"Automatic" Aquayo Saves Florida State's Season.

FSU's Roberto Aquayo's Game Winner

Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo is known in Tallahassee as "Automatic Aquayo".


He had to be on a rainy afternoon at Doak Campbell Stadium kicking his first game - winning field goal of his career.  A 26 yard field goal that sailed through the uprights and saved the Seminoles defeating Boston College 20-17.



“To win a game, I’d never felt that feeling,” Aguayo said.

So the undefeated season remains intact.  The winning streak has reached 27 games but with the three point win over a pretty good Boston College team the game control wasn't there.

You got to have that to impress the College Football Playoff committee.

We're undefeated." Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said.  "We finish every game. Everybody else in the country has not finished at least one game. We've finished every one of them. Isn't that the object?"

Yes it is however game control seems to carry more weight that just winning it.

College Football Playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long said on Tuesday night: "It's more of, the committee watches the games and then we discuss the game and we talk about whether the game was a back-and-forth contest, whether someone assumes control in the game early and keeps it throughout, (or) whether they assumed (control) in the second quarter or the third quarter or the fourth quarter and controlled it to the end."

If game control is your metric of where teams should be ranked than Florida State slipped again.

Saturday's opposing head coach, Steve Addazio sides with his conference rival.

"The object is to win football games and find a way to win and they have obviously
done an unbelievably great job of doing that, that’s what I really look at." Addazio said. "They play in a Power 5 conference, I think one of the better Power 5 conferences, and week in and week out they find a way to win."

"We were downgraded every time we blew someone out last year, so think of the irony of that." Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston said.  "If we win the game close, we're bad, when we blow someone out, we're bad."

“Florida State is the number one team in the country." Addazio said.

The bottom line is all Florida State has to do is finish in the Top four of the CFB Playoff poll and they are in.

You would think though that the only undefeated team in major college football would be the number one seed, conference affiliation be damned.

Florida and Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game remain on Florida State's schedule and both games will be difficult to control from the kickoff on.

Judging from the Seminoles past performance close games are the norm.

Syracuse Barely Beats Villanova, And We're Talking Football

((HT: ACCDN))

Without their starting QB, it took a failed 2-point conversion in the bottom of the second overtime for Syracuse to barely beat Villanova (otherwise known as FCS/Division I-AA Villanova)), 27-26.

Syracuse starting QB Terrel Hunt got ejected after throwing a punch on Villanova LB Dillon Lucas.
Hunt also received a 15-yard Unnecessary Roughness penalty on the play and it served as a motivator for the decidedly underdog Wildcats.


While it wasn't the six OT thriller in the Big East tourney, it certainly was a renewal of the rivalry- if only for a night.

Dirty South Looks At The Music City Bowl

((HT: Dirty South Sports Report))

The HQ would like to welcome and add the resources of the Dirty South Sports Report to our stacks from this moment on...

The reason...???

Well, one of the Dirty Southerners, Jackson Martin, is a protege of the HQ and we're glad to see him grow...

He's a regular...

So, to start, he went after the locals, the Music City Bowl...

Two 7-5 teams coming off disappointing losses to hated in-state rivals doesn’t sound like the setup for an exciting bowl game, but this year’s Music City Bowl might just be a thrilling shootout that keeps us glued to our TVs until the final whistle. Or it might be a lackluster slapfight between two teams just ready for the offseason (and two coaches who are ready to play golf).

Mississippi was dreaming of something greater this year. After an impressive recruiting haul, head coach Hugh Freeze looked to turn those offseason wins into victories on the field. The Rebels won a nailbiter in Nashville on the first night of the season to get things started right, but never put together the string of wins needed to truly contend for the SEC West title. Quarterback “Dr.” Bo Wallace had an up-and-down year that culminated in his fumbling away the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State. That overtime loss to the Bulldogs moved the Ole Miss season from 8-4 and optimistic to 7-5 and wondering what went wrong.

Georgia Tech has been stagnant for three years now. Paul Johnson’s triple-option offense is no longer producing the wins it initially did in the ACC and the Yellow Jackets are once again mediocre, as they have been every year since winning the ACC in 2009. This is a matchup of two even teams, but Ole Miss may have the advantage after getting a month to prepare for the triple-option. Tech doesn’t fare well in bowl games — last year’s Sun Bowl win over USC was the first since 2004 for the Yellow Jackets.

