Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - CHAOS: Florida State's SHOCKING Loss to Virginia | ACC Officials UNDER FIRE?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Week five in ACC football was an absolute roller coaster, including formerly top 10 Florida State falling at Virginia. Here's what happens next. You are locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. And UVA over FSU was not even the most surprising result of the weekend. I would say Virginia Tech winning, and you know we're going to talk about that with Kenton Gibbs of Lockedon Wolfpack. Virginia Tech winning that game was it even bigger surprise for me? And there were other roller coaster results over the weekend.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Thank you so much, the everydayers for making Lockdown ACC your first listen. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. He is Kenton Gibbs, former NC State Defense of Limit and co-host of Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono, host of Lockdown Cainz. And today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5.

Starting point is 00:01:09 And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the Fandual app today. We'll talk about the new AP poll, which actually has a new ACC team in there. We got four in there now. It's been three for the last few weeks. We'll talk about Georgia Tech surviving with a little help from the ACC officials against Wade Khoris. We'll talk about that Virginia Tech win. Let's talk about that UVA win.

Starting point is 00:01:35 And I know Kenton, after a result like that, you know, a top 10 team favored by about a touchdown goes into Virginia. The bigger story afterwards is the team who lost the game and we'll get into that. But got to give UVA a ton of credit. Their offense looked, you know, as good against Florida State, surprisingly, as it has against some of the lesser teams that they face this year. Chandler Morris deserves a lot of credit, Tony Elliott, for basically getting himself off the hot seat, Virginia's head coach. So I guess we can start with that. You can see why they're fans so enthusiastically and controversially

Starting point is 00:02:13 rushed the field afterwards. And the words of Dennis Green, they are who we thought they were. And Florida State let them off the hook. Let's really get into it, right? Donnell, did you and I not say, or did I not say on this show last week, Florida State is going to sleepwalk into this game, and they'll have enough talent to overcome it down the stretch. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:02:38 Did they not sleepwalk early in this game? This game had every element of a trap game, and Florida State showed that they're not prepared to be the hunted yet. They have not reached that level where they can be successful being the team that is looked at us, oh, you're the person. pinnacle again. And that's just the reality. And that doesn't mean they're a terrible team. It doesn't mean that they have no chance to win out because they've got a huge opportunity in front of them with Miami coming up. But in this game, they suffered from many of the concentration

Starting point is 00:03:15 problems that you and I warned if they're overlooking this Virginia team and they're looking to Miami, they can very easily fall for this track. They can very easily fall for a trap that's being sprung in Charlottesville. And then next thing you know, those kids are storming the field and flipping off Costalanos, you know, that's what was happening because Florida State came unprepared. They spotted them 14 points. And honestly, honestly, there were multiple moments in that game where it felt like Virginia could have taken the game over.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Remember that incomplete pass? That was the incomplete pass early, that looked a lot like a fumble to me. but they ended up calling it a complete and it was completely unforced. Nobody touched the guy. He catches the ball, turns around, and just drops it. I can't remember which receiver for Florida State it was,

Starting point is 00:04:08 but he turned around and just dropped the ball. And so that is a clear sign that this was not about Virginia being dominant. And don't get me wrong, Virginia had an excellent offensive plan and their backs run hard. Those boys run hard. So I'm not taking anything away from Virginia.

Starting point is 00:04:25 Defensively, they held on. they made plays when they had to. And like I always say about defenses that aren't the best, you need to be opportunistic. And how did the game end on an interception? Be opportunistic. When that moment comes, take advantage of it. How did they end another Florida State drive

Starting point is 00:04:41 where Florida State was inside their team with an interception? So twice when Florida State's in plus territory, you take the ball away. That's what you're looking for. You cannot ask for more from a defense that does not have the talent to where you're looking up saying, we got a Ruben Bain on our defensive line. We'll be all right.

Starting point is 00:05:00 No. The defensive lineman everybody talks about from Virginia, everybody talks about him because he's married. Nobody's like, hey, he's one of the best defensive linemen. And they're like, oh, he's a family guy. He's a great guy. He has a great family. So that is, Virginia did everything that they had to do.

