ACC Mounting Wins In Bowl Season

By Brandon Rink
SouthernPigskin.com

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Winning two out of three of their bowls, the ACC will be on display New Year's Eve. Will the league send a message with three wins entering a big bowl weekend?

Doing anything New Year’s Eve? The ACC is.

First in the Queen City of Charlotte, the Tigers try to stay on the right side of .500 against South Florida.

Out in El Paso, the Hurricanes renew an old rivalry with the Fighting Irish.

And in the nightcap, it’s a battle of championship game losers from the SEC and ACC – FSU and South Carolina.

Let’s count it down…

3) Clemson vs. South Florida, Charlotte, Dec. 31 at 12 ET

You like defense? Tune in to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte.

South Florida ranks 21st in total defense – Clemson is 23rd. The Tigers are ninth in the nation in scoring defense – Bulls 19th.

The teams share QB issues as well. For USF, starter B.J. Daniels went down to injury – opening the door for walk-on Bobby Eveld to take the job and run with it to a road win at Miami. Well, now Daniels is 100% and Eveld is still looking good in the QB competition. Holtz has yet to name a starter.

For the Tigers, it’s present vs. future. Kyle Parker has been the starter all season, but his last completed pass was to a Gamecocks defender that went back for a TD in the third quarter of a humiliating loss. Tajh Boyd played the majority of the half from then on – sparking the debate on whether the future should start Friday. Swinney announced Parker as his starter early, but Boyd will play.

The USF running game is anchored by Moise Plancher and Demetri Murray with 743 and 517 yards respectively and 8 TDs combined – QB B.J. Daniels has over 100 rushes for 237 yards and 4 TDs on the ground as well. At receiver, Dontavia Bogan is the target with 20 more receptions than the nearest receiver at 46, and 5 TDs (USF only had 11 passing TDs all season).

The Tigers are trying to make due without the shifty Andre Ellington, who is out after toe surgery. Jamie Harper will shoulder the load – he averaged 60.5 yards per game and found the endzone in the ground and air 9 times. Clemson’s top receiver is true freshman DeAndre Hopkins after racking up 532 receiving yards and 4 TDs.

South Florida’s Skip Holtz was 1-3 in bowl games at ECU – Clemson’s Swinney is 1-1 with a Music City Bowl win and Gator Bowl loss on his record.

2) Miami vs. Notre Dame, El Paso, Dec. 31 at 2 ET

A lot of time has passed since Miami and Notre Dame last played – and the state of programs have seen a shift too.

In 1990, when they last played, these teams were powers in college football – now, they are both rebuilding in hopes of getting back there. New Year’s Eve is the start of a new phase of this rivalry that will be renewed in 2012 in the regular season at Soldier Field in Chicago.

At 7-5, neither team bowls you over statistically. Notre Dame ranks 29th in passing yards per game and notched wins over BC, Pitt, Army, Utah, and USC – winning three in a row to finish the season. Freshman QB Tommy Rees has shouldered the load at QB down the stretch with six passing TDs during their winning streak to finish the season. The Irish have a running attack that splits carries between a few different ball-carriers and rank 96th in rushing nationally.

On defense, Notre Dame gave up a TD average in their final three games and finished in the top 30 in scoring defense overall.

The Hurricanes have struggled with offensive identity all season – excelling in the running game in wins like Georgia Tech, and conversely, falling on their face in the South Florida loss that got Randy Shannon canned. The Hurricanes should go with Jacory Harris after a bit of a QB competition in bowl practice that ended with true freshman Stephen Morris hurting his ankle in practice. Miami has to run the ball effectively to win Friday, and they have a stable of talented backs. From Damien Berry to Lamar Miller to Mikes James to Graig Cooper to Storm Johnson – Paul Johnson is probably more jealous of Miami than any other ACC team depth-and-talent-wise. Whipple has a good problem on his hands with that crew, but it feels like he is almost obligated to pass with Harris – an interception waiting to happen.

On defense, the Hurricanes have talent and performed up to it inconsistently – they could be better and need to be Friday to bail out the offense.

Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly is 2-1 in bowl games as he got out of town before Florida obliterated his Bearcats last year – Miami interim coach Jeff Stoutland hasn’t coached a bowl game.

1) Florida State vs. South Carolina, Atlanta., Dec. 31 at 7:30 ET

Call it the runner-up bowl.

If the ACC wants some street-cred, win this one, FSU. In South Carolina’s last matchup with an ACC team (Clemson), they drilled them into the ground with a dominating 29-7 road win. In FSU’s last matchup with an SEC team (Florida), they dominated their rival too in a 31-7 win. When it’s SEC vs. ACC, the South is watching with a little extra interest.

The Gamecocks have sick skill players – from 6’4 monster WR Alshon Jeffery (1,387 receiving yards and 9 TDs) to freshman phenom RB Marcus Lattimore (1,198 rushing yards and 17 TDs) – this team is stacked, but at QB, there’s everybody’s favorite wild card, Stephen Garcia. Obviously in a 9-4 season, he has improved, but there is always that element of him making the key turnover.

On D, Gamecocks DC Ellis Johnson has taken some heat as his defense is coming off giving up 56 points in the SEC Championship Game to Auburn. They gave up over 30 points in all losses this, but shut down Georgia, Clemson, and Vandy to a TD or less.

For the ‘Noles, this transition year has been a leap to the top of the Atlantic with an improved defense. They rank 25th nationally in scoring D, but are also coming off a weak performance in their championship game – giving up 44 to Virginia Tech.

The main issue on offense is QB – Christian Ponder seems to be the guy even with on-and-off elbow injury issues. Backup E.J. Manuel performed admirably in his place in the ACC Championship Game (23/31 for 288 yards and a TD) so the ‘Noles are set either way. FSU has done the majority of their damage on the ground with a three-headed monster of Chris Thompson (699 yards, 5 TDs), Ty Jones (520 yards, 5 TDs), and Jermaine Thomas (484 yards, 6 TDs).

South Carolina’s Spurrier is 7-8 in bowl games – Fisher is coaching his first as a head coach (was coach-in-waiting in FSU’s Gator Bowl win last year).