Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - What Happened In Week Three for the ACC

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

It was a busy week three in the ACC. The Miami Hurricanes look real, the Clemson Tigers don't, plus more recaps. Week four has a weaker slate as well, with the Tigers taking on the Syracuse Orange as the top conference match-up, but there is plenty more to preview. Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOACC?sid=YouTube Locked On College Conferences, HBCU, Basketball & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnCollege #ACC #CollegeFootball #CollegeBasketball Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Clemson is clearly not the team everyone thought they were in the preseason, but Georgia Tech, they got the king. Time to assemble the squad. You're talking ball with the ACC squad. From Florida State to North Carolina, from Syracuse to Miami, and from NC State to California, it's the local experts of the Locked-on Podcast Network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming ACC weekend. Hang on, it could get loud. it could get heated and it will definitely be fun.

Squad up, you're part of the ACC squad. Hey there, what's up? Oh, we got to do that again because everybody's not in. All right, coming out of the cold open again. Three, two, one. Hey there, what's up? It's Thursday, September 18th, 2025. Shout out to the everydayers and welcome in to this ACC squad episode here

on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team. every day. This episode is brought to you by Fanduel right now. New customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you're going to get $300 in bonus bets to use all across the app download it today wherever you get your apps. On this episode, we got the squad together. Our guy Alex Dono, fresh off of that stomp down of South Florida is out at his son's soccer game. So we're holding down the four. We got Jackson Holzer from locked on Syracuse. We got our guys, Kenton Gibbs and Grayson Boone from Locked on Wolfpack and JJ Jackson, the great host of Locked on Blue Devils. And I'm Isaac Shade, the host of Locked on Tar Heels. It's great to be here with

you. We're going to look back at what happened this past weekend. We'll get ready for what's ahead in week four. We're going to look at who's ranked, who's not, and who should be maybe higher or lower. Obviously, Georgia Tech over Clemson, 55-yard field goal as time expires. Miami, a beat down on the South Florida Bulls, they would not get that third straight ranked win. Virginia Tech loses at home to Old Dominion and mercifully now will be on the lookout for a brand new coach. Unfortunately for JJ Duke loses at Tulane, too many Ben Yays apparently for the Blue Devils down in Nola this weekend.

Pitt loses the backyard brawl, the Wolfpack won at Wake and so much more all coming up. Boys, we have to start in Atlanta, Georgia, where Aiden Burr hit a 55-yard field goal as time expired, a great day for Haynes King. Georgia Tech, did they now have an inside track to make that ACC championship game? What do you think? I'll tell you what. Both of the Brents are heading in such opposite directions, gentlemen. I mean, one Brent is now on Indeed.

By the way, we would like a coach to come on Locked-on Podcast Network for Locked on ACCC. Brent, we know you ain't got much to do these. Never, anyway, Coach Key and this squad did exactly what I predicted them to do. I called this upset all last weekend because I said, Clemson is struggling to stop the run again. They're struggling to stop the run again despite all of their talent. And what does Georgia Tech do as well as anybody? They've got a quarterback that if the show Jackass came back,

he would be the ACC quarterback that would be most likely to throw Johnny Knox through a table or be thrown through a table by Johnny Knox. That's just what I would see out of Haynes King because he puts his body on the line, like he's one of the Hardy brothers or something for Christ's sake. You know, that young man is willing to do it. Are you talking about like Frank and Joe Hardy of Hardy Boys fame?

No, I'm talking Matt and Jeff Hardy, baby. Come on now. How do you not know the dance? What's going on? But he throws his body around like one of the Hardy brothers in the running game. And I knew that was going to be problematic for Clemson. I knew Jamal Haynes was going to be problematic for Clemson. I knew that having to be disciplined to be in your gap

and play physically, play in, play out was going to be a ton for Clemson. The only thing that surprised me is the fact that their offense still looks so disjointed. I get it. Antonio Williams is a primetime player and you are without him for these big games. However, they have to do something without them. By now you would think that we get it figured out. And the fact that their passing game has looked so out of whack for every game so far this season, including against the mighty Troy Trojans.