Starting point is 00:05:15 Offensively, Charler Morris in that running game did enough. They weren't perfect, but they did enough. And Florida State ultimately looked the worst that they've looked all season because I think that they slept walk through this game. I think that much like we've warned about, which Florida State fans were in our comments. They were angry. This was what we said before the game.

Starting point is 00:05:34 And the funny thing was, we both picked Florida State to win the game. You had covering the spread, but FSU win. I had Florida State covering the spread. And yet all of our comments, they were so angry that we said, hey, maybe there's an upset brewing when we didn't even pick it to that way.

Starting point is 00:05:49 Exactly. I picked Florida State, but I acknowledge there's a chance that they overlooked this Florida State at this Virginia team, and this ends up being a trap game because it had all the makings. And lo and behold, I feel like I'm in Yu-Gi-O again because this track card was activated amazingly in Virginia. And now, you know, UVA is the proud winners of a proud possessors, rather, of a top 10 one.

Starting point is 00:06:14 Well, and Thomas Costalano said something to the effect after the game that basically admitted that they, you know, weren't mentally prepared and kind of implying, hey, we can learn a lesson from this result. Something else you said is absolutely true that, like, Florida State can basically take a mulligan and completely undo this by winning against Miami at home this weekend because then, you know, Miami, who appears to be, you know, the biggest threat to win an ACC championship this year, Florida State beats them head to head. You both have one conference loss and FSU has the tiebreaker.

Starting point is 00:06:45 So that puts you in a really good position for the rest of the season. So if they can get that dub, now if they don't, they become Clems. basically in the standings, but if they can get that win against Miami, nothing really changes. Their big goal is right in front of them right now. Now, here's the thing. So you talk about the sleepwalking and all that. Is there anything, though, you take away from Florida State's performance where you say, okay, this could bode very well for Miami this weekend, even if FSU is mentally prepared,

Starting point is 00:07:14 because I will say I see some good and some bad when it comes to how Florida State played. If I'm looking at this from a Miami point of view, obviously, Deuce Robinson is someone who stands out that, hey, that guy can take a game over if you give Castellanos time to throw to him. Overall, Gus Malzahn's offense, very dangerous, a lot of misdirection, a lot of eye candy. If you're not prepared for it, they can make you look really silly on defense. But on the flip side, from a Miami point of view, I will say Florida State at the line of scrimmage looks exploitable. for Miami with what Miami has on the defensive line and especially what Miami has on the offensive line. Because Kenton, Virginia's offensive line was down three starters. And I don't expect they have so much depth that they should have looked that good on the O line with three starters out.

Starting point is 00:08:07 They rushed for 211 yards against Florida State. This week, you're going up against Miami's offensive line and you're going up against Mark Fletcher and Marty Brown and possibly are returning Jordan Lyle this week. That's a matchup, I think, that goes very well in Miami's favor. Absolutely. But even beyond the line of scrimmage, because the line of scrimmage gives you those first five, six yards. The lack of tackling, the lack of ability to make open field tackles.

Starting point is 00:08:35 Fletcher is a big boy now. When he's coming at you, you've got to strap your bro man parts on and make a tackle. Okay. Lyle is Shifty. If you think that, hey, I'm just going to come up here and do whatever and we're going to be all right. We saw from Taylor in multiple games this season, in every game this season pretty much, he is a powerful back with good contact balance. He has some moves.

Starting point is 00:09:02 And when he gets in that open field, if he's even goodbye. And he showed it multiple times this game. He showed that ability to break tackles, to make yards after contact. So you talk about the physicality of Miami. me i would be somewhat excited about that but if i'm their backs i'm licking my chops if i'm not running back room i'm seeing some good lamb chops on that field i'm seeing some good brazed ox tail on that field i'm seeing some good mac and cheese and and not all that other stuff that they experimented with now that look kind of fun i'm talking about the baked mac and cheese you know the type you can

Starting point is 00:09:35 run a knife across and hear that good scrape yeah that that's what i'm making me hungry but but that's what that's what i'm looking at if i'm looking at this floor to stay deep Now, on the flip side, Florida State can point to this and say, do y'all see now why you have to be locked in every game? Do you see now how every other game that we've played, including against the backs from Bama, we have been able to first contact down? We have been able to, hey, if we're contacting a runner, he's hitting the ground. But this game, we were not mentally sharp enough. And so it's not an aspect of we're being out talented or out physical. It's we're being out executed.

