Know Thy Enemy: Bye Week Edition

It is always a good weekend when USC loses. Some more clairty was also added to the Atlantic Division race, but if Clemson doesn't win out it doesn't matter if FSU loses another game or anything in between. Below is how Clemson's opponents fared during the bye week along with links to game reports from other SB Nation sites.

Georgia #13 (5-1):

UGA had a chance to lick their wounds over the weekend while preparing for a chance to destroy Kentucky.

Auburn Tigers (1-5):

This game has to have been the final nail in Gene Chizik’s career at Auburn. Ole Miss provided and ass-whipping score of 41-20, and it probably could have been worse. The offense is averaging 16 ppg, and they can’t pass to save their lives. Due to scheduling they still have 2 cupcake games coming up, but their SEC schedule consists of ‘Bama, Georgia, Texas A&M, and Vandy. The Tigers are likely to finish this season at 3-9 or 4-8 depending on how they do against Vandy. Maybe they can hire Tommy Tubberville again.

Ball State Cardinals (4-3):

Ball State pulled out an impressive victory by beating Western Michigan in overtime 30-24. Western Michigan had several opportunities to put the Cardinals away, but couldn’t quite do it. Ball State actually had the lead before Western Michigan made a 52-yard field goal to tie things up at the end of regulation.

Furman Paladins (2-5):

The Paladins were simply dominated by Chattanooga in Greenville. The final score was 31-10, and it is clear this is not a good year for the Paladins. Furman only rushed for 69 yards and had 224 yards of offense in the game. Cheer up Paladin fans, you could have always hired Billy Napier.

Florida State Seminoles #12 (6-1) (3-1) vs. Boston College (1-5) (0-3):

There was no hangover from Florida State as they thoroughly stomped BC 52-7. The Seminoles came out quickly and took the lead behind the passing of Manuel. FSU gained over 400 yards in the air, but Seminole fans have to have some concern over the 2 interceptions that went along with Manuel’s 4 touchdown passes. As for BC, Coach Spaz has to be on the way out as BC has been all but eliminated from bowl eligibility. Though the Eagles did drive the length of the field before getting stopped on their first possession, things didn’t get much better.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-4) (1-3):

The Yellow Jackets got an extra week to learn to play defense without Al Groh. This weekend they get a chance to beat up on BC in the yearly cellar dweller game.

Virginia Tech Hokies (4-3) (2-1) vs. Duke Blue Devils (5-2) (2-1):

First quarter score in this one was 20-7 in favor of Duke. I’ll wait while you pick your jaw off the floor after reading that. Then VT decided they should actually play some football and shut down Duke’s offense for 3 straight quarters en route to a 41-20 victory. While this game didn’t do anything to endear the ACC to outsiders, it was important for VT if they want to keep the dream of returning to Charlotte alive.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-3) (1-3):

Wake took a weekend off to figure out what the Hell they are doing for the rest of the season. They return to action against Virginia on Saturday.

NC State Wolfpack (4-2) (1-1):

The Wolfpack took an extra week to savor their victory over FSU and will face off against an improved Maryland side this weekend.

Maryland Terripans (4-2) (2-0):

The Terps retain their lead atop the Atlantic decision after squeaking by Virginia 27-20 on Saturday. Edsall has now doubled last year’s win total even without their best QB. Maryland has been buyoued by a pretty decent defense that is only allowing 20 ppg. What will kill this team is their god-awful offense. Seriously their offense is about as bad as Auburn’s. My guess is the Terrapins sink into the lower levels of the Atlantic division as they play us and Florida State in November.

South Carolina Gamecocks #11 (5-1):

The talk in Columbia was how the ‘Cocks were going to go into Death Valley at night and put a stomping on LSU. While it stayed close, the Tigers would’ve dominated USC if they had someone as competent at QB as even Kyle Parker. The problem with this game is that all of USC’s shortcomings are areas we struggle with. We don’t do a good job of generating pressure on the QB and we struggle to run the ball consistently. We still have 5 games to turn things around and if we do it could be a good Thanksgiving weekend in Death Valley.