Bias Report
In this section, I’ll tell you who I’m rooting for in each matchup and why. My reasons will range from true fandom to whoever has the best uniform and I want to give you a glimpse of what I like and dislike about every bowl team.

I’m a Georgia fan. I don’t like the Yellow Jackets, and I especially don’t like Paul Johnson. There are two things I like about Georgia Tech:

Calvin Johnson


and Reggie Ball


Hoddy Toddy.

Numbers to know

F/+ Rankings: Tech 31, Ole Miss 34
Spread: Ole Miss -4
Over/Under: 55

Picks

To help you figure out exactly who will win each game, we’ve assembled a panel of experts to pick each game. Our panel features myself, Ben Weinrib of The Knuckleblog, our resident gambling expert Jake Kearns, @turntuptina (who makes NFL picks over at The Knuckleblog occasionally), my dad, and a decision on which mascot would win in a fight.

Jackson Martin: Ole Miss

Ben Weinrib: Ole Miss

James Francis Kearns III: Ole Miss

@turntuptina: Ole Miss

Dad: Georgia Tech

Mascot fight: Ole Miss now uses a black bear as its mascot, which I’m pretty sure is the natural enemy of bees.

The 'Cuse Conquers Texas Bowl Defeating Minnesota 21-17

The Orange may have beaten the Gophers in the Texas Bowl but head coach Scott Shafer would have like to not have to stress over the outcome the entire game.

"I just couldn’t be happier with the results today, would have been nice if we could have just knocked them out and won by 17 or something, but that’s kind of not our way this year."  Shafer said.

Syracuse had a 14-3 lead in the third quarter before Minnesota rallied for two touchdowns to take a 17-14 lead.

This Mitch Leidner 55 yard touchdown pass to Drew Wolitarsky in the fourth quarter put Minnesota up 17-14.



The Orange have had to rally late in games to get a win.  Syracuse wouldn't have been deep in the heart of Texas Friday for the Texas Bowl if it wasn't for a last minute win over Boston College in the season finale to earn the sixth win.

Why not follow that script in the Texas Bowl.  

Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt sealed Texas Bowl MVP honors with a 12 yard touchdown run with 1:14 left to win it for the Orange.



Hunt completed 19 out of 29 passes for 188 yards and rushed for 74 yards and tow touchdowns.

"This young man at my left (QB Terrell Hunt) is really representative of what we are as a program, young man from New York (and) stayed in New York to come and play at Syracuse." Shafer saidl  (He) isn’t’ the prettiest guy in the world on the field yet, but he’s getting prettier by the minute."

Hunt may not be super model status yet but Shafer doesn't need beer goggles anymore.

Wake Hires Bowling Green's Clawson

Dave Clawson will be introduced as the 32nd head football coach in Wake Forest history this afternoon...

He was the head coach at Bowling Green for the past five seasons, leading them to the 2013 Mid-American Conference championship after their 47-27 win over Northern Illinois.

Evidence below...
((HT: MAC Digital Network/ESPN))


“We are very pleased to have Dave Clawson leading our football program,” said Wake's Director of Athletics Ron Wellman in a press release. “Dave is a proven winner and leader and has had great success at every institution he has coached.”

Clawson takes over for Jim Grobe, who resigned after 13 seasons as head coach...

He takes over a very difficult situation where the head coach has to balance the throes of academics and wanting to have a competitive athletic team in the field at the same time...in the ACC...

It will be interesting to see if Clawson wins the press conference in Winston-Salem...

DEVELOPING: Grobe Stepping Down at Wake

((HT: WGHP))

Greensboro TV station WGHP and the Winston-Salem Journal are reporting that Jim Grobe is stepping down after 13 seasons at Wake Forest...you can watch the press conference live HERE.

OSG sources are saying the resignation is to save face and not get fired...

Grobe ended his 13th season at Wake with a 23-21 loss at Vanderbilt. The Deacons wrapped 2013 4-8 for their fifth-straight losing season.