I mean, quite frankly, all pun intended, that game was the Trojan horse that should have warned all of us. They have serious problems down there in South Carolina. So this outcome was not surprising to me as this was picked as my upset of the week. But I will say, Clemson's in a world of hurt. So if Clemson is not very good, according to you, Kenton, then how good is Georgia Tech for beating Clemson on a walk off field goal? See, this is where I'm really conflicted in. Because if Georgia Tech is a team that we should believe in, then that means we all should believe that Clemson's a good team. But if you're saying Clemson is not a good team, then beating them on a walk off field goal at home is not that big of a deal, right?

Well, see, and here's my thing about this. I believe that Georgia Tech is an upper echelon in the ACC team. I'm not ready to name them as a preeminent brand in the ACC, a definitive. This team is definitely making the ACC championship type of team because we did this last year when they beat Florida State. did we not? We said, oh, Georgia Tech has arrived, ladies and gentlemen. And then, you know, sure as crap stinks, later on we saw they were not that type of team. So I'm still not willing to call them that here. I am willing to call them extremely physical. I am willing to call them amazing at running the ball. I will definitively give them that a great team that does not make,

though. It's part of a potential great team, but I'm not willing to say give them a playoff bid right now. I'm not ready to say that either about Georgia Tech, but you can, and dream about it because I do think it's now within the realm of possibility that they are undefeated going into the game against Georgia. That is now on the table because they were able to beat a team like Clemson. However, when I also look at Georgia Tech, I say, all right, close win at Colorado, but I don't think Colorado is that good of a team. So with Georgia Tech, I see a team that can basically play with anyone in the country due to their style of play, but also due to their style of play, they are prone to also being upset by teams that you wouldn't think can upset them or teams that just flat out.

Like maybe they're not as good all the time. They can punch with the best, but they're not consistently the best. That being said, Haynes King, absolute monster. And if he remains healthy, he's going to give Georgia Tech a shot to be undefeated heading into Georgia. Dare I say even beat Georgia. To Jackson's point, per ESPN's matchup predictor, Georgia Tech is favored to win all seven of their remaining ACC games. The lowest percentage chance at matchup predictor is 59% in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 1st. So Grayson Boone, I got to ask you, my man, is this Georgia Tech going to run the gauntlet, as Jackson suggested they might be able to do?

They have a real shot. And I don't know if I'm discouraged by how Clemson looked or more encouraged by how Georgia Tech looks. they look awesome. And to Jackson's point, I think there's certainly an element of getting up for the Clemson game. It's Clemson. Of course, you get the home crowd. It's one of your biggest games all year. You get up for a game like that. But Georgia Tech pretty well dominated. They were the more physical team. That's not something we expected to say in this game. So if you take that similar effort and you extrapolate that going forward, they're going to have a really good shot to come into Raleigh, probably undefeated at that point of the season. Now, I will say this, though. I almost feel like you're

going to learn more about Georgia Tech over the next four to five weeks than you did against Clemson on Saturday. I think, again, to Jackson's point, what will it look like on the road at Wake Forest or against Virginia Tech who is now coachless or on the road at Duke? That's going to be a tough matchup. Can they handle those games as well, you know, getting up for Clemson's one thing, can you handle relatively the mundane games in between those things? It'll be something to watch, but Haynes King is an absolute dog. I've been a Haynes King believer now for quite some time. I know I've also said he's an RPO merchant, but he's probably the best at doing so in the country.

This is a great win for the Yellow Jackets. I just can't believe we're here. I mean, it feels like there's so much that still left, you know, it's so early in the season, but you've got to be pleased with the results that you've gotten out of Georgia Tech. I'm more curious how does Clemson respond to something like this, because this is still a team that everybody believed

would be competing for an ACC championship. And truly, where do you go from? from here if you're Clemson. Does anyone turn to sit here and say that Clemson can't run the table for the rest of the regular season? Well, I think it's worse than what JJ positive as because this wasn't a team that people saw as a team that could compete for the ACC Championship. Everybody was ready to crown them before the season, ready to hand them the ACC championship.

Like, hey, we're already in Charlotte where you're going to win it in a few months anyway. I was in that boat. So I'm deeply concerned about them for the fact that, number one, you're 0 and 2 against Power 14. Number two, in both of those games, you did precious little on offense with a Heisman front runner quarterback, with one of the best receiving cores in the nation, a running game that we knew was going to be a work in progress. I'm deeply concerned. And are we going to say that they can't run the table? No. Obviously, they were predicted to be the preeminent brand in the ACC for a reason.