Starting point is 00:10:19 We have multiple players in the ball and we're just not executing. So I think that there is a lot here on a lot of meat on the bone from both Florida State and Miami. And the last thing I'll say is this. This could be a moment where we see Florida State pull it together, rally as a team, and say, this season isn't over. We will fight. We will claw. we would not let one loss turn into two, turn into three, turning the four, or we could see this Florida State team fall apart at the seams.

Starting point is 00:10:48 It's all to be seen. Well, there's still a couple more things I want to break down from that Virginia double overtime win against Florida State, including a controversial call on a Florida state, was it a catch or wasn't it a catch? And another game, I count at least three in five weeks, field stormings, field rushings by fans that have happened in three, at least. I might be even forgetting one that have happened in five weeks of college football in ACC Stadium so far.

Starting point is 00:11:18 The ACC is trying to crack down on this. I don't know if it's possible to take field rushing away from the game. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. Folks, caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. Five-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. Each two-out shot packs the caffeine of a, premium 12 ounce cup of coffee plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes.

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Starting point is 00:12:33 Of course, I'm going to be very busy this week talking Miami versus Florida State because that is going down 7.30 p.m. this Saturday. You know, Kenton, I still think college game day should have chosen to go to Tallahassee this week because I still think Miami at Florida State is a bigger game than Alabama at Vanderbilt. You know, I know there's storylines for both. Bama lost to Vandy last year. They're out for payback. Bama just beat Georgia. So they're, you know, week to week, Bama, even though Florida State beat Bama, I guess you could say, what have you done? for me lately. Bama just got a big win. Florida State just suffered an upset loss. I was not surprised whatsoever that they decided to go to Tuscaloosa, because Kenton, of course, the ACC is not going to get any sort of favorable treatment from ESPN or anybody else. If it's a tough decision, they're going to choose the SEC 10 times out of 10. And unfortunately, Florida State losing to Virginia made that a tough decision.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Would not have been a tough decision if they were undefeated. Absolutely. That would have been two top five teams. coming in, rivalry. This would have harkered us back to the old days, those early 2000, late 90s days. We got Heisman winners all over the field. We got national champions all over the field. We got future gold jackets all over the field.

Starting point is 00:13:50 You know, that loss, it put it in contention. And I will say this. I mean, at the end of the day, you are looking at two games, which have a total of what, five and one, five and old, four and one on both sides. I mean, I don't see why you wouldn't. But when you watch games on ESPN, even games that feature only ACC teams, what are all the commercials about?

Starting point is 00:14:14 What are all the commercials about? SEC all through the commercial. So why are we surprised? I'm not surprised. You're not surprised. But certain people that saw this from the outside looking in are very surprised, although it is disappointing. Yeah, so a controversial play in overtime for Florida State, Thomas Castellanos hits. Deuce Robinson, who had an incredible game, regardless of this particular play.

Starting point is 00:14:41 He hits Deuce Robinson in the end zone. There's bobbling. It was kind of a hot potato thing that he does throughout the end zone. Now, I'm going to have to ask you your opinion because I don't think Florida state fans want to hear mine because they, you know, they see the set behind me. I'll give my opinion anyway. I think if that happens to the team that you root for, you're going to be pissed. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:15:04 Right. If that call was made against Miami, I would be pissed, especially in a big moment like that. So I get it. You know, even if you don't and we don't like the rule. And the ACC actually, that was one of those live looks into the replay center and they talked it through. I actually thought their explanation. You know, I'm not going to prop up ACC officiating.

