Terps compete despite losses

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering what Ralph Friedgen has in store for the Wahoos on Saturday ...

Maryland struggled to start the season and then came back to stun Clemson before losing in a shootout against Wake Forest last weekend. So, can Virginia cross the Potomac and beat Friedgen’s Terps for a third straight year?

Big Ralph isn’t about to throw in the towel even though his defense is ranked No. 114 out of 120 in points allowed and No. 99 against the rush. The Terps are also No. 117 in turnover margin and No. 102 in total defense. Maryland, hampered with a patchwork offensive line, is having a hard time running the football as well, ranked No. 105 in the country in rushing.

“I don’t think we’re out of it,” Friedgen said of his team’s chances to win the Atlantic Division.

The Terps are 2-4 overall, but still 1-1 in the league.

“Florida State has three losses and everybody but us and Wake Forest has two losses [in league play],” the Fridge said. “Wake plays Clemson at Clemson this week. Who knows what will happen? We have to take care of our business and find a way to start winning again.”

His team is beaten-up, but Friedgen believes his team can still win.

“I don’t want to use [injuries] as an excuse,” the coach said. “When you lose your best corner, best running back, your punter, your best left tackle, it stretches you. It really does. You have a young team to start with, and all those guys are veterans.”

Who’s No. 1?

When chatting with former Virginia coach George Welsh recently, we discussed the Legends Poll that he votes in weekly. It just might be the most legitimate of all the polls out there because there are 17 former star head coaches watching films of the top teams, talking about what they see in a teleconference, then voting on the top 25.

So, who does Welsh like?

“I voted Florida No. 1, but I’m not sure anymore,” Welsh said. “According to what I’ve heard on those conference calls every Monday, Alabama may be the best team in the [SEC] conference. They have balance, power, the running game, the passing game.”

Welsh believes the SEC is clearly the best league in the nation.

“I don’t think there’s any comparison to the rest of the leagues in the country,” Welsh said. “I think they’re more physical than the rest of the country week a fter week and they have playmakers.”

Overrated ....

Welsh wasn’t afraid to throw some opinions around either.

“I’m not sure that Texas isn’t overrated,” he said. “I think Boise State belongs in the top 10. I always thought that North Carolina was overrated and I think Georgia Tech is overrated ... you can quote me on that. Some teams don’t know how to defend [Georgia Tech’s] offense, but when they do, [the Jackets] can’t throw the ball. ...Somebody said on the [conference] call that ‘California ... they’re a fraud.’’”

Beware the Hokies

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson knows that even though his team is winning, it will have to play much better defense to beat visiting Virginia Tech in a huge Coastal Division showdown this Saturday in Atlanta.

In recent wins against Mississippi State and Florida State, the Yellow Jackets surrendered 487 yards and 539 yards. If the Jackets allow those kinds of yards to the Hokies, there’s no question Virginia Tech will prevail.

Johnson would like his defense to play like the Virginians.

“Virginia Tech’s defense plays fast,” the Georgia Tech coach said. “They don’t have players standing around looking like they don’t know what they are doing. They look like they know what they are doing. That’s where we need to get.”

Quote of the week

When asked at his weekly press conference how much better he thought QB Jameel Sewell could get over the rest of the season, Virginia coach Al Groh bent over as if to look under the table and said:

“Let me get my crystal ball up here,” said Groh drawing chuckles from the media. “We certainly don’t want to put a cap on that, but that would be hard for me to speculate. If I could tell you that, I would buy stocks low and sell high.”

Stat of the week

Clemson’s C.J. Spiller needs 55 yards to become the first player in ACC history with 6,000 all-purpose yards.

Stat of the week II

Sewell is now sixth on UVa’s career passing yards list with 4,474, having just passed his former offensive coordinator, Mike Groh. If Sewell continues on his current pace, the senior will finish third on the Cavaliers’ all-time list, behind only Shawn Moore (6,629) and Matt Schaub (7,502).

The wacky Atlantic

Who is going to win the ACC’s Atlantic Division?

Your guess is as good as mine, although I voted for Wake Forest in the preseason poll.

Currently Jim Grobe’s Deacons are in the lead with a 2-1 ACC record, but just about everyone else is still in it, even Florida State, which is off to a surprisingly poor 0-3 start.

One of the big games in the division will take place in Death Valley on Saturday when Wake Forest travels to 1-2 Clemson.

The Tigers believe that they can still win the division, a title that has eluded them since the ACC went to divisional play five years ago (BC won the past two years, Wake in ’06, and FSU in ’05). Clemson was the favorite last season but fell apart early.

“The door is wide open,” said Tigers cornerback Crezdon Butler. “We know that, and the coaches know that. We just have to be more focused. This is big. It’s a must-win for us.”

In two of the four previous races, the division champ had three losses: FSU in 2005 and BC last season.

Wolfpack packing money

N.C. State will be packing some cash for its trip to Boston College.

Wolfpack officials took donations at last Saturday’s game against Duke and several N.C. State players have donated to a fund for the treatment of Ewing’s Sarcoma, a cancer that struck BC linebacker Mark Herzlich, who is fighting the disease while sitting out this season.

Herzlich was the 2008 ACC defensive player of the year.

State players raised more than $2,000, donating their meal money to help out Herzlich, who used to play for current N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien.

“He’s very up-spirited,” said O’Brien, who talked to Herzlich two weeks ago. “He received a good medial report and he’s very positive.”

Not so blue

Duke’s road blues are over.

The Blue Devils had lost their last 20 ACC road games until Saturday’s fourth-quarter breakaway at N.C. State.

Because of QB Thaddeus Lewis, who completed 40 of 50 passes in that game, Duke is no longer a gimme. Lewis threw for 459 yards and broke Ben Bennett’s record for career TDs by a Blue Devil with 59 for his career (Bennett’s mark was 55).

All this left Coach David Cutcliffe to say about his quarterback: “I told [Lewis] it was the best game I’ve ever had a quarterback play.”

That’s pretty high cotton, considering that Cutcliffe used to coach Peyton and Eli Manning.

The picks

Last week: 6-1 (Why can’t I ever pick N.C. State right?). To date: 37-15. This week: Miami 38, UCF 10; Boston College 20, N.C. State 17; Wake Forest 24, Clemson 21; Virginia Tech 36, Georgia Tech 26; Virginia 30, Maryland 20.