They were predicted to run away with the ACC by mile for a reason. I'm just waiting for it to show up. I'm waiting for that team to step through the door. T.J. Parker's been a no-show. Kay Klebnik's been a no-show. Every receiver that they have, except Westcoe in spots, has been a no-show. So at some point in time, somebody's got to do something. I mean, I feel like the meme of poking Clemson with a stick saying, come on, do something, do the thing now.

And they just haven't outside of the second half against Troy. Well, right now, Clemson has a K. Clubnik problem. That is 95% of the issues with Clemson right now. It's not the coaches. It's not all the other players in the team. I get some guys are going to overachieve. Some guys are going to underachieve. You mentioned T.J. Parker, he has not had a good start to the season.

One tackle for loss in three games. One tackle for loss from a guy who's supposed to be a first round pick, you got one in three games. That's not acceptable. That being said, it's pretty much all on K Club Nick. These are his numbers. 59% completion percentage, 633 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions. He does not get sacked all the time. So his offensive line is fine.

He's got a decent running game with Adam Randall. He's got Westrow to throw the ball to and four and five star receivers all across the board. What's the problem with K Club? And the same offensive coordinator from a year ago. Like there's no excuses for the guy. Like the guy just has to play better. And if and when he plays better, I think Clemson is going to be fine because they're not,

it's not like the defense is sitting here allowing 35 points a game. The defense is averaging 9. They're letting up 19 a game. They held LSU to 17. They held Georgia Tech to 24. If you would have told us going into the season that Clemson is going to LSU to 17 and hold Georgia Tech to 24, at minimum you would have told me Clemson going one in one.

But probably 2 and 0 because we thought the offense would be fine. and Kate Klovenk was going to be a Eisenman-Kalder player. But that's why I'm saying they have a Kovnik problem. He is not playing well so far. He's probably pissed off along with the rest of the Clemson team, just in time to welcome Syracuse. I can't wait. Jackson, don't make me defend a quarterback.

Don't make me defend a quarterback. It's on him. He's got to wake up. I give you that K. Kovnik has not been great. I will acknowledge that. I won't even say he's been very good. He's been good enough to win these ball games and the guys around him have repetitively let him down.

How many drops did we see from his receivers against LSU? You place one in a perfect over-the-shoulder spot in a slot fade. That's where a slot-fade ball is supposed to be thrown. And then we get Wesco just drops it. He just drops it outright. And that's not the only play. There were plenty others. That's just the one that sticks out the most in my mind

because you execute a concept perfectly. You're looking at cover one. A slot fade is a cover one. one beater because it is you and that DB go run to the pilot who gets there first. The receiver is in position, the balls where it's supposed to be, and the receiver drops it. And that's not the only moment that I'm looking at. The receivers in the tight entrance from Clemson is saying, all right, can y'all please do the thing?

Can y'all please show up? Cade has not been perfect. He has not been very good. I'd say he's been good enough to win with. However, the rest of the offense has done him no favors. Well, Clemson, as Jackson just said, gets to host Syracuse this weekend. Then they go to North Carolina, to Boston College. And then I think the stretch of the schedule where we really find out who the Tigers will be.

Hosting SMU, hosting Duke, hosting FSU, and then at Louisville. That four-game stretch is going to be very telling. The Tigers dropped from 12th to out of the AP poll. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech climbs in at number 18. Alex Dono's Miami Hurricanes took care of business in a big way over the weekend. Virginia Tech, yikes. As Kent said, they're on the lookout for a coach who's now on Indeed somewhere. And we're going to have to talk to JJ what happened down in Nola over the weekend.

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Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your game. only with DoorDash. Terms apply. And this promo period runs all the way through November 18th. This episode is also brought to you by Fandul. Y'all, the NFL season is here. And Fandul is making sure you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you're going to get $300 back in bonus bets to use all across the app. One of the great things about Fanduel is that it fits however you like to bet, whether it's player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as all the action unfolds. It makes every game more exciting. So whether you're watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup,

mine is 2 and 0, thank you very much. It's quick, it's easy, and the best way to add a little more spice to every Sunday. How about those canes? We were just talking about seven and a half point favorites over the Florida gators this weekend. Speaking of teams that are struggling, Duke, three and a half favorites over NC State. Uh-oh, Wolfpack, boys. We'll talk about that in a minute.

