Tag: Florida State Seminoles

Duke seeks first ever win over Florida State in ACC game of the week

The Seminoles and Blue Devils are two of the last three ACC teams without a conference loss with title game positioning on the line.

We’re only four weeks into conference play in the ACC, but the standings seem to already be settling in. After Clemson‘s losses and Louisville’s upset defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh last weekend, there seem to be three teams with their eyes on the conference title game.

Florida State offered a statement 41-3 victory over Syracuse last weekend, a warning shot to the rest of the conference that the path to any trophies runs through the Seminoles.

But North Carolina took down Miami comfortably behind three Tez Walker receiving touchdowns. The Tar Heels only have one more ranked matchup ahead of them on the schedule, a date with Duke in four weeks.

Where do the Blue Devils fit in in all this? They remain unblemished through two conference games, but they’re traveling to Florida to play the Seminoles, a team they’ve never beaten in 19 tries. When you take a closer look at that record, however, the two haven’t clashed since Mike Elko took over the Duke program. Can he do something none of his predecessors accomplished?

Here are the games to watch in the ACC this week, from the contenders to those fighting for a bowl game.

Oklahoma Sooners national title favorite according to ESPN’s Allstate Playoff Predictor

The Oklahoma Sooners are the national title favorite per ESPN’s Allstate Playoff Predictor.

What a turnaround it’s been for [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] in Year 2 as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. Seven weeks ago, there were questions whether Venables was the right guy to lead the program into the SEC.

Now, he has the Oklahoma Sooners as the favorite to win the national title, according to ESPN’s Allstate Playoff Predictor. According to the playoff predictor, the Sooners have a 22% chance of winning the national title.

The others in the top five are the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, the [autotag]Florida State Seminoles[/autotag] and the Michigan Wolverines.

The Sooners could fall into second place if the Buckeyes defeat the Nittany Lions this weekend. But this is a testament to the work Venables and his coaching staff have done since arriving in Norman.

No, it doesn’t mean they will win the national title, but it shows they have the best chance. A big part of that is the schedule. While they could lose any game on their schedule, they are most likely going to be a double-digit favorite in every game until the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] Championship game.

To me, the Georgia Bulldogs should still be the favorite. No, they haven’t been impressive, but they are the back-to-back champions, and until someone knocks them off, they should be the favorite.

For now, the Sooners have to take it one game at a time. As the staff has said, it’s about going 1-0 each week. They have another chance to do that this Saturday against the [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag].

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

ACC Week 7 Wrap Up: North Carolina inches closer to FSU in FPI standings

The Seminoles and Tar Heels have separated themselves as the best in the ACC after two dominant victories on Saturday.

With each passing week, it seems Florida State and North Carolina are more set to collide for the ACC title game.

The Seminoles, with playoff expectations ever since a season-opening win over LSU, punished Syracuse for a 41-3 victory. The Tar Heels built a three-score lead over Miami before they put the finishing touches on a 10-point victory.

ESPN FPI now thinks there’s roughly an 87.5% chance one of those two walks away with the conference title, especially in light of Louisville’s upset loss to Pittsburgh.

Elsewhere in the conference, Duke was without quarterback Riley Leonard, the Blue Devils’ leading rusher entering Week 7, for its game against N.C. State. Backup Henry Belin IV responded by just leading the conference in QBR over the weekend.

Here’s how the teams and quarterbacks of the ACC stack up by record, FPI, and QBR after seven weeks.

Elite wide receivers highlight the best of Week 7 in the ACC

Tez Walker and Keon Coleman authored two of the best receiving performances of the year on Saturday. Who earned top ACC WR honors this week?

Florida State and North Carolina further distanced themselves atop the conference on Saturday with a pair of dominant victories. The Seminoles whacked Syracuse 41-3, and UNC built a 38-17 lead over Miami in the final quarter before some late scores made the winning margin only 10 points.

Both teams were powered by a star wideout, too. Florida State’s Keon Coleman stole the social media show with an eye-popping one-handed catch, gained 140 yards on nine receptions, and returned a punt 72 yards for one of the most well-rounded performances of the year. UNC’s Tez Walker found the end zone not once, not twice, but three times in the Tar Heels’ offensive avalanche.

