Early Look At The ACC Part 2

Early Look At The ACC Part 2

Miami:  Year One under Randy Shannon had flashes of success but 5-7 is not the kind of record which Miami fans will accept for long. The glory of wins over Texas A&M and arch-rival Florida State was lost in a 48-0 blowout loss to Virginia on November 10^th in the last game the Canes would ever play in the venerable Orange Bowl stadium. Finishing an uncharacteristic 108^th, nationally, in passing offense, it is no secret what was Miami’s greatest struggle in 2007. Starting QB Kyle Wright graduated and backup Kirby Freeman transferred to Baylor so redshirt-freshman Robert Marve (fresh off last year’s shoulder injury) sits atop the depth chart at the present time with not a snap of experience to his credit. As a team, UM threw four more interceptions (20) than TD’s (16) last season. Still, Marve was a four-star signee and three youngsters were signed to this latest class, including Jacory Harris (6-4, 176), who was very highly-regarded. Moreover, at least seven of their recent commitments were receivers, including the nation’s 5^th-fastest athlete (according to Rivals.com), Davon Johnson, and big-bodied guys Aldarius Johnson (6-2, 200) and Tommy Streeter (6-6, 200). Without a doubt, the players exist through which the staff could build a dangerous passing attack as 2008 wears on. The Canes’ finished 33^rd, nationally, in total defense but lost two of the best players at their position in the nation (S Kenny Phillips and DE Calais Campbell) one year early to the NFL along with their leading tackler, SLB Tavares Gooden. Looking ahead to 2008, the defensive line quartet of Eric Moncur, Vegas Franklin, Joe Joseph and Teraz McCray will be leaned on heavily and will certainly welcome local-product Marcus Forston, the nation’s top-ranked DT, into the mix. Forston’s fellow five-star signee Arthur Brown may very well have the good to step-in early and help Miami recover from Gooden’s loss.

North Carolina  The Tar Heels showed some improvement under the tutelage of first-year head coach Butch Davis. A defense that ranked 92^nd in the nation in 2006 finished 35^th in 2007. Given that no fewer than seven defensive starters were sophomores (two) or freshman (five) and that literally three of the four starting defensive back spots were manned by freshman, what was accomplished on that side of the ball was outstanding. The unit loses only three seniors (Defensive End, Hilee Taylor [top-sacker {10.5}]; Defensive Tackle, Kentwan Balmer [9.5 TFL’s]; and, Weakside Linebacker, Durell Mapp [leading tackler {132}]) but those seniors’ leadership on the front-seven was critical and it propelled the biggest defensive improvement from 2006 to 2007; namely, rush defense, where UNC improved 49 spots (from 100^th to 51^st) by limiting their 2007 opponents to 30-yards fewer, on the ground, than the ‘Heels permitted in 2006. Two ends, a tackle and two linebackers make up the top-five recruits signed by Davis’ staff this year and, since they occupy the positions which were vacated by the team’s seniors, they could very quickly find themselves helping UNC’s stop-unit climb even further into the nation’s defensive rankings for 2008. A weak ground-game (107^th [99 ypg]) was the primary reason the unit sank to a 105^th ranking in total offense by season’s end. But the poor offensive output was very much a function of overwhelming youth. In fact, only one starter (Center, Scott Lenahan) was lost to graduation while no fewer than 19 sophomores and freshman peppered the two-deep depth-chart of the season-finale. Freshmen started at several key positions, such as quarterback (TJ Yates [60% completion rate; 2,655 yds; 18 INT’s/14 TD’s]), tailback (top-three rushers are all freshmen; 1,110 yds, 7 TD’s, combined) and H-back Zack Pianalto (24 receptions, 204 yds). The obvious good news is that they are all back and they will join every one of their unit-mates except for Lenahan.  

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