Will Ojanen – We’re at that point in the season where we have a clear picture of who might win awards in college football. An interesting case is developing for ACC Coach of the Year. There are some strong candidates out there. Dino Babers has Syracuse out to a 6-1 record (they’re also two plays from 4-3). Mack Brown has a case, as he and the Tar Heels are favored to win the Coastal. They’re getting by with a really poor defense as they’ve held just one FBS team to under 400 total yards. Of course, Dabo Swinney is undefeated, and is always in the mix.
One name that I would consider as the frontrunner among all candidates for Coach of the Year honors is Duke’s Mike Elko. The Blue Devils were picked last in the Coastal by a wide margin because there were questions at just about every position. Plus, there was a big talent discrepancy between Duke and everyone else in the conference. Their win total according to Vegas lines was 3.5 and many experts said to bet the under, as they thought they may not win a conference game. But lo and behold, Duke has five wins on the season, and two in conference, easily crushing both projections.
Candidates
The improvements Elko has made on both sides of the ball are remarkable. They had the worst defense in the nation in 2021, giving up 517 yards per game. Elko has turned around the defense significantly, as they are only allowing 393 yards per game.
Even their offense has improved. Their yards per play have gone from 5.4 in 2021 to 6.3 this year, which is among the top 40 in the nation. They are a top 20 team running the football this season, averaging nearly 5.4 yards per carry, which is also top 20 in the nation. Their 22 rushing touchdowns are eighth most in the country as well. As far as passing goes, while the numbers are slightly down, Riley Leonard’s 10 TD passes are more than all three QBs threw last year (9). If these numbers aren’t a good enough reason to put Elko at the front of the candidates list I don’t know what is.
Preseason Top 25 | Stunning Lack Of ACC Teams
Duke still has four games left on their schedule: at Boston College, home for Virginia Tech, at Pitt, and home for Wake Forest. You can easily argue they’ll be a favorite in the first two, and given how Pitt has played lately, that game is winnable. I don’t think they’ll beat Wake, however. There’s a path to eight wins for Duke this year.
This looks like a definite bowl team this year, and given the way the coach of the year is voted on, Mike Elko has the best case, in my opinion among all of the candidates.
