ACC Notebook: Miami Gets Its Wish

Playing consecutive Thursday night games has left Georgia Tech checking its calendar.

The Yellow Jackets relied on dramatics to beat visiting Clemson last Thursday, squandering an early 24-point advantage, only to have Scott Blair save the day with a 36-yard field goal with under a minute to play. After catching its breath, Georgia Tech meets Miami in an ACC Coastal Division showdown Thursday at Land Shark Stadium.

"Like they say, it is a fast turnaround," Tech coach Paul Johnson said. "We are trying to figure out what day it is. It is a huge challenge this week going to Miami, a very talented team. They have a lot of great athletes and a lot of history and tradition."
Georgia Tech, however, has recent history on its side. The Yellow Jackets have won the last four meetings in the series, including a 41-23 victory last season in Atlanta. The Hurricanes were so embarrassed by their performance, also on a Thursday night, that they wanted and asked the ACC for a Thursday night rematch in 2009. They got their wish.

UM should be fresh. The Hurricanes beat Florida State 10 days ago in their season opener. And take one guess what the Hurricanes have focused on during practice -- slowing Tech's triple option. Not that Miami head coach Randy Shannon needs to be reminded, but the Yellow Jackets had 472 yards rushing and 518 yards in total offense a year ago.

"They do run a triple option and they have about four or five different scenarios on how they will run it," Shannon explained.

"The biggest factor will be [Jonathan] Dwyer. The fullback must be accounted for on every single play. If he happens to get into the open field, we have to get him down for a 10- or 12-yard gain and then line up again. We cannot afford him to get long runs against us and that's what makes their offense go."

Tech's offense has certainly been a go-go. The Yellow Jackets have scored 30-plus points in each of their first two games of the season for just the second time in seven years. Tech might not pass that often -- 27 attempts through two games -- but the Yellow Jackets are averaging 25.4 yards per completion.

Let's not forget defense or special teams. The Yellow Jackets have not allowed a rushing touchdown this season and have allowed just one rushing play of 20 yards or longer. Sophomore Jerrard Tarrant has returned punts for touchdowns in each of the first two games -- 68 yards against Jacksonville State and 85 yards against Clemson.

Johnson also has calculated the importance of winning a division game.

"I think to get to where we want to go we certainly have to beat our division opponents," Johnson said.

"The last one (against Clemson) was huge in that you can't afford to lose a conference game at home. But you can say the same thing for when you play a game out of your division because it almost counts as two games. We saw how that worked last year when we lost the first division game to Virginia Tech and it came back to haunt us at the end as we were tied in the record, but we lost the (title) head-to-head."

Oops, Penalty Flag

ACC officials have reviewed the tape and a ruling has been made -- Georgia Tech's fake field goal that went for a touchdown in the opening quarter against Clemson was actually an illegal play and violated substitution rules.

On the play, Georgia Tech scored on a 34-yard pass from kicker Scott Blair to Demaryius Thomas off a fake kick. Thomas remained on the field, near the Tech sideline, while the rest of his teammates were subbed for the kicking team.

Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said he alerted officials about the play prior to the game and said he was surprised by the ruling.

"The ACC after the game interpreted that as a violation. Alright, well, we're in the league. If that's illegal, we won't do it anymore," Johnson said. "But I've done it before and it hasn't been a problem. If you've got a trick play before the game you tell them what's going to happen, and I told them. If it had been illegal, they should've told us then."

ACC coordinator of football officials Doug Rhoads said Monday that the play should have been flagged and nullified for violating a rule prohibiting substitution tactics that may confuse opponents. The ruling, of course, won't change the game's outcome.

Shovel, Flashlight or Worm?

Virginia coach Al Groh has relied on a number of motivational strategies during his career. He may need one soon as the winless Cavs travel to Southern Miss on Saturday.

Groh's most famous example was bringing a shovel to the sideline, which he did as an assistant with the New England Patriots under Bill Parcells in 1994. After starting the season 3-6, the shovel was meant to symbolize his players digging themselves out of a hole. The Patriots would not lose another regular season game as the shovel remained on the sideline.

Other examples include passing out flashlights to the players -- Groh did this as the head coach of the New York Jets in 2000. The gesture was a dig at the previously traded Keyshawn Johnson, who called himself a "star" in comparison to Jets receiver Wayne Chrebet, who was just a "flashlight." Going back even further, Groh, as the head caoch for Wake Forest in 1984, ate a worm after referencing an Alaskan ice fisherman, who kept worms in his lower lip in order to keep them warm and catch the best fish. On both those occasions, his teams pulled of an upset in the next game.

"I might go to something," Groh admitted. "I might put the worm third though."

Call Heads or Tails

North Carolina State's Eddie Gardner, who has been involved with the Wolfpack program in some capacity since the late 1970s and has been the football team's equipment manager since 1986, will provide the ceremonial coin toss in Saturday's game against Gardner-Webb. Gardner is retiring at the end of the month.

"He's the flipper," N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien

And, in case you are wondering, O'Brien says it's a mere coincidence and has nothing to do with his last name being Gardner and the opponent Gardner-Webb. Gardner has served in his role as equipment manager under the past four head coaches and has worked for every coach since Bo Rein (1976-79).

Don't Remind Me

Maryland's Ralph Friedgen has called last year's 24-14 loss at Middle Tennessee as one of the worst defeats of his coaching career. Saturday's rematch in College Park, Md., is also expected to be a tussle.

The Blue Raiders (1-1) are riding high following last weekend's impressive 31-14 win over Memphis. They showed improvement in all phases of the game after falling to Clemson in the season opener. Maryland, meanwhile, needed overtime last Saturday to beat visiting James Madison, 38-35. The Terps have won eight of their last nine at home dating back to the 2007 season.

While the Fridge isn't big on revenge, he expects his team to be.

"I think our kids want to win this game for what happened last year," Friedgen said. "If they don't, I don't know what's going through their veins."

By the Numbers

Boston College's two-headed quarterback -- Justin Tuggle and Dave Shinskie -- combined to throw for 223 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Kent State. ... Clemson scored 27 unanswered points in the 30-27 defeat at Georgia Tech. ... FSU quarterback Christian Ponder completed 22 of 35 passes for a career-high 324 yards in the win over Jacksonville State. ... Maryland's young defense surrendered 418 yards of total offense, including 268 rushing, in a win over James Madison. ... Quarterback Russell Wilson bounced back from a poor performance against South Carolina a week earlier, by completing 15- of-21 passes, for 228 yards and four touchdowns in a win against Murray State. N.C. State's defense allowed just one yard rushing (net) and 36 total yards in the game. ... Riley Skinner, who had all kinds of problems in the opener against Baylor, completed 18-of-26 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown in the victory over visiting Stanford. ... Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis became only the second player at Duke and 14th in ACC history to amass 50 career touchdown passes with a strike against Army. Linebacker Vincent Rey and defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk each had 10 tackles in the game. .. Anthony Allen averaged more than 25 yards on his five carries and finished with 127 yards, including a 82-yard score in the first quarter, in the win over Clemson. ... North Carolina has now allowed just 16 total points in the first two games, its lowest total to start a season since 1996. ... Virginia had just 177 yards of total offense and failed to snap even one play in the red zone (inside opponent's 20-yard line) in home defeat to TCU. ... Virginia Tech had 605 yards of total offense (most since 2001), including 444 rushing yards, in win over Marshall.