Only one could walk away with top wide receiver honors, however. Which one earned the title? Who else stood out in the ACC? Read more below to find out.

Penn State falls behind Washington in new US LBM Coaches Poll

The new US LBM Coaches Poll is out. Penn State drops despite a blowout win this week. Here is the new top 25.

While Penn State was busy taking care of business at home against a clearly overmatched opponent, the Washington Huskies were coming through with one of the biggest wins so far this regular season in all of college football. Washignton’s thrilling victory over rival Oregon on Saturday afternoon led to the Huskeis moving up one spot in the brand new US LBM Coaches Poll released Sunday following the results of Week 7. As a result, Penn State stepped down one spot in the coaches poll as Penn State and Washington flipped spots within the top 10.

Penn State stepped down to no. 6 in this week’s coaches poll. Washington moved up to no. 5 after their big win over Oregon.

Georgia remains the top team in this week’s coaches poll with a decisive 58 first-place votes in their favor. Michigan remains no. 2 and Ohio State comes in at no. 3 once again. Penn State will visit Ohio State this weekend for a chance to shake up the top of the rankings a little bit more in next week’s voting.

The bottom of the top 10 saw some movement as well after Oregon and USC each took losses on the road. Texas and Alabama are actually tied for no. 8 in the new US LBM Coaches Poll this week (we’ll give the tiebreaker to Texas due to their head-to-head win). Texas moved up three spots to rejoin the top 10 at no. 8, tied with Alabama. North Carolina rounds out this week’s top 10 after their win over Miami on Saturday night.

Oregon fell three spots to no. 11 but USC was dropped hard from no. 9 all the way down to no. 16 after getting blown out by Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish moved up just three spots in this week’s coaches poll though, from no. 21 up to no. 18, thanks to having two losses already.

Washington State, Kentucky, and Kansas all fell out of this week’s coaches poll. That left room for Iowa to come back into the mix at no. 23. Air Force also cracked the top 25 at no. 22 and Tulane has returned with the no. 24 spot in this week’s poll. Future Big Ten member UCLA barely held on to the no. 25 spot after its second loss of the year. They are just three points ahead of James Madison, the top team in the others receiving votes category.

Here is the full US LBM Coaches Poll for Week 7.

Defending national champion Wake Forest, Florida State capture Jackson T. Stephens Cup titles

Both matches came down to the wire.

DALLAS — The Wake Forest women’s golf team is no stranger to success in match play in the calendar year.

The Demon Deacons went 3-0 at Grayhawk Golf Club in May, capturing their first NCAA Championship in school history in Scottsdale, Arizona. On Wednesday, they added yet another match-play victory to the total.

Featuring a lineup with a couple new faces from that victory five months ago, Wake Forest captured the 2023 Jackson T. Stephens Cup title, topping Texas 3-2 at Trinity Forest Golf Club for the title. Last year, the Demon Deacons fell to Stanford in the tournament. However, after finishing second in stroke play this year, Wake Forest had a strong performance from a couple vets and a freshman to earn their second victory of the fall.

“When you have a lot of new pieces, you need to play a lot of tournaments to figure out what you have,” Wake Forest coach Kim Lewellen said of incorporating new players into the lineup. “That’s why we’ve stacked a lot of tournaments this fall. We’re really using it to build for next spring and gather information.”

One of those newcomers, freshman Macy Pate, clinched the final point to earn Wake Forest, ranked third in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, the victory over No. 12 Texas, beating fellow freshman Farah O’Keefe. Pate won 4 and 2 after trailing through four holes.

“You recruit somebody and you don’t know exactly what you’re getting,” Lewellen said, “but right out of the gate, her work ethic, her IQ, she’s very professional. She handled match play beautifully.”

Also earning points for the Demon Deacons were four-time All-American Rachel Kuehn, who dispatched Bohyun Park 5 and 4, and Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, who beat individual medalist Lauren Kim 3 and 1.

Meanwhile, on the men’s side, it was No. 28 Florida State, the top seed after 54 holes of stroke play, taking down No. 23 Arizona 3-2.

However, the Wildcats had an opportunity to force extra holes that slid by. With the match tied at 2, Florida State’s Brett Roberts was 1 up on the 18th when his approach shot went long. Then he left his chip short and missed a par putt, meaning Arizona’s Johnny Walker had two putts to force extra holes.

