Monday through Friday each week, we compile the best links on ACC football from around the web.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Florida State entered the 2012 season with the highest of hopes: this was the year, Seminoles fans could reasonably assume, that the return to glory was actually going to happen. The defense was deep, fierce, and experienced, EJ Manuel was back at the helm of an offense with talent at virtually every position, and Jimbo Fisher seemed to have a handle on what it took to win titles entering his third season as head coach…
Duke’s Improved D Key to Early Success (ESPN’s ACC Blog)
Duke defensive coordinator Jim Knowles gave up a head-coaching job at his alma mater, Cornell, to come to Duke and take over one of the nation’s worst defenses. That’s the kind of draw coach David Cutcliffe has to his assistants. “That’s why I did it, because of him,” said Knowles, who also worked with Cutcliffe at Ole Miss. “He’s that kind of guy. He’s the right guy at the right time here”…
Double-Duty Defense (NolesNation)
The playbook is Jimbo Fisher’s baby. Its origins can be traced back to his first days as a coach, and its most recent incarnation has taken nearly two decades to properly refine. The playbook is a living history of Fisher’s life’s work, an autobiography written in X’s and O’s. He doesn’t need to memorize schemes or study formations. He created them…
BC Football Out for Respect Against Florida State (Boston Globe)
Even if they weren’t 1-4, even if they weren’t winless against Football Bowl Subdivision competition, and even if they weren’t coming off a loss to a winless Army team that left them shell-shocked, the Boston College Eagles still would feel that Florida State was turning up its nose at them. The Seminoles were the nation’s fifth-ranked team before losing to North Carolina State last weekend and falling to No. 12…
David Cutcliffe’s Sterling Credentials Paying Dividends for Duke Football (Daily Press)
David Cutcliffe was the first coach in 30-plus years to guide Ole Miss to five straight winning seasons. He won a Cotton Bowl, tutored the most accomplished quarterbacking brothers in history and as an offensive coordinator earned a national championship ring. In short, not the sterling credentials you’d expect to find at a tin-can program. No offense to the school that gave Steve Spurrier his first college big-whistle gig…
Breaking Down Mike D’Onofrio and the Atrocious Miami Defense (State of the U)
This defense is bad, in about every facet you could imagine. Rushing yards? Check. Lack of sacks? Check. 3rd down conversion rate? Check, check, check. This could go on all day, or until the next 90 yard drive consuming 10 minutes off the clock. Some of you might constitute this post as a defense of DC Mark D’Onofrio, and well, it will probably come off as such…
Dabo Swinney on Nick Saban’s View of No Huddle Offenses: “That’s Not Reality” (Orange and White)
A week ago, Alabama coach Nick Saban caused a stir when he suggested that no-huddle, tempo-pushing offenses create an increased injury risk for tired defensive players, and went on to pose the question “is this what we want football to be?” On Wednesday during the ACC coaches’ teleconference, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney weighed in sharply in opposition to Saban’s contention…
Today’s Featured Music Clip:
