The thing about playing “the toughest nonconference schedule in the country,” a distinction over which the ACC loves to pat itself on the back, is that it doesn’t mean much if you don’t win a majority of those games.
That’s the only way the ACC has any prayer of changing the narrative that it’s a 2nd-tier conference.
It made inroads toward that end last season by going 44-23 against outside competition, including a winning record against SEC teams and 2 victories against Notre Dame. But all the progress went out the window with Florida State’s embarrassing Orange Bowl no-show against Georgia.
What have you done for me lately?
Right?
That’s why this weekend is important for the ACC. It’s not just the start of a new season. It’s an opportunity to start repairing the damage from that 63-3 drubbing.
North Carolina has already gotten the weekend off to a solid start by holding off the Big Ten’s Minnesota on the road.
Now the focus will turn to the SEC with 3 head-to-head matchups. Those games – Clemson-Georgia in Atlanta, Miami-Florida in Gainesville and Virginia Tech-Vanderbilt in Nashville – are the highlight of a long holiday weekend of football that kicks into high gear Saturday.
So sit back, grab a cold one and enjoy. In the meantime, here are 5 questions to think about and consider while waiting for kickoff.
5. What does Clemson have to do to beat Georgia?
First and foremost, the Tigers need their 2 most experienced cornerbacks, Shelton Lewis and Jeadyn Lukus, to be healthy enough to play. Both have been nursing injuries and their availability won’t be known until game time. If they can’t go, Bulldogs’ QB Carson Beck will have a great chance at getting his Heisman campaign off to a flying start against their replacements. Most of whom are freshmen. No matter who’s in the lineup, the Tigers can’t afford to turn the ball over, something they did far too often last season (22 turnovers — only 5 Power 5 teams had more). Clemson also needs to take a page from Georgia Tech’s playbook last week in its win over FSU and limit UGA’s possessions by running effectively and controlling the clock.
4. Who does the ACC most need to win?
Obviously, it would be nice if Clemson upset No. 1 Georgia and gave the national media something positive to say about the ACC. But let’s be realistic. That’s not a result you can count on. When it comes to teams the league absolutely needs to win, look no further than the other 2 matchups against SEC opponents. Miami is a 2.5-point favorite against in-state rival Florida in Gainesville, according to ESPNBet sportsbook, and comes into the game with even more preseason hype than usual while the Gators are playing to keep coach Billy Napier off the hot seat. Virginia Tech is a double-digit favorite against perennial bottom-feeder Vanderbilt in Nashville. Even with a Clemson loss, going 2-1 against the SEC in Week 1 would be a victory and a great way to kick off the new season.
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3. Who can the ACC least afford to have lose?
With all due respect to Boston College, the last thing the ACC needs after 1 official week of the season is for its preseason favorite (FSU) and 1 of its 2 brand name programs to be all but eliminated from the conference race. But that’s the reality if Florida State stacks a loss to the Eagles on Monday night onto its Week 0 setback to Georgia Tech. While 2 losses wouldn’t mathematically eliminate the Seminoles from a return to the league championship game, it would make for an awfully tall mountain to climb the rest of the way. With zero margin for error.
2. Will the Miami hype last past Week 1?
We’ve heard it before. Pretty much every season since the Hurricanes joined the ACC in 2004. This is finally going to be the year Miami lives up to its preseason hype and returns to the championship form of its glory days. Only the results never seem to live up to the expectations. The bar has been set high again this year. For good reason. Mario Cristobal has bulked up an already strong core of returners with a star-studded transfer class headlined by Heisman-quality quarterback Cam Ward. The Canes are ranked No. 19 in the AP preseason poll and have been touted by several major outlets as a legitimate contender for the newly expanded College Football Playoff. But they have history and Cristobal’s clock-management skills working against them. They’re also facing a rival with a veteran quarterback, Graham Mertz, fully capable of exploiting their rebuilt secondary and halting his year’s hype train before it ever pulls out of the station.
1. Who is more vulnerable to a post-Ireland upset, Georgia Tech or Florida State?
Jetlag isn’t the only thing the Yellow Jackets and Seminoles will have to overcome as they jump back into action after their Week 0 showdown and trans-Atlantic flights home from Ireland. Both will have other issues to address to avoid finding themselves on upset watch against potentially dangerous opponents. For Tech, it’s staying focused against a cross-town rival that has been waiting a long time for a shot at knocking off its higher-profile neighbor. At least Georgia State is in rebuild mode, with only 32% of last year’s production returning.
The Seminoles face an even tougher assignment. In addition to fixing their problems on both lines, they’ll have to figure out a way to contain Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who burned them for 305 passing and 95 yards rushing in a close loss last year.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