Starting point is 00:15:25 We're going to bash them in a couple minutes here. But I thought in this sense, Kenton, I thought they got the call right because he never had full control in the end zone. So you could say, hey, the ball was in his hands the entire time, but Robinson never established control. So I thought they made the right call with a no catch. Again, nobody cares what I think. Tell me what you think. I agree. I mean, it's that stupid thing of what is a catch, what is possession, you know, and if you're honest with the rule, but by the book, trust me.

Starting point is 00:15:56 I'm a guy that watched Calvin Johnson come down with the ball and ends on against the bears all those years ago and had it secure, took about three steps, went to the ground and then all of a sudden it's an incompletion. So I hated as much as anybody. I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, that rule is cool and fair. If we're talking spirit of the game type of deal, it's a catch. But by the letter of the rule in terms of did he possess it? And did he possess it with a foot down in the end zone? By the letter of the law, he did not.

Starting point is 00:16:30 It continued to move. He continued to recatch it. He would have been better with, I believe, the second to last, when it looked like he had it, but he let it go to get a better grip on it. He would have been better kind of holding it and letting them wiggle around a bit that last time, because at least then you've got the argument of, hey, the ball is in my hands. And it's not, I'm not taking hands off to regather and regroup there. But it's, you know, again, it's one of those spirit of the game things where it's like,

Starting point is 00:17:02 spirit of the game, that's a catch. We're playing backyard football. We're playing football on the in the street. That's a catch. But for the sake of what happened there, it's unfortunately not a catch. And again, I'm not going to give anybody the love and benefit of, well, the reps are so mean to you and you just didn't deserve it. Because everybody can say that. Everybody can say it.

Starting point is 00:17:29 Everybody has got a loss in conference. Wake Forest today. I mean, wait for us today, NC State last week. Everybody's got a right against the rest for something. At the end of the day, do not let this game be close if you're Florida State. I'll say that all the time. Some people will say, well, Ken, you know, you wouldn't say that to NC State. Go back and watch my episode in terms of the review for Duke.

Starting point is 00:17:52 I absolutely would. I absolutely say, don't let one play determine that game for you. Don't let it happen. And so, you know, it's unfortunate. But again, you can't. into that game and you spot it on 14 points or 17 points. I believe it was a 17-0 lead before they I think it was 14. I think it was 14. 14, 17, whichever one it was you cannot spot a conference opponent that type of lead. You just can't do it. And so, you know, ultimately the result is what

Starting point is 00:18:22 it is. But I'll tell you, that wasn't even as controversial as the field storming for some reason, which was very surprising to me. Yeah, well, okay, so let's get into that. So that was, you know, like even before like the final play was finished, the Virginia fans and with that little grassy knoll, I feel like every good conspiracy needs a grassy knoll. So with that grassy knoll that they have where the students or whoever sit, like there's no fence, there's no wall in front of that.

Starting point is 00:18:48 So if everyone, and of course they were anticipating this if we win this game, we're going to storm the freaking field is what they were all thinking. So everyone started like lining up on that, on that hill there because there was no fence. Although you had a few security guards that were just like, hey, just don't run over me, please. Go ahead, do what you got to do. So as soon as that pass was intercepted, before the Virginia player who intercepted it,

Starting point is 00:19:09 even hit the ground, they were off to the races. And what made it look really scary was, you know, Florida State receiver Squirrel White, who is the intended target, had just fallen to the ground. And then he completely disappeared by a sea of Virginia fans. And Squirrel White, by the way, is okay, thank God. like nothing happened to him, you know, nothing happened to Mike Norvell or Tommy Castle. Although that one fan like went up to him and put up the middle finger while he was filming live. So a lot of controversy came out of that.

