Miami 31
@ Duke 6
Final

(09-29-2017 09:54 PM)Terry Wrote:  Miami 31
@ Duke 6
Final

Not on defense.

Admittedly I looked at the score to make the same comparison but realized there was nothing ... valued about it. Match-ups and depth being important as they are, this is only something pollsters guess at. When UT can compete with Duke's tobacco dollars, then we'll have something to cheer.

Watched the whole game, and yes, I think we fared better against Miami than did Duke. Our defense, not better than Duke. They have a much better run defense than we do. However, our offense (passing game in particular) was much better than Duke, and we were on the road. They didn't have near the quality of QB and wideouts that we have to be able to carve up the Miami secondary. Miami had their best cover corner on Duke's best WR the whole game and shut him down. Only 166 yards passing for their QB. Woodside had 344 yards passing and 3 TD's. Duke didn't even score a TD in the whole game and we put up 30 points! We also had more missed chances than Duke (missed wide open chance in the end zone 2nd quarter, Thompson's TD not reviewed etc.). Those are stretches yes, but they are also not factored into the stats. We had Miami on upset alert and we were in the game with 7 minutes to go. Duke never led the whole game.

That said, could we beat Duke? Maybe, maybe not...it would be a game of matchups. I think it would be close though, and I think we would put up as many points as Miami did, win or lose.

Funny thing is there has been all this hype surrounding the Duke QB, saying he is one of the nation's elite passers, with some even speculating he would declare for the draft this year - he's a sophomore. His performance against Miami compared to Woodside was pedestrian. Imagine if Woodside hadn't had those 4 or 5 passes dropped.

The teams we would beat in the ACC:
PITT
BC
UNC
SYRACUSE

The teams we would play within in a score and win 50/50:
NC State
FSU (now)
Duke
Virginia
GT
WAKE

The teams we would be underdogs but compete like those other middle ACC teams would:
Louisville
Miami
VT

The team who would overmatch us:
Clemson

Louisville may belong in the "compete" category..