ACC Notebook For 10-13-2006 - College Football News And Picks

ACC Notebook For 10-13-2006
By Calvin Watkins
Posted: 4:00 am PDT 2006-10-13

You have Florida State and Miami, and one would believe the ACC is one of the power conferences in college football.

Florida State and Miami are a combined 6-4, and there are not any ACC teams in the Top 10 of the Associated Press or USA Today Coaches' Polls.

Yet, the ACC coaches believe they are better than that.

"From what I'm seeing, Clemson might be a Top 10 team, whether they are or not," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "In the rankings they're not. I think that is a little bit surprising."

Maybe it has something to do with the conference.

The ACC is 23-11 vs. non-conference teams. But the ACC is 3-4 against the Big East, 1-1 vs. the SEC and a dreadful, that's right dreadful, 1-2 vs. the Mid-American. N.C. State and Virginia have the losses.

And guess what? The ACC is 2-2 against Conference USA.

Duke is 0-5 with a 13-game losing streak. There are three winless teams in the conference in Maryland, North Carolina and Duke, with no hope in sight.

The best game of the weekend is Thursday night as Virginia Tech faces Boston College, where the Hokies are 2.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.

Clemson is the highest-ranked team at 12 in the AP and USA Today polls. Georgia Tech is No. 13 in AP, 15 in USA Today, and Va. Tech is No. 22 in AP and 17 in USA Today.

Boston College is unranked in the AP poll, but is No. 15 with the coaches.

"We're facing a team that could very well be in the Top 10 right now," Tech coach Frank Beamer said of Boston College. "You take back a few plays, and this team is undefeated and probably in the Top 10, Top 12. And they deserve to be there. I don't think we know who the best football team is in the ACC right now."

A few years ago the addition of Miami was supposed to help the ACC become bigger than what it is.

Now it's uncertain where it's going.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies are trying to rebound from a home loss to Georgia Tech on Sept. 30 when they face Boston College on Thursday night.

"We need to learn from it, mature and play better," Beamer said.

Quarterback Sean Glennon had career-highs in completions (27) and yards (339), but he was sacked four times and the run game picked up 42 yards against the Yellow Jackets.

That has to change, or the Hokies lose again.

Clemson: Clemson linebacker Tramaine Billie could play Thursday against Temple, a 45-point underdog on WagerWeb.com. Billie injured his ankle in August to end a streak of 18 consecutive starts. When he plays, Clemson is 13-5.

"I believe he's going to try to attempt to play," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. "I'm going to try and talk him out of it. He just got his pin out, so he will start light jogging. He may start practicing next Monday."

Wake Forest: Freshman quarterback Riley Skinner leads the conference in passing efficiency at 146.4. He's looking like one of the top quarterbacks in the conference. The Demon Deacons need him this weekend when they face N.C. State. The Wolfpack are 3-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.

Skinner has completed 69 percent of his passes for 788 yards and three touchdowns. The last Deacon to lead the conference in passing was Jay Venuto in 1980.

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