prediction
Conference	3-5
Overall	6-6

 

 

Team	North Carolina St. Wolfpack
Head Coach	Dave Doeren
Colors	Red and White
City	Raleigh, NC
2012 Record
Conference	4-4
Overall	7-6
Grades
Run Offense	58
Pass Offense	81
Run Defense	62
Pass Defense	46
Ratings
PiRate	97.0
Mean	102.0
Bias	97.5
Rankings
PiRate	75
Mean	50
Bias	73
Prediction
Conference	2-6
Overall	6-6

 

 

Team	Syracuse Orangemen
Head Coach	Scott Shafer
Colors	Orange, Blue, and White
City	Syracuse, NY
2012 Record
Conference	5-2 (in Big East)
Overall	8-5
Grades
Run Offense	75
Pass Offense	72
Run Defense	62
Pass Defense	58
Ratings
PiRate	101.5
Mean	96.6
Bias	100.8
Rankings
PiRate	51
Mean	77
Bias	54
Prediction
Conference	3-5
Overall	5-7

 

 

Team	Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Head Coach	Jim Grobe
Colors	Black and Old Gold
City	Winston-Salem, NC
2012 Record
Conference	3-5
Overall	5-7
Grades
Run Offense	79
Pass Offense	54
Run Defense	63
Pass Defense	61
Ratings
PiRate	98.3
Mean	101.6
Bias	98.4
Rankings
PiRate	67
Mean	53
Bias	68
Prediction
Conference	4-4
Overall	7-5

 

 

Coastal Division

 

Team	Duke Blue Devils
Head Coach	David Cutcliffe
Colors	Royal Blue and White
City	Durham, NC
2012 Record
Conference	3-5
Overall	6-7
Grades
Run Offense	75
Pass Offense	69
Run Defense	50
Pass Defense	56
Ratings
PiRate	97.5
Mean	97.1
Bias	96.5
Rankings
PiRate	72
Mean	73
Bias	75
Prediction
Conference	1-7
Overall	5-7

 

 

Team	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Head Coach	Paul Johnson
Colors	Old Gold, Navy, and White
City	Atlanta
2012 Record
Conference	5-3 (lost ACC Championship Game)
Overall	7-7
Grades
Run Offense	98
Pass Offense	57
Run Defense	77
Pass Defense	76
Ratings
PiRate	110.5
Mean	108.7
Bias	110.8
Rankings
PiRate	36
Mean	34
Bias	36
Prediction
Conference	6-2
Overall	8-4

 

 

Team	Miami Hurricanes
Head Coach	Al Golden
Colors	Orange and Green
City	Coral Gables, FL
2012 Record
Conference	5-3
Overall	7-5
Grades
Run Offense	81
Pass Offense	92
Run Defense	67
Pass Defense	76
Ratings
PiRate	114.7
Mean	114.1
Bias	115.2
Rankings
PiRate	28
Mean	15
Bias	25
Prediction
Conference	7-1 (win ACC Championship Game)
Overall	12-1

 

 

Team	North Carolina Tar Heels
Head Coach	Larry Fedora
Colors	Carolina Blue and White
City	Chapel Hill, NC
2012 Record
Conference	5-3
Overall	8-4
Grades
Run Offense	69
Pass Offense	88
Run Defense	63
Pass Defense	66
Ratings
PiRate	107.3
Mean	109.3
Bias	108.6
Rankings
PiRate	41
Mean	32
Bias	40
Prediction
Conference	5-3
Overall	8-4

 

 

Team	Pittsburgh Panthers
Head Coach	Paul Chryst
Colors	Blue and Gold
City	Pittsburgh
2012 Record
Conference	3-4 (in Big East)
Overall	6-7
Grades
Run Offense	57
Pass Offense	75
Run Defense	62
Pass Defense	67
Ratings
PiRate	101.1
Mean	97.6
Bias	101.1
Rankings
PiRate	52
Mean	69
Bias	49
Prediction
Conference	2-6
Overall	5-7

 

 

Team	Virginia Cavaliers
Head Coach	Mike London
Colors	Blue and Orange
City	Charlottesville, VA
2012 Record
Conference	2-6
Overall	4-8
Grades
Run Offense	60
Pass Offense	69
Run Defense	51
Pass Defense	61
Ratings
PiRate	95.9
Mean	97.6
Bias	96.1
Rankings
PiRate	77
Mean	70
Bias	77
Prediction
Conference	1-7
Overall	3-9

 

 

Team	Virginia Tech Hokies
Head Coach	Frank Beamer
Colors	Maroon, Orange, and White
City	Blacksburg, VA
2012 Record
Conference	4-4
Overall	7-6
Grades
Run Offense	77
Pass Offense	74
Run Defense	84
Pass Defense	71
Ratings
PiRate	110.9
Mean	110.8
Bias	110.9
Rankings
PiRate	35
Mean	29
Bias	33
Prediction
Conference	6-2
Overall	9-3