Starting point is 00:19:41 Now, the ACC and Kent, we were both at the, you know, the commissioners forum back in July. The ACC is trying to crack down on storming the field and storming the court. Because, yeah, it creates a completely unsafe environment. Just, you know, the personnel, anybody who's on the field is, is in danger. when you just allow thousands of people to run full speed at you. So the ACC's trying to crack down. And the way that they're trying to crack down on it is $50,000 fines to the home team, right? So already this year, we had Florida State fans rushing the field when they beat Bama,

Starting point is 00:20:18 Georgia Tech fans rushing the field when they beat Clemson at home. And now Virginia fans rushing the field against Florida State. Those are the three that pop in my mind, three and five weeks already. And by the way, the $50,000 fine, ironically enough, goes to the opposing team. So Florida State, they got their $50,000 fine canceled out because they received $50,000 now for Virginia. So I guess they're all square. But it's like, obviously a $50,000 fine is doing nothing to stop this from happening. Like, is there anything the ACC could actually do?

Starting point is 00:20:52 I think the only thing they could do is, like, actually threatened to use, like, facial recognition technology to suspend or, you know, maybe even bar forever the fans who do it. Like if you know, hey, if I rush the field and I get caught on camera, I may not be able to watch a home game the rest of this year or maybe ever again. I don't know what else they can do because what do I, if I'm a college student and I'm about to rush the field after an upset, what do I care if it's going to cost my administration $50,000? Like, that's not doing anything.

Starting point is 00:21:24 Donald, the highest possible fine is $200,000, correct? Oh, really? Oh, if you're a repeat offender. Yeah. If you're a repeat offender, the highest is 200,000, correct? I think so, yeah. The average ACC budget is about $140 million, meaning they could afford to be repeat offenders 700 times.

Starting point is 00:21:46 Wow. Okay, but here's my question. You may not know this, so I'll have to look this up. For the repeat offender thing, like when does it reset? Like, does it reset after every season? Is it every five years? because, like, I mean, how many wins can you get in one year that you're going to rush the field three or four times? So here's my point.

Starting point is 00:22:03 Regardless of if it resets at the end of one year or if it recessed at the end of five, this is a drop in the bucket, man. Yeah. You've got to come stronger if you're going to say it fine incentivizes this because here's how I would think about the fine if I was to ACC. Let's pretend for a second. And I hate to be this guy. I really do. Because I know that it hurts smaller schools mostly. and it hurts schools that are traditionally not powers

Starting point is 00:22:26 because Florida State would not storm the field for beating Virginia. That's just the reality. But this is the facts of the matter. Let's pretend that we're in a world where Squirrel White was at the bottom of the pile and some of those fans weren't so classy and thoughtful to avoid him. Let's say a couple stepped in the wrong spot. And again, I hate being the person that takes it to this extreme. But when you're talking about player health and safety,

Starting point is 00:22:51 it does need to go to this extreme. If a couple people had stepped in the wrong spot on squirrel and he goes on to the Great Beyond, whatever you believe, whatever did, he goes on to the afterlife, right? Sure. How much is that lawsuit that his family is going to file against Virginia and the ACC going to be? He's seven to eight figures. So that's what the fines need to be. That's what the fines need to be. I think first time, 500,000.

Starting point is 00:23:20 First time, okay, 500,000, half of it. goes to the other school, half of it goes to a charity of your choice. First time, 500,000. And then after that, it doubles without a cap. So if your school keeps filling the need to storm the field, storm the court, that's fine. You're going to end up paying in the millions to do it. Because again, and this is why I say that, either you allow it or you put the hammer down. Don't do no slap on the wrist. If you're going to allow it, allow it and say, you know what? We'll take the risk. I'm fine with you saying we'll take the risk.

Starting point is 00:23:56 I'm fine with you bringing a hammer down. What I'm not fine with is that, oh, we told him, stop. Oh, we charged them what would be tantamount to one 500th of their budget. Oh, we told them. No, no, no, no, no. You got to pull out your big boy stick and say, you know, my mother always used to say, you don't know what to do, so I'm going to help you along the way. The statute of limitation has passed.