Walker’s birdie putt slid past about 3 feet, but he lipped out the par putt to win the hole, giving the victory to Roberts and the Seminoles.

“We’re just going to keep learning,” Florida State coach Trey Jones said. “Last year, we lost to North Carolina in match play. This year, we came back and won. But it’s all about the guys.”

Florida State, which made the semifinals at the NCAA Championship last year, was missing Jack Bigham from its lineup this week. He is preparing for the World Amateur Team Championship competition, coming in a week in Abu Dhabi, but the Seminoles’ depth showed.

In the leadoff spot, Frederik Kjettrup earned a 4-and-3 victory for the first point. In the anchor spot, Luke Clanton tallied a 5-and-3 win. Then it was Roberts, even with his miscue on the 18th hole, doing enough to earn the clinching point.

“It’s the culture we have,” Jones said of the depth. “It doesn’t really matter who’s in there.”

Breaking down Wednesday’s match-play bracket at the 2023 Jackson T. Stephens Cup

The match play bracket is set.

DALLAS — It’s time for match play at one of the growing fall college golf events.

Stroke play for the 2023 Jackson T. Stephens Cup concluded Tuesday at Trinity Forest Golf Club, with Arizona junior Tiger Christensen capturing the men’s medalist honors while Texas’ Lauren Kim and Texas A&M’s Adela Cernousek tied after 54 holes. The duo went three playoff holes Tuesday night before darkness and will return Wednesday morning to crown a women’s individual champion.

The event is in its third year and is named in honor of the late chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and prominent Arkansas businessman Jackson Stephens. It features 54 holes of stroke play with a match-play final between the top two teams from stroke play battling for the team titles and a third-place match between the third- and fourth-place finishers from stroke play.

Here’s a breakdown of Wednesday’s bracket for match play, including pairings for each championship matchup.

College golfer named Tiger captures medalist honors at 2023 Jackson T. Stephens Cup

Something about Tigers and golf …

DALLAS — It’s safe to say the name Tiger is synonymous with golf.

Eldrick Woods made sure of that.

Tiger Christensen, a junior at Arizona, is also making a name for himself in the golf world.

Christensen, from Germany, won for the third time in his college career, capturing medalist honors Tuesday at the third annual Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Trinity Forest Golf Club. He shot 8-under 64 in the final round, finishing at 19-under 197 for the tournament, giving credit to some tweaks in his driver coming into the event. He missed only two of 42 fairways in the three rounds of stroke play.

“I felt pretty confident coming into this tournament,” Christensen said. “In qualifying, I missed only like four fairways over three rounds. But to miss only two over 54 holes is pretty good.”

The 19-under mark also set a new program record for 54-hole score.

Christensen also said he was pretty comfortable on the greens all week, crediting a new drill in his warmup leading into the tournament. He didn’t have one three-putt all week, and he couldn’t remember the last time he went 54 holes without three-putting.

He won by five shots over Florida State’s Cole Anderson, who finished at 14-under 202. Arizona’s Zach Pollo and LSU’s Connor Gaunt tied for third at 13 under.

More importantly, Christensen helped guide Arizona into the match play final Wednesday, where the Wildcats will face Anderson and the Seminoles for the team title.

As far as the comparisons to Big Cat, Christensen said he’s a fan.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” he said. “And like, I don’t know, it doesn’t really affect me at all. I just think it’s cool. I’d never want to be named a different name.”

SMU and LSU will play in the third-place match Wednesday. Trinity Forest is SMU’s home course.

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, a medalist has yet to be crowned.

Texas A&M’s Adela Cernousek three-putted the last hole and made bogey, moving her to 11-under 205. Meanwhile, Texas’ Lauren Kim birdied her final two holes to tie Cernousek at 11 under and force a playoff for individual honors.

The duo each made par on the par-4 18th and par-4 first hole. Then on the par-3 17th, Kim hit her tee shot to about 3 feet while Cernousek had roughly 15 feet for birdie.

Cernousek’s putt slid by, leaving an opportunity for Kim to pounce, but her putt missed in the near darkness. Both players made their putts for par and will resume the playoff at 10 a.m. ET on the 13th hole.