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after such a good team. Byron Brown, he's such a good quarterback. Oh, they got all these things. Listen, I told everybody that their chain was fake. I knew that there was a lot of enamel. There was a whole lot of cubic zaconium in that chain. And we knew that they were going to be exposed when a real team shows up.

Everybody across the 300 looked like a phantom until a phantom pull up. They looked like a physical dominant team up front until C.C. Maui Noa walks through the door, until Rehn-Hourgain walks through the door, until Basat walks through the door. Everybody looks physical. Everybody looks like they can run it downhill.

And then all of a sudden, you're like, wait, so that's what the first round is? We might not want to run a zone re going at him. We may not want to do that anymore. So, you know, respect to Alex Golish of what he's built in, right? Good for him. That is a team that has, like a Phoenix, risen from the ashes, more power to him.

However, you have to give credit to Carson Beck and company. You have to give credit to Fletcher in this running game. You have to give credit to that defense for putting an absolute hurting on USF. They wanted to be uptempo. They wanted to run the ball. There was nowhere to run. Every single time you saw a gap, you saw a hat with a you on the side of it right there waiting on them. Hey, buddy, how you doing?

This is private property, dude. It kept happening again and again and again. So credit to Miami, they were the more physical team, they were the faster team, they were the better team. I'm not saying UCF is terrible. It's just that those two ranked wins and a little dicey, little, not the strongest ranked wins I've ever seen. Obviously, Miami is going to play several other large games for the rest of the season.

But in my opinion, I think this is the true mark of Miami is for real, because you took, what was like America's story at that point? Oh, the USF Bulls is a great story. Can they play in the CFP? And Miami looked at that the entire week and then just completely stomp them in the dirt with zero questions asked. I think Miami's for real.

The defense looks for real. That was the biggest question we had. I know Dono talked about it, pretty much the all-off season, keeping Byron Brown to only two rushing yards. I mean, right there, there was a dual threat quarterback. He made them one-dimensional.

Miami looked awesome in this game. They are now the ACC favorite. For definitely good reason, they look to be the best team, the most complete team perhaps, in the ACC conference. A USF team that their coach is going to be highly sought after in the coaching carousel this off season and Alex Golish.

And you get up for big games like this. Miami, however, was the team that absolutely delivered. Really cool to see Carson Beck playing as well as he just what he went through at Georgia, the injuries at the end of it and walking away from the school of which was competing for championships year after year. Now you're setting yourself up to do exactly that. what you said you'd be able to deliver on. And now as they get further into ACC play,

I'm excited to see how Miami can follow up on this because in recent years, sometimes Miami disappointment has popped up on us. So now the question is, can you make sure that doesn't happen? They follow it up this weekend with another in-state game. We'll talk about that later on the show. We got a move to Virginia Tech boys.

Look, they start the season losing at home to 13th ranked South Carolina by, what, 13 points. All right, fine, whatever, we'll take it. Then they lose to Vanderbilt, who apparently Diego Pavia's mom's going on a date with a podcaster now. And Vandy wins that game 44 to 20. Not embarrassing to lose to Vandy, but by that much, yikes. But then came this weekend. Old Dominion comes to Blacksburg and beats the Hokies 45 to 26.

We talked about it in the lead up to the season. The hot seat was as hot as the flames of hell could possibly be. And man, here we go. We need a new coach. Jackson Holzer. What's happening in Blacksburg? They made the right move. And honestly, losing the Old Dominion might have been the best thing that happened

in the Virginia Tech program in quite a while. Because had they done what they were supposed to do and, you know, beat the crap out of Old Dominion, he would be there longer, Brent Fry. You would have given him another week? You might have given him the rest of the season. when in reality, he's probably the worst thing to happen to that program in a very long time. He stinks as a head coach. Absolutely stinks.

We knew this. So you lose to Old Dominion, and then they actually fired him the day later? Accountability for actually being terrible and not letting it drag on for the rest of the season. Bravo to Virginia Tech for making the move. That's what I'll say because last week I went on here and I said, they're irrelevant. There is no reason to talk about this program anymore as long as that guy is the head coach.

They legitimately make me mad because that's a program that's supposed to be really good in the ACC year and in, year out. And all of a sudden, they're not very good in the ACC. So they let the guy go, good riddins, and now you just start fresh. Who cares about the rest of the season? The season's over.