Starting point is 00:24:22 I'm not going to tell you what my mother would do to have. help us along the way. She would just give us a reminder of what they needed to do. The ACC needs to give a firm reminder. I'm not expecting Jim Phillips to pull off his belt at the middle of the field. They said, come here, Tony Elliott. I'm not expecting that. Mario Cristobald just did it to Billy Napier a couple weeks ago. But you get my point. There needs to be either you come down seriously or you let it right. And I get why the ACC is doing this because from their perspective, you cannot sue the ACC when they're saying, hey, we are finding these teams and we have done things to decentivize this,

Starting point is 00:24:58 or dis-scentivize this, rather. But they need to be more serious about that, the punishment. Well, I'm going to let Kenton drink some water for his hiccups there, because when we come back, I need him at full strength because I, does Dave Doran have a future beyond this season or beyond this week at NC State, if I'm being honest here, they lost to Virginia Tech. Also, Georgia Tech, they had an off week, but they still found a way to win at Wake Forest. You want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. One of the tools that helps make a huge

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Starting point is 00:27:59 against good to great teams. They'll play down to the competition when they play against teams like Wake Forest. And Georgia Tech should consider themselves very lucky because, and you mentioned and this happened to NC State against Duke a couple of weeks ago. Fourth quarter, game ceiling drive potentially for Robbie Ashford and Wake Forest. Georgia Tech has a guy clearly off sides in the neutral, all over the neutral zone when the ball is snapped. And Ashford makes a heads-up play when you know off-sides is going to get called. Take a shot downfield.

Starting point is 00:28:36 It's a free play. Why not? Now, that shot down field was incomplete, and then he was completely baffled to find out the officials were not interested in calling off sides when offsides clearly happened. That took away Wake Forest's shot to seal the game. Georgia Tech took advantage. The game ends up in overtime. Now, I'm not really happy with Jake Dickert's decision where basically in first overtime, he was just tired of playing the game.

Starting point is 00:29:00 He's like, all right, we're going to go for two. If we win, game is over. If we lose, game is over. I thought the old rule was go for the win on the road, go for the tie at home, I thought. But Dickert was like, let's just let's end the game right now. And the two-point conversion failed. Georgia Tech won. But Georgia Tech got bailed out by the officials, Kenney.

Starting point is 00:29:19 Well, they absolutely did. But I say about that call, the same thing I say about any other call, you cannot rely upon the officials. You can, especially in the ACC. If you give them a chance, they're going to take it away from you every time. So leave no doubt. But with that being said, the officiating in that game, like in every other game, was sketchy all the way through, to say the least. It just, you know, the ACC officials, some of the worst in the business.

Starting point is 00:29:46 But even more important, Georgia Tech, this is exactly what we were talking about coming into that game. Are you ready to be the hunted? Are you ready to be the team with a number by your name that keeps getting lower and lower and lower? Which means what? now you become everybody's Super Bowl. Now you become everybody's, oh, we're licking our chops, we're excited, we're salivate, we need to know how to beat them. Are they prepared to be that?

Starting point is 00:30:11 And do they have the mental fortitude to lock in each and every week? I have my doubts. I have my doubts. And this game didn't quell them. This game did not put those doubts to rest. Instead, it gave those doubts of five-hour energy. It said, hey, those doubts, come on, wake up. This time to roll, baby.

Starting point is 00:30:28 Because I look at this team and I say, you have much more talent than. than Wake Forest. You should be much better up front than Wake Forest. NC State, who could not run the ball against Virginia Tech at the same clip that Wofford did, ran all over Wake Forest. Why couldn't you? What's going on? You've got a quarterback that is a runner.

Starting point is 00:30:53 You've got Jamal Haynes back there. You've got a system that uses the wide receivers in the run game in a more meaningful way than most other schools do. So what happened to that scheming and planning? You know, it's a very disappointing showing by Georgia Tech, but I will give Georgia Tech this. It is important to find a way to win those games even when you don't play. That's true. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:31:17 The best teams find a way, even when they struggle, even when it ain't pretty, they find a way, even when you need a little help from the zebras, they find a way to get it done, which they did. You got to give them credit. Yeah, like, you know, Louisville found a way to win at Pitt. We'll talk more about that one this week. You know, Duke, Duke dismantled Syracuse. And I know Steve Angelly is out for the season, but Syracuse still should have done a lot better at home.

