It was another lackluster week for most of the ACC, with only a couple of teams turning in solid performances, while most of the conference looked rather bad during the week. With that being said, here are my ACC Power Rankings for Week 5 of the college football season. Florida State (4-0, 2-0 ACC, defeated NC State 56-41, Last Week’s Ranking 1) It wasn't pretty, but FSU doesn't have a whole lot of obstacles between them and winning the conference. The defending champs have been far ... Read More
Pitt stunned by Akron
After suffering their first loss of the season last week against Iowa, many expected the Pitt Panthers to get back on the winning track Saturday at Heinz Field against MAC opponent Akron. That didn’t come close to happening as the Panthers and their home fans were stunned by the Zips 21-10 as Paul Chryst’s team failed to show up ready to play. Neither team got much going early on offensively and the game remained scoreless until the second quarter when Chad Voytik found Manasseh Garner ... Read More
Northwestern hands Penn State first loss of season
STATE COLLEGE, PA – Penn State (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) just couldn’t get its offense rolling as they fell to Northwestern (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) in its first loss of the season. It didn’t take Northwestern long to draw the first blood. A one-yard rush by senior quarterback Trevor Siemian just 5:31 into the game whetted Northwestern’s appetite on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Happy Valley. The Wildcats liked the feeling enough to do it again, scoring another touchdown less than five minutes ... Read More
Penn State looks to remain undefeated against Northwestern
The Penn State Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) are looking to continue their win streak on Saturday against the Northwestern Wildcats (1-2, 0-0 Big Ten) at Beaver Stadium. Penn State dominated UMass last week, taking the game by a score of 48-7 while Northwestern is coming off its first win, powering past Western Illinois 24-7. Penn State will be looking toward two key sources of scoring on Saturday. Its deadly running trio of Bill Belton, Zach Zwinak, and Akeel Lynch posted 185 of 228 ... Read More
Akron vs. Pitt: Preview, Analysis and Prediction
The Pitt Panthers will look to get back on the winning track Saturday afternoon when veteran coach Terry Bowden and the Akron Zips visit Heinz Field. After suffering their first loss of the season last week, the 3-1 Panthers will look to get back on the winning track in their final non-conference game of the season against the 1-2 Zips. A victory over Akron would give Pitt its first 4-1 start since 2009. Who has the advantage? Let’s take a look. When: Saturday, September 27 Where: Heinz ... Read More
Ficken right: Penn State’s kicker enjoying end of Cinderella collegiate career
Everyone loves a Cinderella story, and as it turns out, Sam Ficken has a pretty nice one. The start of his career at Penn State was shaky to say the least. Originally hailed as only a backup to former kicker Anthony Fera (who transferred to University of Texas in the wake of the sanctions against the university), Ficken was ripped from his comfort zone and dropped into a starter’s role. Many argued he wasn’t ready. They fought back even harder when Ficken struggled in the 2012 season, ... Read More
Chad Voytik must continue to improve as Pitt QB
Pitt Panthers’ fans have long been clamoring for heralded prospect Chad Voytik to become not only Pitt’s signal caller of the future, but their quarterback of the present as well. While Voytik has certainly shown some good things during his appearance in the Little Caesars Bowl last season and his first three starts of this season, the sophomore quarterback showed last Saturday against Iowa that he still has some things to work on. With the fashion that the Panthers have been able to have ... Read More
ACC Power Rankings: Week 4
Through four weeks of the 2014 college football season, the 14 Atlantic Coast Conference teams have left us all scratching our heads. Florida State beat Clemson, which is supposed to be the league's second-best team, despite not having Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. All of the teams that opened up eyes during the season’s first three weeks- Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech -- all lost on Saturday to make the conference look fairly weak. It has been a weird start to the season in ... Read More
Pitt cornerbacks not passing early season test
Heading into the 2014 season, the secondary looked to be the Pitt Panthers biggest weakness. And despite starting the season 3-0, there were still many questions about whether or not the Panthers’ defensive backs could play good enough football to beat quality teams. We got that answer during Saturday’s tough loss to Iowa and going forward, Pitt’s secondary could be what prevents Paul Chryst’s team from having a big season. Everything went right against Delaware, but even during the ... Read More
Robert Morris Stumbles, Falls to 0-4
Robert Morris (0-4) continued a difficult season Saturday, suffering a 31-7 pounding at the hands of the Dayton Flyers (2-1) at Welcome Stadium. The Colonials were down early and down big, shutout in the first half as they trailed by 24 at halftime. Four turnovers and a general inability to move the ball through their air or on the ground proved too costly in the team's third road loss. Flyers QB Will Bardo threw two touchdowns and ran for one in the first half, finishing the game 15-26 for ... Read More