They're not making a bowl. They'll probably go two and ten, one and eleven. it's a right off year anyway, and then they get to start fresh in the off season. And they don't have to worry about, do we keep Brent Pry another year just in case, you know, he goes on that Billy Napier magic pixie dust wins three games at the end of the year, like what's going on with Florida right now, Miami's playing this week. They just said, no, you're done. We've seen your prior results.

You're not very good. We're moving on. So I'm glad with what Virginia Tech did. They made the right move. Virginia Tech is a special place that requires a special type of coach. It is a very unique situation. Anybody who's ever been to Blacksburg knows exactly what I'm talking about. There is nothing there for miles before you get to the stadium and campus.

Why am I saying that? Their answer is within the locker room. Look at what Georgia Tech did by getting a guy who was already there, an alum of the school who fits the school's personality to be the head coach. I am telling you, give J.C. Price the job. Unless he does not want it, unless he is absolutely like, I don't want to be a head coach.

I don't even want to be a coordinator. I just want to coach defensive line for the rest of my life. He is your head coach. He was a former player that was there during their glory days with Mike Vick and company during their best times ever. J.C. Price was there. He was a guy who steered them through murky waters when they fired Fintes and was a holdover from that staff.

He is a guy that. That is a hokey lifer. At least give him the rest of the seat. And if he goes on a Brit pride-ish, or I'm sorry, Brent-key-ish, wrong print. Brit-key-ish run. You give him, you slap off the interim tag and say, that's your guy.

But if not, they're going to be in a world of trouble because who wants to be in Blacksburg? And I'm not joking when I say that. No disrespect to the city of Blacksburg. But you look at what the current landscape of college football is. And the pageantry and all that, that's cute and nice. but you know what pageantry can't compete with when you're recruiting NIL? And you think that they're competing with the big dogs that are coming into the DMV to get their best?

You think that they're competing with the big dogs that are coming into the Virginia Beach area, the 757, the Norfolk area to get their best, the Newport News area, you think they're competing with them in terms of finances? No, so you're in a spot where you're going to be behind the eight ball. It's a specific type of person that's been there. But by the way, Virginia Tech, if y'all are looking for head coach, which I know y'all are i turn hawaii into a dynasty of college football 25 you know i'm just saying declaris tc ching athletic complex was top 20 in the nation in terms of home field advantage you feel me you feel me i turned into a tourist destination give me a call i'll be there for much less than

the pritchard oh man what a brain trust uh kenton would bring to that thing the portal by the way is open now for 30 days for virginia tech players keep that wrinkle in mind in this era obviously if you haven't heard the news, offensive coordinator Phil Montgomery is the interim head coach for now. JJ, I apologize, but we got to shine the light on you, sir,

where apparently the Duke Blue Devils this weekend went down to Cafe Dumas and had way too many Benets with way too much powdered sugar on top of them, and they come back to Durham, the proud owners of a not win, and now a one and two record on this season. What happened, dude?

Yeah, fortunately, the defense were the ones that were eating a little bit, much and not able to keep up with that two lane offense. I mean, a battle of transfer quarterbacks with Darian Minza going back to his old stomping grounds. You see BYU transfer quarterback Jake Retzloff now at Tulane run for four rushing touchdowns and really go wherever he wanted to against that Duke defense. Minson still put up over 320 yards passing. Duke's office actually out game two lane in a game like this. There were just the other phases in match that you've got to execute when you go on the road and Duke unfortunately was let down in that

regard. It was really tough to watch. Hey, do we need to start asking questions about Dary and Minson chain and whether or not it's real? They're about to break out the diamond tester for Dary and Minson. And we got to have them on Saturday, can't we? He got paid a whole lot of money. And I'm sorry to tell you, you got to produce. And don't get me wrong, JJ, you're absolutely right. He was not the cause of this loss. However, when you hear about a Duke football player, player, right? If you hear about the boozer twins making this month, hey, it makes sense. You know what it's Duke basketball. It costs what it costs to win a championship. But you're looking at Duke football and you're saying you're losing to a group of six teams,

a group of 16 who's transfer quarterback got there late because he got kicked off a BYU's team for, you know, a ton of things that get kicked out BYU. We ain't got to go there today. But Red Slav gets kicked out of BYU last minute, goes over there right before fall camp start. and is good enough to not only be a factor, he was the X factor in this game going off for in total, what was it, like 360 some odd yards between rushing and passing for Tuddies. I'm looking at Mandy Diaz and I'm saying you've got to get this together because at the end of the day,

Darry and Minson, it seems like he's starting to get it now. It's seeming like he's starting to come along now, which was my concern as an NC state guy, because I said that the NC State game would be the game where it finally clicks for them all together. Hopefully I was not prophetic there. Hopefully I was not prophetic. Hopefully I was wrong like I was about everything week one.

