College Football from Atlanta to College Park

From Atlanta to Athens, Ga to Clemson, SC past Columbia through Charlotte onto Charlottsville and finally to Maryland; I had a great trip up Tobacco Road on last Friday.

Starting in Atlanta, the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech look poised to do great things this season. Although I am a Terp, GaTech is one of my two other favorites, Cal is the other.

GaTech runs coach Paul Johnson’s innovative triple option offensive system. Look for qb Josh Nesbitt and tailback John Dwyer to have fantastic seasons. If things break GaTech’s way, they could be on the way to the ACC Championship. Tha Jackets need to get by Va Tech in 2009.

An hour or so up the road, a quick visit to Athens, GA shows high expectations for the Dawgs. Coach Mark Richt will have to replace the #1 NFL draft pick Matt Stafford at qb. Joe Cox steps in as the signal caller. Oh, by the way, the Dawgs also have to replace starting tailback Knowshon Moreno and receiver Mohammad Masaquai. So how do you still have a top 10 team? Great recruiting and solid defense. My cousin Marc, who is a Bulldog, will have a fun SEC season.

Back in the car up 85, you get to Clemson, SC and the more familiar (to me) ACC football. New head coach Dabo Swinney still has some powerful offensive weapons. CJ Spiller returns for one more year at tailback.

The Orange and Purple of the Tigers have a great football tradition. For 2009 look for the Tigers to get at least 8 wins.

I will get the South Carolina Gamecocks report from my business partner Gary when he gets back from Columbia. His daughter is a freshman there this month. Also for next week, the Virginia Cavaliers report will be updated by cousin Eric, a real Wahoo.

The Terps are reviewed in a companion post. The ’09 season marks the debut of the new, enhanced Tyser Tower football suites. The stadium updates will make it one of the loudest and best football venues around.