weekend review

Further thoughts from Saturday's game follow. I was still so pissed on Sunday evening about that 3rd-and-2 rollout that I forgot to write down quite a few of my other thoughts about the game.

- What sacrifice would the football gods require of us in order for them to confuddle Randy Shannon into continuing to believe that Robert Marve is the better Miami quarterback? Before the game I felt that Jacory Harris's stats showed that he was playing better all around - now that I've seen them both for a full game, I believe it. Miami can be beat at least once the rest of the year, but that'll be harder if Harris is the quarterback.

- Marc Verica: Looked decent, but definitely not the Verica we saw against UNC and GT. Part of this was because Mikey kept having him wing it downfield at obviously blanketed receivers, but he missed a couple throws that he made earlier. Still, Verica's one game shy of tying a Matt Schaub record. We got a keeper in Verica. Big time. (Oh yeah....and see? Doug Doughty agrees that the 3rd-and-2 sack was pretty much the turning point in the game.)

- Cornerback play was also pretty ugly for the most part. Harris had some open receivers to hit on the sidelines. Miami picked up just tons of yardage in 12 and 15 yard chunks like that.

- I take some hope from this: The media coverage today, and the team attitude, and their quotes to the media, and all that, all seem to imply one thing. We lost a game against a team we should have beaten. Nobody's saying it because that would be bulletin board material and we can't have that, but this isn't the same we-just-got-our-asses-kicked-by-a-way-better-team vibe that we saw after the first three losses, and I like that. It's the kind of thing you can turn into positive energy for next week. Mark my words: Wake Forest is beatable, and Winston-Salem is no Tallahassee. A win next week, especially if coupled with a VT loss in Thursday's Meteor Game, would give us just a ton of positive momentum going into the bye, and two weeks to prep for Clemson and VT.

In the newsroom, it looks like Mikell Simpson is done for the year. Eeeeessshh. This should come as no surprise to anyone who saw Simpson trussed up in that shoulder contraption on screen during the game. Next Man Up is Raynard Horne, who's been having a very good year on special teams.

The Wake game will be at 3:30 and on ESPNUVA.

Recruiting board, updated, is here. Recruiting update goes thusly:

- Removed QB Tajh Boyd (Tennessee commit) and CB Travis Hawkins (Maryland commit). These guys were always long longshots anyway.

- Bumped RB De'Antwan Williams from Fair to Low after he listed four favorites which weren't us. ($) He stays because it's a "favorite" four, not a "final" four, but anyone highlighted in red on that list is someone you shouldn't really expect to see in orange and blue.

- Logan Thomas trimmed his list ($) and we're on it, yay.

High schools....

DOMINIQUE WALLACE: 27 carries, 139 yards and 2 TDs in 21-17 win over James Monroe. Dude's a hoss. Here's an article that basically says Dominique Wallace is totally sweet at football and it's helped turn Chancellor into a totally sweet football team.

THE OSCAR SMITH BOYS: Another Friday, another 40+ point win over another hapless opponent. Smith beat Lakeland 44-0; Perry Jones scored twice and Tim Smith once.

TUCKER WINDLE: 6 receptions for 89 yards and a TD on offense, and on defense, 7 tackles including one TFL as Charlotte Catholic stomped West Mecklenburg 42-14.

ALEX OWAH: 25 carries for 164 yards and 2 TDs; Harrisonburg beats Waynesboro 28-6.

Last feature of the weekend review: the trip around the ACC. Let's see what these other cats have to say about their own teams' performances.

Georgia Tech knocked off Florida State, 31-28. FSU is no longer the hegemonic powerhouse they were, but thanks to that really annoying decade or so in which they were the automatic loss on the schedule, it is always special fun beating them. The LegacyX4 agrees.

Wake over Duke in OT, 33-30. Dudespin, while disappointed, reminds you that Duke needs to go 2-2 to go to a bowl, and seems pretty happy to be able to say that.

Clemson beat BC, 27-21. Eagle in Atlanta grades harshly. And, dude, Dabo Swinney is totally flipping off Willy Korn. OK, probably not actually, but that's a damn funny picture anyway.