It is refreshing to see the ACC rebound this season. The ACC has the most unbeaten teams — Clemson, FSU and Miami — of any conference. One of these three could have a shot at playing in the national title game.
Miami still might be a year away from winning the league, but it has made significant progress under coach Al Golden. ACC fans should be elated that the FSU/Clemson game Saturday night is the headline game in the nation. It should be a track meet-type game with plenty of big plays and scoring. The winning quarterback, either Clemson’s Tajh Boyd or FSU’s Jameis Winston, could come out of the game with momentum in the Heisman Trophy hunt.
PLAYOFF COMMITTEE OKAY: Don’t spend a lot of time in angst about the playoff committee. It’s not worth it. The committee is an adequate group that knows football well. The criticism of Condoleezza Rice is not worth it either. She is only one member of the committee and to her credit she knows football. I do think a NFL scout should be on the committee because they know college football and more media and less athletic directors should be on the committee. Also remember at most, the committee is selecting one or two teams. The first two teams should be rather obvious. The real work for the committee will come with choosing team No. 3 and especially No. 4. Thirteen members are fine. Anything beyond 13 becomes too cumbersome.
SHAW DESERVES PRAISE: Thanks to some good work from MrSEC.com, it has been pointed out that South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw’s passer rating has climbed each season (from 148.3 to 158.1 to 172.8 this year). His yards-per-attempt line is up (from 7.70 to 8.58 to 9.24). His completion percentage has improved as well (from 65.4% to 67.5% to 68.5% in 2013). Most importantly, Shaw is 22-4 as a starter with New Year’s Day bowl wins over Nebraska and Michigan. His winning percentage is the highest in school history. Yes, Georgia’s Aaron Murray, Alabama’s AJ McCarron and LSU’s Zach Mettenberger get most of the conference quarterback pub, but Shaw is a quiet star who has become one of the best in the league. He makes the Gamecocks a tough out against either Alabama, LSU or Texas A&M if they reach Atlanta. Shaw also doesn’t mind playing in pain. He was expected to miss two weeks after injuring his shoulder against UCF, but he played well the following week. His teammate Jadeveon Clowney could learn from him.
MIZZO RISING: Despite Missouri being only one of two unbeaten teams in the SEC, CBS will not show the Tigers this week against Florida or next week against South Carolina. Aside from the weak excuses that the CBS brass gave for not showing Missouri, the most obvious reasons are the poor ratings the Tigers received last year and the loss of quarterback James Franklin. Still, if you are an SEC fan you might want to tune in to see a really good Tiger team this Saturday in an early game face Florida. Redshirt freshman Maty Mauk is a freshman who battled Franklin to the end of spring drills. Defensive end Michael Sam is among the leaders in sacks in the SEC. The Tigers have three tall receivers who pose problems for any secondary. Missouri also has eight fifth-year seniors which is paramount for any school battling for a divisional title. Coach Gary Pinkel has removed himself from the hot seat.