Grobe still remains tied with Peahead Walker for the most victories at Wake Forest by a football coach with 77.

The glory time for Wake Forest football was back in 2006 when Grobe coached Wake Forest to its first ACC title since 1970 and second ever title.

The Deacons beat Georgia Tech 9-6 in a less-than-enthralling conference championship in Jacksonville in front of a television audience of a little more than friends and family...
((HT: ESPN on ABC/ACC))


They went on to lose to Louisville 24-13 in the Orange Bowl. Grobe was named national coach of the year by several organizations after that effort...

More when we know more... a presser is scheduled for 4:15 on campus...

J-DUB UPDATE: 3:45pm - Jim Grobe just told his players that he is officially stepping down. Demon Deacon star receiver Michael Campanaro just tweeted, "WOW. Coach Grobe steppin down! :("

WOW. Coach Grobe Steppin Down!! 😔
— Michael Campanaro (@MikeCamp_3) December 2, 2013

Here's how it was covered early on in Greensboro...
((HT: MyFox8))

Duke Rings The Victory Bell All The Way To Charlotte As ACC Coastal Division Champions

The Duke Blue Devils were picked dead last in the ACC football pre-season poll.

Don't you wish you put some money down in the Las Vegas sports books on Duke winning the Coastal Division now.

Saturday Duke defeated North Carolina 27-25 to win the ACC Coastal Division and play Florida State in the ACC Championship Game next week in Charlotte.

Thanks WTVD-TV, Raleigh/Durham


Courtesy: Blue Devil Network


Duke finishes the regular season 10-2, never in the history of Blue Devil football had a Duke team won 10 games in a season.

Anthony Boone has never lost a game as the Duke starting quarterback.  The streak has now reached 10 straight games.

Against the Tar Heels Boone completed 23-of-34 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns leading the Blue Devils to victory over their rivals in the baby blues.

This is a special football team that has owned the fourth quarter.  Duke overcame at 25-24 deficit in the final quarter with the Blue Devils fourth, 4th quarter comeback win.

Duke's defense is special as well in the fourth quarter only giving up 37 4th quarter points all season and has not given up over seven points in the fourth quarter all season.

Duke moves on to the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte to play soon to be top ranked Florida State.

Andre Williams Goes For 339 Yards Against NC State, Boston College Is Bowl Eligible

Andre Williams had a senior day for the ages at Boston College Saturday.

The A-Train tied his own school record with 42 carries and the ACC rushing record in a single game with 339 yards.  Williams added two touchdowns to his tremendous afternoon as Boston College defeated NC State 38-21 to become bowl eligible.



"It was my last game in Alumni Stadium and the emotions I was feeling before and during the game were just crazy." Williams said.  "It really wasn't hard to get back on the field and get another run out there even though I was hurting, even though I was tired. None of those things really mattered because there was so much on the line. Everything we wanted was right in front of us. Now we're bowl-eligible and that's what we've really been fighting for this whole season."

"I think that any time you have a dominant football player that is all about the right things and stands for what's right in college football then that's what the Heisman Trophy represents."  Boston College head coach Steve Addazio said.  "There are some tremendously worthy candidates out there but why not Andre Williams."

Why not Andre Williams who seems to be on the way to 2,000 yards rushing this season.  

15 to 20 years ago Andre Williams might have earned a spot on the Heisman Trophy short list.  Back then running backs were in the mix.

The quarterback position grabs so much of the attention today its to the point where they are the only position players that receive consideration.

Throughout the season quarterbacks have only been mentioned as the front runners for the Heisman Trophy.  

One of those under consideration for the Heisman Trophy is Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.  A pretty good argument can be made that Andre Williams deserves be the ACC Player of the Year over Winston.  

Do you think those voting for the Heisman Trophy will consider a write in campaign for Andre Williams?

That's not even on Williams' mind right now, his Boston College Eagles are celebrating an important win and all he cared about was bowl eligibility for his team.  

"To be able to do it in our last game at Alumni Stadium, it was just an unreal feeling."  Williams said. "Afterwards, being able to celebrate with our entire student body was something I've never seen before at BC. I'm going to remember it forever."