Starting point is 00:31:42 But I want to focus Kenton on, I would say this was a more surprising upset than what Virginia did against Florida State. Like that, you know, that's the game that got the headlines because Florida State was a top 10 team. But for Virginia. to upset NC State, who was favored, I think, but more than two touchdowns or around that, if I remember correctly. Virginia Tech, who, okay, 10 and a half, which maybe they knew something I didn't, because I thought it should have been about 17 and a half in that game. Virginia Tech, by the way, who has an interim head coach, Philip Montgomery, you know,

Starting point is 00:32:21 a bunch of players who were either in the transfer portal or on their way to it with that 30-day window being open. Kenton, how did that happen? And I mean, Dave Doran, he's not been fired yet, right? So is he going to finish out the year? I believe he will, barring a catastrophe because he is the winningest in terms of total wins. He is the winningest coach in NC State history and most ACCC wins is all that good stuff. I'm going to tell you something.

Starting point is 00:32:49 I'm going to tell you something, Donald. All year, Virginia Tech has played four games against FBS teams. the lowest that they had allowed coming into this game was 24 points against a South Carolina offense that is now ranked outside of the top 80 in every relevant stat passing yards rushing yards, total yards, points per game, all of that. They rank outside the top 80. They held no team except, or I'm sorry, including them. They held no team to under 24 in terms of FBS teams coming into this game. If NC State scores 24 points, they get a classic Doran win. What do I mean by a classic Doran win?

Starting point is 00:33:33 Doran is the king of wins that feel like losses, you know? Yeah. Like the king of a win where it's like, I mean, we won, but you probably should have whoop the wheels off that team. Well, he's lost his mojo for that, it seems. Credit to Virginia Tech. They ran the ball exquisitely well. Credit to Virginia Tech.

Starting point is 00:33:53 They stopped the run exquisitely. well. Wofford had more rushing yards against this team than NC State. And NC State came in with the leading rusher in the ACCC in Hollywood Brown. Wofford did that. Wofford made C.J. Bailey look unsure of himself, made the play calling Uber conservative made all, I'm sorry, Virginia Tech did all of these things to NC State. And I said it in the all week leading up to the game, I said, an animal leaps highest when wounded. This Virginia Tech team is wounded. Now, Dono, are you a hunter or a fisher by chance? Barely, I mean, living in Florida, you can't completely avoid fishing. So I go fishing

Starting point is 00:34:37 from time to time, never hunted. At least not yet, someday. Now, what do they say you do out of mercy when a fish or an animal is on his way out? What are you supposed to do? Mercy kill. Put it down. You're supposed to put it. They were supposed to put Virginia Tech down early. And instead, and instead, went to have time trailing this Virginia Tech team. That's what you get. That's what you get. They went to halve time trailing 13 to 7. And I knew from right then, I said this Virginia Tech team that was ready to quit, that has quit multiple times this season already, that had lost three of their top six tacklers, that had lost so many pieces to the portal or to injury per se, which I can confirm from a Virginia, from a person who covered Virginia Tech

Starting point is 00:35:25 that was sitting next to me and said, no, half of those injuries are not injuries. Those are just guys that are going to play anymore. Right. And then we look up and see what we saw in this game. Credit to Virginia Tech for consistently fighting. Credit to them for not quitting in this game. They were down in this game early and they did not quit. They rallied together and they continued to fight, something that NC State did not do.

Starting point is 00:35:48 So you ask, does Dave Dorn have a future at NC State beyond this one? He cannot. For those of you who don't know, I don't. I only go to games as a member of the media. I am in the press box, right? You know what the press box is always near or most of the time near? The donors. And you know what I was hearing?

Starting point is 00:36:05 You know what I was hearing from the donors after the game? I'm not giving another down-nish program until we get a new coach. I heard that from multiple people who were donors from when I was there. Yeah. That's how you force change to happen, right? I mean, you make it hit the wallet. Yep. When you lose those folks.

