Week One
Posted September 6, 2009, 5:45 PM ET

For the ACC, "week one" was a "weak one".

The opening of the 2009 college football season has solidified the ACC's national reputation as a basketball league.

Last year, the conference placed a record ten teams into bowl games, and even found a way to win a BCS game for the first time this decade. The conference even had the audacity to split with the SEC, winning half of the dozen match-ups between the leagues.

Some of the delusional ACC football fans barked about getting respect on the national level, given the bowl appearances, BCS win and .500 record against the SEC. The only way you get credit in this business is by beating people.

This all led to the beginning of the 09 season. It didn't take long for the country to take notice of ACC football.

It started on Thursday night, when the N.C. State Wolfpack and all-world QB Russell Wilson laid an egg against South Carolina. The home loss was a brutal display of offensive football, as the Pack managed to break the century mark in total yards in the final quarter in a 7-3 loss to the Gamecocks.

Fast-forward to Saturday, where the league lost home games to non-conference dynamos Baylor, Richmond and the mighty William & Mary. I'm sure the folks at Wake Forest, Duke and Virginia are wondering where it all went wrong.

Maryland traveled over 3,000 miles to get pummeled by 39 points to Cal. I didn't expect the Terps to win, but I didn't expect them to get beaten by nearly 6 touchdowns, either.

I was present in Atlanta on the Southern Fried Football™ Tour, to watch the ACC's best team, Virginia Tech, get mauled by Alabama. Only a case of Beamer Ball kept this one close and intriguing. The stats were indicative of the beatdown: Bama gained nearly 500 yards of total offense against Bud Foster's group.

The ACC's opening weekend wins were against Middle Tennessee State, The Citadel, Northeastern and Jacksonville State.

Can the league have a do-over?

On Monday night, Florida State hosts Miami, while Clemson travels to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech on Thursday. It's a pair of high-profile games in primetime. If the league wants people to notice the quality of play, it is mandatory that these two games entertain....otherwise, ACC Football will once again be a punch-line to the rest of the country.

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The NFL finally gets started this week, after what feels like an endless stream of horrific pre-season games. Ok, so I'm talking more about the Panthers than the rest of the league....but you get the point.

The good news for the Panthers is that their 0-4 pre-season mark is wiped away, and they - along with everyone else - now stand at 0-0.

The bad news is that they are in dire need of some answers. It appears that they didn't find any during their last pre-season game against Pittsburgh, and the waiver wire gives you a chance to grab somebody's scraps. At this point in time, it's Carolina's only chance.

It is very weird around Charlotte, because there is such a "downer" feel to this team; yet, we haven't played a game that means anything.

I have been preaching "patience" since early August...and now there are no more excuses. Philly comes to town over the weekend, and the Panthers must produce a win.

2009 has been brutal, on and off the field.

The Arizona playoff loss from January has been a constant hangover for the fans.

The lifeless 0-4 pre-season performance didn't help matters, either.

Throw in the Julius Peppers off-season headache, Jake Delhomme's pricey contract extension, along with Jerry Richardson's version of the "Family Feud", and you have the makings of an unsettled situation.

Winning is the best deodorant...God knows, we've heard that line before....but it never applied more than what awaits in Carolina. Sunday is a huge game for the Panthers. I know the fans will be up and ready for the kick-off, but the team better respond in a hurry because the 2009 honeymoon is long gone with Panther Nation.

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I made a mistake on my radio show, on Friday.

I owe my man Michael in Raleigh an apology, and a large sum of illegal money for claiming that his App State Mountaineers haven't beaten any of the big SEC boys on the road.

It all started when he claimed that ASU wouldn't be intimidated playing at East Carolina, because they have seen the likes of LSU, Auburn, South Carolina, etc....on the road.

I explained to him that the Mountaineers had a record of 7-36-1 against FBS teams heading into their showdown with ECU, and with the exception of one win over Michigan and a handful over Wake Forest, Appalachian State didn't own a victory over the teams he mentioned.

He disagreed and claimed a win over the Gamecocks.

I thought he had lost his mind......but he was right.

Granted, South Carolina wasn't in the SEC at the time, but App State did win in Columbia during the 1975 season. It dawned on me after the show that the football subdivisions weren't created until 1978, but Michael was right.

Hopefully, I can bribe him with a Southern Fried Football™ prize pack?

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As we were heading down to Atlanta over the weekend for the Bama - Va. Tech game on the Southern Fried Football™ Tour, we were listening to the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network.

The Dawgs' pre-game show was live from Stillwater, Oklahoma, where Georgia was opening the season against Oklahoma State.

The best line of the pre-game show...."Welcome to today's big match-up between Georgia and Oklahoma State, where both teams come into the game undefeated."

No kidding.

That's usually the case, in season openers.