In the team competition, Texas and Wake Forest, the defending national champions, tied at 23-under 841 after stroke play and will face off in the match play final on Wednesday afternoon.

Match play will be broadcast on Golf Channel from 4-7 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

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North Carolina, Louisville establish themselves in ACC, per FPI

After huge wins this weekend, both North Carolina and Louisville vaulted up ESPN’s FPI rankings.

Florida State remains atop the ACC, and ESPN FPI still gives the Seminoles slightly better than a coin flip’s chance to walk away with the conference crown. But the ladder behind them jumbled quite a bit in Week 6.

North Carolina, behind a sterling performance from quarterback phenom Drake Maye, enforced their will upon Syracuse, 40-7, a worse beatdown than Clemson put on the Orange the week before. Louisville threw their hat into the ring with a 33-20 upset of Notre Dame.

Miami, whom FPI previously favored as the second-best team in the conference, suffered one of the most embarrassing losses in years when their refusal to kneel out the clock led to an answered prayer for Georgia Tech.

Here’s how ESPN’s models think the ACC stands after Week 6.

Team Record Conference Record FPI (National Rank) Win Out % Win Conference % Make Playoff %
Florida State Seminoles 5-0 3-0 19.6 (10th) 18.8% 52.0% 25.7%
North Carolina Tar Heels 5-0 2-0 15.5 (16th) 6.2% 21.8% 7.3%
Clemson Tigers 4-2 2-2 14.5 (18th) 5.4% 1.6% —
Miami Hurricanes 4-1 0-1 14.1 (19th) 1.7% 2.9% 0.6%
Louisville Cardinals 6-0 3-0 12.0 (21st) 4.4% 15.8% 3.3%
Duke Blue Devils 4-1 1-0 11.0 (25th) 0.7% 5.2% 0.3%
Syracuse Orange 4-2 0-2 9.0 (28th) 4.9% 0.2% —
NC State Wolfpack 4-2 1-1 2.7 (51st) 0.1% 0.1% —
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 3-3 2-1 2.1 (55th) 0.1% 0.2% —
Pittsburgh Panthers 1-4 0-2 1.1 (57th) 0.0% — —
Wake Forest Demon Deacons 3-2 0-2 0.7 (59th) 0.0% — —
Virginia Tech Hokies 2-4 1-1 -1.2 (72) 0.2% 0.1% —
Boston College Eagles 3-3 1-2 -5.1 (89) 0.1% — —
Virginia Cavaliers 1-5 0-2 -6.9 (96) 0.0% — —

 

Sooners receive crystal ball projections for pair of targets after win over Texas

Oklahoma received crystal balls for a pair of prospects on Sunday morning following their win over Texas.

The good vibes are still rolling if you’re a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners beat their rival in an instant classic of a [autotag]Red River Rivalry[/autotag] on Saturday. On Sunday, the Sooners were on the receiving end of not one but two crystal ball projections for a pair of their remaining targets.

Steve Wiltfong, director of football recruiting at 247Sports, issued crystal balls in Oklahoma’s favor for four-star offensive line prospect Eddy Pierre-Louis and four-star linebacker Michael Boganowski on Sunday morning.

Oklahoma’s 2024 recruiting class is ranked seventh in the nation with 24 commits and still has room for a few more.

[autotag]Pierre-Louis[/autotag] hails from Florida and attends [autotag]Tampa Catholic[/autotag], the same high school where freshman linebacker [autotag]Lewis Carter[/autotag] came from. Pierre-Louis is a guard prospect and would be a lovely addition to the Sooners offensive line haul in 2024. Aside from the Sooners, UCF is fighting for his services the most.

Boganowski has a nice athletic frame and plays all over for his high school team. He projects best as a rangy linebacker in college with added weight. His recruitment has looked like a line graph with Kansas State gaining momentum and Oklahoma seizing momentum back. Right now, the Sooners may have regained control in the battle to land his commitment.

If the Sooners were to land commitments from both, the two pledges would be good enough for the Sooners to leap the Florida State Seminoles for sixth in 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings.

Decisions are not scheduled for either prospect, but we should gain more clarity as the days get closer to the early signing period.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.