Starting point is 00:36:25 When you lose the people that are sitting next to the media, that's it. And multiple of them, I said it in the post game, and multiple of them contacted me afterwards to say, thank you for saying that because we are tired. And we need the world to know it. And I'm like, I'm just going to call it how I see it. I just call balls and strikes as I see it. And that's what I saw there, a fan base that is tired, that is frustrated, that started some chance that I can't even repeat on air without losing our clean rating. and y'all know me i'm gonna look out for that check always so man you know that's that's just what it is man it's an unfortunate situation again hats off to virginia tech hats off to them for fighting

Starting point is 00:37:03 hats off to that back of theirs because he was running his tail off i mean there was a point in the game where he had five carries and four of them went for first downs or longer hats off to them nc state it's looking like it's time for a hard reset yeah for sure let's take a quick look at the ap top 25 now uh so uh Miami falls a But Miami was on their by week, by the way. I fully expected them to drop a spot, Kenton, because I knew whoever won between Oregon and Penn State was likely going to jump Miami. That was a huge game. Miami didn't get a chance to play this past weekend.

Starting point is 00:37:37 So not surprised, although I'm also not surprised that Oregon beat Penn State because Drew Aller and James Franklin are mud in big games. Absolute mud. And Kenton and I, especially Kenton, have been saying it for years. You cannot trust them to win a big game. at home already. They had like 111,000 fans in the stands you let all, he broke all of their hearts, was fully expected. But Miami drops a spot. Now, Florida State dropped 11 spots. They're actually a spot now behind Virginia Tech. Who's at number. I think Virginia Tech dropped a spot as well. They were 16. They dropped to 17. So Miami and Georgia Tech both dropped one spot. Florida State dropped 11 spots. But we have UVA now in the mix there.

Starting point is 00:38:21 Virginia moves into the top 25, number 24 after beating Florida State. You know, so any any thought, and listen, again, like Miami dropped on their week off, but again, kind of expected. Georgia Tech dropped, they could have dropped them a couple spots. I wouldn't have complained after that game. But did Florida State deserve to drop that many spots, Ken? 11 spots. Was that too much?

Starting point is 00:38:43 I don't see how any of the teams that dropped from the ACC dropped as far as they did or how they dropped. Don't get me wrong. Florida State, yes, you cannot lose a game to Virginia. Cool. But here's my thing. Virginia was a team that is very apparently on the brink of being a top 25 team, as you see from that win, they get vaulted into top 25, right? How do you say that and how do you move back Georgia Tech for almost losing to a bad Wake Forest team? Meanwhile, Tennessee almost lost to Mississippi State. I'm sorry. What are we supposed to? It's Starkville.

Starting point is 00:39:21 What are we doing here? Well, oh, well, you know, they beat Arizona State. I don't, again, it just, to me, this is the stuff that I talk about where I say the AP poll and all these folks who don't do their due diligence affect perception. And because they affect perception, now they're affecting rankings, which are going to affect people's real life pockets, which is why Dono and I took such exception to, I don't have to walk you through my process and I can rank whoever I want, wherever I want. Of course you can, but look at stuff like this happening where, oh, an ACC team almost loses to another ACC team. Oh, they're terrible. They're awful. SEC team almost loses to an SEC team that they probably said, well, you know, that team's just great.

Starting point is 00:40:05 That's just a great team. That's just a wonderful team there. I mean, you make all the right points, which, again, makes me feel sad that I'm so conditioned to expect ACC teams to drop spots despite either not playing or winning a closed game. I'm so conditioned to it. I knew it would happen, but Kenton is right. It shouldn't happen. I want to thank everyone for making Lockdown, ACC, your first listen. I know there's a few more games we wanted to devote time to.

Starting point is 00:40:31 We will this week. You also have a full slate of games coming up this weekend, but we will talk about Duke over Syracuse. We'll talk more about Louisville over Pittsburgh and Cal beating Boston College. Good bounceback win for them. So we have a lot more coming up right here on Lockdown ACC. We are part of the awesome lockdown podcast network. Your team.

Starting point is 00:40:49 every day

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - CHAOS: Florida State's SHOCKING Loss to Virginia | ACC Officials UNDER FIRE?

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