But this is a very, very interesting time for Duke. Because coming out of this game, people are looking at some rolling company saying, that's a hell of a coach and you expect that program to win big time ball games. But there's also a little bit of looking at Manny Diaz, like how? How do you lose this game?

All right. Well, Kenton just mentioned John Summerall's name. This is another feather in his cap. I don't know when and where it's going to be. But you've got to assume this is the offseason. He ultimately moves somewhere. And we will see where that is. UCLA, Virginia Tech. I don't know. We'll keep our eyes on all of that and see what happens. Grayson just said it a second ago. We're going to find out a little more about Darian Mentsa this weekend as the Wolfpack travel over to Durham, Florida, taking on Miami. Can the gators figure themselves out? As an ACC squad show, we sure hope not. We got that and more for this weekend's games all coming up in just a second.

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controls. So like the players on all our ACC squad teams, Mazda sweats every detail, because when you make every move count, impossible, man, that becomes irrelevant. relevant. Mazda, move and be moved. Quick rankings update as of this upcoming week, Miami is the highest rated ACC team at four, followed by the Knowles at 7th, Georgia Tech at 18. Notre Dame is ACC light. They're 24th, even after that 02 start and others receiving votes, Louisville, Clemson, SMU, and the Wolfpack. And look, since you guys are all here and Dono's not, we ain't starting with Florida and Miami. We're starting with NC State at Duke. Grayson, I want to come to you first, man.

I'm so intrigued by this matchup. The Wolfpack right now are 3 and 0. Will they be 4 and 0 leaving Saturday's game? They're going to have to put together their most complete effort yet if they do want to accomplish that feat. The offense so far for NC State has been pretty impressive. They're putting up big numbers. But the defense on the other side, it's been the absolute epitome of a roller coaster. Every single, at least half of a game, it feels like are we going to give up 24 points?

Are we going to give up zero points? You saw that out Thursday night in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest, who's not been able to do really anything so far this year, we made Robbie Ashford look like a high-sman contender in the first half. But in the second half, NC State holds them to 10 total rushing yards. And 40, I believe 40 total yards in the entire second half, NC State escapes with a win. You can't play from behind on the road in Durham

against what is now a pissed off Duke team dropping their last two. So NC State, it's going to have to be a four-quarter effort, not a tale of two halves. This Duke team seems a little bit snake-bidden, and you've got to continue pouring the venom in the wound at this point. Because you watch the Illinois game. That game was much closer than the score implies. Everybody's talking about, oh, Duke got dominated.

Duke got dominated. I'm like, did you watch the game? Because they moved the ball at will. They had good things going from. They were getting stops on Altmyron Company. The problem was that every time they got close to the end zone, they got to the red zone, and all of a sudden it turned into the yellow zone.

because they was just going to start wetting the bed immediately. So you look at that, that's a serious problem for Duke. And then against Tulane, like JJ said, they could not get off the field. Every time that they got into third down situations, they said, you know, DJ Elliott said they stole my whole flow, word for word, bar for bar, not being able to get off the field on third down. That's NC State's defensive coordinator, if you didn't know. But in all seriousness, this is a moment for both Duke and NC State,

where you're asking the question, what's your season going to be for the rest of the season. Because with a loss in this game, Duke would drop to one and three and you're looking at O and one in conference and you're looking at confidence at an all-time low based on where you were last year, three consecutive non-win seasons to now one and three. And on the NC state side, you're looking at a situation where if you lose, people are going to say, well, you play with fire and you only beat inferior teams playing with fire. You beat ECU, you beat UVA, you beat way fours. Well, whoopty-do. Now, what a big deal. What a great job there.

