Nobody, and I mean nobody, predicted what has transpired in the ACC’s Coastal Division this year.
Two months ago, if somebody had circled the October 15th Duke-North Carolina game as the Division’s pivotal contest in 2022, you would have thought that they were the village idiot.
North Carolina’s TD with 18 seconds to play against the Blue Devils produced a 38-35 victory over their archrivals. The 74-yard drive was led by Freshman wunderkind Drake Maye. Maye quickly dispelled any angst over the departure of Sam Howell. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has been better than Maye, with due apologies to Bryce Young and CJ Stroud.
Duke has been an even bigger surprise under new coach, Mike Elko. The Blue Devils also have a QB revelation in Riley Leonard. But Leonard is far from the whole story. Elko’s chops as a defensive coordinator have produced defensive wonders in Durham. The Blue Devils look nothing like the team that was predicted to win all of 2.5 games in 2022. If Duke had just held on against the Tar Heels, you would now have a tie for the top in the Coastal. As it stands, North Carolina’s 2-game lead in the Coastal looms huge. If Mack Brown can rid itself of his 0-for-forever record in Charlottesville tomorrow, the Coastal title becomes close to a certainty.
The Carolina schools have been the division’s pleasant surprises. In the zero-sum game of division winners and losers, there have been huge disappointments. Nobody, and I mean nobody, foresaw Miami’s dual humiliations at home by both Middle Tennessee and Duke. Mario Cristobal was supposed to be their savior when he bolted from Oregon. Wow!! One of the 10 Commandments says not to worship false Gods.
Defending ACC champ Pitt has also been a massive disappointment. The Panthers already are sporting 3 conference losses, including a stunner to a Georgia Tech that has already fired its coach. What on earth happened to the team that took Tennessee to overtime? Kedon Slovis’ QB regression is part, but certainly not all, of their malaise.
One certainty: No division has produced more surprises to date than the ACC Coastal. Just another reminder that college football can be very unpredictable!