Previewing the ACC

Time for the Tigers to thrive

Tommy Bowden thinks it's time.

In his 10th season at Clemson, it's time for Bowden to finally escape from the shadow of his father, Florida State head coach and NCAA all-time wins leader Bobby Bowden. It's time for his team to come through down the stretch, unlike the last two seasons, when the Tigers faded in November. And it's time for this proud program to win its first ACC championship since 1991.

National experts seem to agree with Bowden. No. 9 Clemson returns most of its dynamic offense and is the conference's only top-10 team.

"We're the team to beat [in the ACC]," senior safety Michael Hamlin said. "We've got nothing but weapons."

The most important of those weapons is quarterback Cullen Harper, an Alpharetta, Ga. native with 29 career passing touchdowns. Harper struggled at times last season, but for the most part, he showed off his strong arm while completing long passes and took care of the ball-reflected in his 27 touchdowns versus just six interceptions in 2007.

The Tigers have some of the best skill players in the country besides Harper, including running backs C.J. Spiller and James Davis, which is why Harper has high expectations for himself and the squad.

"If we don't make it to the ACC championship, we let some people down," Harper said. "We let ourselves down. All the pieces of the puzzle are there. I think this is the first time since I've been here that we really have a legitimate shot of being in the ACC championship game."

Thanks to nine returning starters on defense, Wake Forest may have the best unit in the conference. Their defensive pressure will be crucial to their success, especially without a high-octane offense to light up the scoreboard.

On the other hand, junior quarterback Riley Skinner has been proficient in his past two years, including completing an NCAA-best 72 percent of his passes, and could make a leap to stardom this year.

Although all of the pieces seem to be in place for a finish at the top of the Atlantic Division, the Demon Deacons are all too aware of how easy it is to get caught up in the hype. After winning the ACC Championship in 2006 with an 11-win season, Wake Forest took a bit of a slip, finishing 9-4 last year.

"With the expectations through the roof for this football team, I think there's a little bit of pressure," head coach Jim Grobe said. "I hope we handle it better than we did last year."

-by Madeline Perez

Hokies favored despite losses

After losing 13 starters from last year's ACC championship team, Virginia Tech could be expected to have a down year.Throw in the fact that head coach Frank Beamer just selected a starting quarterback, last season's leading rusher was booted off the team and the Hokies have just two receivers that have ever caught a collegiate pass, and "down year" might be generous.

And yet, No. 17 Virginia Tech is still the overwhelming favorite to return to the conference title game.

"That's a compliment to our program that we can lose 13 guys to the NFL and still be picked to win," Beamer said.

The Hokies' strength has always been their defense, and they will have to play well for Virginia Tech to realize its title hopes. Although the defensive unit lost the majority of its starters, defensive coordinator Bud Foster has always been able to put together a solid line.

"We have some guys that have plenty of talent," defensive end Orion Martin said. "They're ready to step in, they're hungry and they're ready to go. They're young, but we have a good scheme. They know it, so we'll be fine."

The Hokies have far more question marks on the offensive end. Fifth-year senior Sean Glennon got the nod behind center, but the senior will have few offensive options. Graduation has paved the way for an influx of younger players, even if they take a few weeks to develop.

"Those young guys are very talented guys," Beamer said. "But we need to get us a starting point. Then hopefully, we can stay healthy and then improve as the season goes along, and I think we will."

-by Sabreena Merchant

UNC looks to reverse record

For most teams, doubling its win total in one season would come as a pleasant surprise.

But for North Carolina, reversing last year's 4-8 record would not necessarily be a major accomplishment; instead, it would be merely meeting lofty expectations.

Thanks in large part to the development of redshirt-sophomore quarterback T. J. Yates and running back Greg Little, the Tar Heels are expecting a sudden jump-and it would be old hat for second-year head coach Butch Davis, who took a Miami team in disarray to the brink of the national title game in just six seasons.

The names are largely the same, but of the team's eight losses, six came by a touchdown or less, and the experience and maturity gained could make the difference.

"Once you've been there more than a year, you don't have nearly the experimentation that you did in the first year," Davis said.

Davis will largely rely on Yates throwing to a star-studded cast of receivers that includes Hakeem Nicks and Brandon Tate. Nicks has already said he believes the Tar Heels boast the best receiving corps in the country.

The team's youth will be exposed quickly, too. After the opener against McNeese State, North Carolina travels to Rutgers for a Thursday night showdown on ESPN, then plays Virginia Tech, Miami, Connecticut and Notre Dame in succession.

"By the end of the first month of the season, we'll have a pretty good idea of what kind of football team we're going to have," Davis said.

In other words, by October, UNC fans will know whether to start counting down to Late Night with Roy.

-by Stephen Allan