So you're looking at a game that for both of these teams is very relevant, outside of, of course, the fact that these teams are less than 20 miles away from each other, and the recruiting battles will for sure be decided. Some recruiting battles will for sure be decided by this outcome. Your rebuttal, Mr. Jackson. Yeah, it just sounds like we've got a shootout coming to this game in Durham because defensively that's not what Duke has been able to pride themselves on the season, which is the complete opposite of what I would have told you going into the year.

I mean, I felt way more comfortable with the Duke defense that was returning so many players up front, great players in the secondary, and yet it's been the defense that's letting Duke down week after week. I love what Kenton said there. I can't imagine the energy that would be in that football complex if Duke shows up one and three when we're talking next week. I mean, that would just be miserable for them to look at knowing you still got Georgia Tech, knowing you still got Clemson, knowing you still got to play your arch rivals, North Carolina down the road. I mean, that's just not a spot where Duke wants to be. I really hope that we're ready to see Dary and Mintsa continue to play well. Duke cannot run the

football whatsoever this season. They weren't able to do it last year, finishing next to last in the ACC. It remains that way this year in 2025. So I'm excited, man, these games have been relatively fun to watch Duke and NC State over the last couple of years. So we'll kick it off on Saturday and we'll see which team walks away victorious. Let's move to Miami and Florida. Kenton talked about Duke maybe being snake bitten for Florida. They've been bull bitten and tiger bitten, and now they might get swept away by the hurricanes.

And look, this thing is not easing up. They got to go to Miami, then they host Texas, and then they go to A&M. Good grief. Florida could be sitting there one in five, and that would not be a shocking thing. Jackson Holzer, you talked earlier, I think it was you earlier in the show,

just mentioning how Miami winning this game against South Florida reminded everyone that they're a little bit more legitimate. And boy, can they take another step in that as they play Florida? What do you see happening here? Well, in regards to Miami's legitimacy, I didn't learn anything from USF. I learned it from week one when they beat Notre Dame and they shut down Notre Dame's rushing attack. That's when I learned, I think Miami's different this year. Now, with Florida coming in. The building's probably going to be about 50-50. There's going to be a lot of Gators fans there. So that's why the line is probably closer than what you might think. But in all actuality, Miami should dominate this game. Florida is not very good. They're not. They just lost a

USF, who you just destroyed. And I understand that it's one game that Florida lost and it's one game that Miami dominated USF. But I mean, like, does anyone actually think that Florida's going to win this game after what you just saw DJ Lagway do in Death Valley, the LSU Death Valley? That was tough. It was horrendous. Their head coach is still Billy Napier. This program, Florida is a proud program.

They are supposed to be year and year out one of the cream of the crop, not just of the but of the entire country. And I'm sorry, but they're just not. And so if you're the Miami Hurricanes, your job this weekend is to make it so that Florida is going to fire Billy Napier, just like Virginia Tech did with Brent Fry. That's Miami's job.

They should at home stump this team because Florida ain't very good. They don't do anything well. Nothing. They stink. Their quarterback stinks. Former five-star guy. Don't care.

It's the same thing what I said with Miami and how they did against USF. Like, you should kill this team. They did. Same thing with Florida coming into their building. You should kill this team. I await their answer. Yeah, Jackson definitely just threw me the alleyup on there. I was about to mention this feels like the Brett Prime moment for Billy Napier down in Gainesville.

If you get blown out on the road at Miami, I'm inclined to believe that might just be it. Because you haven't even made it to your SEC schedule yet. It can only get basically uglier from here. So I have full confidence that Miami will win this game. And again, if it gets ugly, if it gets ugly in Coral Gables, you might say Sianara to Billy Napier. It can get ugly. It can get pretty.

It can get beautiful. The Florida doesn't need Billy Napier anymore. They raise money once to get rid of them. Go ahead and bring that pop back. Bring those go fund mes and give singles and bring all those back. Okay. Billy Napier is not going to make it through the season. I highly doubt that he makes it all the way through this game because at the end of the day,

I don't know why Florida fans would come to this game. Florida has not beaten a team that's not named after a drink. I'm joking. I know that Long Island was not in fact named after the drink. But Florida has not beaten a single team that is FBS this year. Granted, we're talking about game three, but still, we just saw what UCF look like or USF look like against Miami. we just saw how Florida looked against USF and DJ put the lag in lagway

this game against LSU because his controller was clearly lagging throwing all those picks. Five interceptions. It was insane. You know what? It reminded me of Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Jets when he was playing

on the road in Kansas City and he threw six picks. And it just got to a point where he's just going to throw an interception every time he drops back. Like, who cares? He's just going to throw it. And he doesn't know what he's, he's seeing ghosts out there as what was going on with him.

