Making the rounds, checking in on how our 2011 opponents fared in week 2.
The Duke Blue Devils, fresh off a loss to Division I-AA Richmond, kept it close with Stanford for a half before losing 44-14. Blue Devil Nation saw a whole bunch of missed opportunities.
"Duke scored just 1 of 3 trips to the red zone, missed three FGs, and recovered an onside kick but did nothing with the possession. In contrast, Stanford scored on all 4 of their trips to the red zone. That was essentially the difference in the game, as the Blue Devils failed to capitalize on their scoring opportunities. The Duke offense was able to move the football well, racking up 335 total yards of offense, but couldn't find the end zone until late in the 4th quarter on Anthony Boone's 2-yard TD run."
UMass was off last week. They face Rhody on Saturday.
Wake Forest defeated N.C. State 34-27 to move to 1-0 in the ACC. Blogger So Dear celebrated the victory the best way they know how -- in short form poetry.
"Wake finally wins
Don't know how to celebrate
Haiku will suffice"
Backing The Pack only caught the first and last five minutes of the game, but that's all they needed to see to jump to the conclusion that the Wolfpack defense is struggling:
"I didn't feel great about State's defensive performance against Liberty, but I was willing to wait and see how those guys fared in week two before starting to worry. I'm not sure what the difference is right now--maybe someone who saw the game can help here--but for whatever reason they haven't picked up where they left off in 2010. Is it the injuries up front? Is Audie Cole struggling to adjust to his new position? Why the hell were we fooled by Wake Forest trickery as old as this Winston-Salem losing streak?"
Clemson struggled to put away Wofford, and while the Tigers held out several key defensive players, the game was still an absolute cluster.
Virginia Tech held on for a 17-10 victory at East Carolina. The Hokies defense once again looks solid, but its the offense that remains a work in progress. Gobbler Country thinks that the Pirates came to play on Saturday. As for the Hokies, f4H isn't so sure ...
"ECU was ready to play Saturday and I'm not sure the Hokies were. The penalties indicate they weren't and the inconsistency from the offensive line was another indication.
This Hokies team has a lot of potential but it's still a ways off from meeting it. In recent years by the time the Hokies realize this they've put a number in the loss column. Fortunately they have the luxury of being undefeated and knowing what they need to work before they face the toughest parts of their schedule."
Maryland (1-0) was also off last week and next hosts West Virginia on Saturday.
Florida State won an easy game over Charleston Southern 62-10, but the Noles seemed to sense its superiority and lacked intensity and focus, reports Tomahawk Nation.
Notre Dame lost a thriller to Michigan 35-31, and the Irish are now just 8-7 under Brian Kelly. Forget that the Irish are 0-2. Look over here ... the Irish are putting up great statistics!
"Defensively, this Irish team has shut down two straight opponents running backs, and the only touchdown given up on the ground was Robinson's freak fumble recovery. Notre Dame is sitting only at 51st nationally in run defense, but only 120 per game is pretty good against two BCS teams with two of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country.
Offensively, the passing game is 10th in the country right now and is on pace to be one of the best in the country once other teams start playing the big boys too. The Irish are averaging over 150 yards per game on the ground which is a huge improvement from recent years, and the total offense stats are in the top 20 with back-to-back 500 yard performances this year."
Finally, Miami was also off this week and hosts Ohio State on Saturday.