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ACC title could be decided on Oct. 9
Clemson-Wake Forest game will pit two of league's best teams
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Published: August 22, 2008
These football championships are easier to win in July or August or even in the gray twilight of November.
Clemson knows. That's the same Clemson that hasn't won an ACC title since 1991, the year before Florida State joined the football race.
That's the same Clemson that roared through the 2000 schedule before stumbling three times in the final four games. That's the same Clemson bound for the ACC playoff game last season until Boston College rallied in the final two minutes.
Well, here comes the first whiff of September and Clemson has done it again. The most extensive ACC media poll and quite a few publications picked Clemson to sweep the Atlantic Division and beat Virginia Tech for the trophy.
The plot offers a lightning-rod protagonist in Coach Tommy Bowden and several electric characters: quarterback Cullen Harper, runners James Davis and C.J. Spiller, receiver Aaron Kelly, defensive back Michael Hamlin, defensive linemen Dorell Scott and Ricky Sapp.
Disturbed Clemson fans blame their annual frustration on Bowden. The administration doesn't. As the prize slipped through Tiger paws again last fall, the bosses extended Bowden's contract to 2014 and raised his average salary to $1.8 million.
The title question could come down to a single date: Thursday Oct. 9. That's the night Clemson will travel to Wake Forest and parade before the ESPN cameras. That's a night that quite likely will end in darkness for the talented Tigers and throw the division race into a mad scramble.
Clemson doesn't do mad scrambles especially well. Wake Forest does, at least in the finest hours of the Jim Grobe heyday. Wake Forest can turn an October surprise into another division title and a prelude to a victory over Virginia Tech for all the ACC soft drinks in Florida.
The reasons go far beyond Grobe and his staff, which lost defensive coordinator Dean Hood to Eastern Kentucky. Promoted assistant Brad Lambert will refine a ferocious defense around linebacker Aaron Curry, cornerback Alphonso Smith and end Matt Robinson.
Much like Clemson, the Deacons must develop an effective offensive line, with four starters gone. Quarterback Riley Skinner and tailback Josh Adams demand it, and so do receivers emerging to fill parts of departed Kenny Moore's gigantic role.
One Wake Forest advantage: kicker Sam Swank, a potential All-America who converted 18 of 21 field-goal attempts last season (compared to 22 of 36 by Clemson's Mark Buchholz). Another edge: experience. Twenty of 22 projected starters are juniors and seniors, and seven players have started at least 24 games.
Beating Clemson wouldn't clinch anything in the Atlantic Division. BC and FSU should flex some muscles eventually. The vital questions:
□ Can the Eagles' starchy defense carry the load until quarterback Matt Ryan's successor and runners start putting enough points on the board?
□ Can FSU reverse the past two years (14-12 overall, 7-9 in the league) and create momentum after 10 players miss the first three games? They were suspended as part of an academic-fraud scandal that will not end before the NCAA infractions committee grills FSU leaders on Oct. 18.
N.C. State will become a solid program under Coach Tom O'Brien someday, but quarterback uncertainty and tailback injuries could slow the process this fall. A tough schedule could confine Maryland to the basement.
In the Coastal Division, Virginia Tech's talent vault will overcome a shortage of game experience, tailback issues and the persistent quarterback debate. Sean Glennon or Tyrod Taylor or both? Coach Frank Beamer will decide as time goes by.
During early practices, he bemoaned the sloppiness and insisted that the Hokies didn't look like a No. 15 team. Cornerback Victor Harris and fresh faces should alter that profile by midseason.
The Hokies don't have an obvious challenger.
North Carolina, picked second in some quarters for reasons unknown, will make progress in Coach Butch Davis' second season. However, the NFL drafted the two best vets (defensive linemen Kentwan Balmer and Hilee Taylor) and Carolina still hasn't learned how to make tough first downs or win close games. Perhaps experienced linemen can provide daylight for runner Greg Little and quarterback T.J. Yates, coming off shoulder surgery.
Miami qualifies as a stronger second-place candidate if Coach Randy Shannon can wash away the residual trash from a 5-7 debut. The Hurricanes have job openings, raw talent and a fresh quarterback controversy that tilts toward youth. They also found a newer home, Dolphin Stadium.
Georgia Tech and Virginia should slip, perhaps a lot. However, Tech's new coach, Paul Johnson of Georgia Southern and Navy fame, thrives as a wily underdog with an unusual offense. Al Groh, derided by many Cavalier check-writers early last season, was voted coach of the year after a 9-4 surprise.
Duke, which has lost 25 straight ACC games, hired David Cutcliffe to alter the culture of automatic defeat. Cutcliffe coached Peyton Manning at Tennessee and Eli Manning at Mississippi, and he escorted both to the Duke-Carolina basketball game last season.
After a few glances, Cutcliffe declared his current players the fattest bunch he had ever serenaded with a whistle and described Duke as dead last in Division I-A. There's only one way to go, and he has traveled that way before. As the Ole Miss boss (1998-2004), Cutcliffe finished 44-29 and won four bowl games. Iron Dukes would faint.
Odds seem better that Wake Forest will reach its second ACC title game in three years. They have the players and a favorable schedule, with open dates before the Sept. 20 showdown at FSU and the game against Clemson. Clemson will also take the previous weekend off, but FSU probably will get only one suspended player back before the Deacons return to the scene of their 30-0 romp two years ago.
That game sent a message. The next message: ditto.
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