It was bad. And that's my point. That's my point. So you were seeing ghosts last week. And with all due respect to LSU, do they have a single age rush as good as Ruben Bay? A single guy on that? No, they don't. They don't.

So now you're going to get real pressure. You're going to get real deal. I don't even think they got anybody as good as Mesidor up front down there in Baton Rouge with all due respect to the Tigers. So you're going to get some real deal. pressure rolling in your face, play and play out, and I'm expecting you to perform better, based on what? Based on how? How can you get there?

Oh, yeah. This is over. Go ahead and get on LinkedIn. And Billy, I'm so sorry that you're going to have to be Billy and Brent. I'm sorry, both y'all are in unemployment right now. It's a tough job market. It's a very tough job market, but that's why here it locked on. We're welcoming former coaches that need to rehab their image.

You can come on here, do Lockstone Look at a Week with me, and we can break down some ball to give people the thought that you know ball going forward. I'm just saying, just the thought. Shout to Gary Patterson, who's doing it, right? Like, he's killing the game. I absolutely love it. By the way, Miami's seven and a half point favorites over Florida. And by the way, Florida is not going to sit there

where all their basketball teams win in national championships and not allow the football team to be struggling. We didn't mention it earlier. Duke three and a half point favorites over NC State. We got Jackson mentioned it earlier, Syracuse down at Clemson, where the Tigers are 17. and a half point favorites.

Jackson, I don't know whether to ask you if they can win or just try to stay within the number. What's going to happen there? I hate that Georgia Tech won in the way they won. Yeah. I hate it. It is awful. It's already going to be hard enough to go into Death Valley and win.

That's all right. Let's just throw it out there. Like it's going to be very difficult no matter what to win that game. Now you're getting pissed off, Clemson. You're getting Clemson that's quite really. matter if Clemson's pissed off? I'm not sure. They're pissed off and they're playing for their season for the rest of this season. They don't get to lose another game.

See, like, they're in the coffin, but the nail has not been drilled in there just yet. And it's still the Clemson Tigers. And it's still within the realm of possibility, like I said earlier, that they run the table the rest of the regular season. Because we've seen something like this before with Clemson. and how they can sometimes start slow and they can look off. And I've already told you all, Kate Klubnick, I don't know what's going on with him. He's most of their problems right now. Well, that's just, it's great because he's got Syracuse coming in that can't generate a pass rush.

Now, they have one sack in three games from a defensive lineman. One from a defensive lineman. Their other two sacks are from a converted tight end, outlying linebacker. And the other one is a defensive back who came on a, corner blitz against hole gate. So you can't generate a pass rush. You're probably going to get mauled up front. And the team you're playing is pissed off,

playing for its season for the rest of the year. We got one other. What am I supposed to say? Am I supposed to pick Syracuse to win because I'm the locked on Syracuse host? No, absolutely not. Okay, so I don't like this matchup at all. I hate it.

That's what I want you to say. You hit the nail on the head. You nailed that nail. you hit it on the head. All right, one other conference game, Stanford at Virginia. We've got two other teams in the ACC playing high major or power four opponents. Kent and Freudian slipped one of them earlier, but Bill Belichick's heading to Disney World, where Carolina is a six and a half point favorite. First time emerging from oblivion after getting embarrassed by TCU in week one.

They've played a couple lower level opponents. And then the other one is SMU staying in that Dallas Metroplex and heading over to Fort Worth and TCU We'll see what happens there. We've also got Wofford at Virginia Tech. Someone's got a win bowl because both those teams are 0 and 3. Boys, we'll see what happens. They're going to be a lot of fun. It's been a great show today.

Our guy Jackson Holzer from Locked on Syracuse, Grayson Boone and Kenton Gibbs from Lockedon Wolfpack and our guy, JJ Jackson from Locked on Blue Devils. I'm Isaac Shade from Locked on Tar Heels. And of course, we miss our guy, Dono, the host of Locked on Miami. Hopefully his son won his soccer game as we record this one. You guys, thanks so much for making ACC squad part of your listen on Thursday. We are your teams every day.

We'll catch you next week right back here on the ACC squad.