Sept. 02--Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering if Virginia will usher in the Mike London era on Saturday night with a color change, perhaps wearing a significant amount of orange for the opener against Richmond? ... The smart money is on orange.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech will feature some new uniforms for the Hokies' big opener against Boise State on Monday night at FedEx Field. Tech will wear black uniforms, picked out by the players, as a tribute to Tech's ROTC program and military personnel.

It is a big weekend for ACC football, which is trying to get back on the national football map and boasts two huges openers with North Carolina, now without defensive star Marvin Austin (suspended indefinitely Wednesday due to team violations, not NCAA ones) taking on LSU in the Georgia Dome; and the Hokies meeting Boise State.

My pal, Tony Barnhart, known as "Mr. College Football" around the nation, believes that the ACC is the No. 2 football conference in the country this year, behind only the SEC.

The big early season games will have an impact on that as well as some more big games, such as Miami vs. Ohio State, splattered along the schedule.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson, whose team could make a splash on the national scene if things break right, believes Barnhart just might be right.

"This year, you look at the Coastal Division of our league and there's probably going to be four teams ranked in the Top 25 preseason," Johnson said at the ACC Kickoff in late July. He was correct: Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Miami were all in the AP preseason Top 25. "There's probably not another division in any conference in college football that can say that."

Lots of football folks believe that if Frank Beamer's Hokies can beat Boise, then Virginia Tech could greatly enhance its chances to playing for the national championship come January. Tech has lost its three previous big openers against Southern California, LSU and Alabama, but Beamer believes it's worth the risk.

Some of his coaching brethren disagree, arguing that the risk is greater than the reward.

"I see the pluses and the minuses," Beamer said Wednesday. "I do think when you play a good team like Boise State, your preseason practices are better, I think your summer workouts are better. I think you become a better football team overall because you've really prepared well. I think you help yourself."

Some argue that if a team loses a big opener, then its shot at the national title evaporates. Beamer doesn't agree with that theory either.

"I don't think necessarily when you play a high-ranked team, you knock yourself out of the national picture," the Tech coach said. "You have to dpend on other people after that should you lose. But I don't think it's a given that you're out of the national picture when you play a high-ranked team like Boise."

Boise State is ranked third and fifth in the two national polls, while Virginia Tech is ranked 10th and sixth.

Staying away

After all those years of prowling the Florida State sidelines, the newly retired Bobby Bowden will not be an Doak Campbell Stadium this weekend, nor any weekend this fall. Bowden's preference is to stay away from games.

"Coach Bowden has always said he would do that ... he said that 20 years ago," said new FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, who succeeded the legendary Bowden. "I remember him saying that when Terry 1/8Bowden3/8 became the head coach at Auburn. I remember Bobby making that statement to me in the '90s because Terry was taking over for a legendary coach in Pat Dye, and Bobby said if that ever happened to him when he retired that he was going to stay away for a year.

"We had that conversation when I was named head coach," Fisher said. "He said that when that time comes, 'I'm going to stay away. If you need me, call me. And if you don't, then I'm going to stay away because I don't want to sit there and look over your shoulder and have people say, 'Oh, Coach, he would have done this, he would have done that.'"

Bowden said recently on his book tour that Florida State forced him out as head coach, giving him two options: either stay on as a ceremonial head coach, just as a figurehead that would have no say in running the team. When Bowden was asked what the option was, he said, "to retire."

Yellow Jacket Al

Virginia tennis coach Brian Boland said last spring how weird it was seeing former Cavaliers head football coach Al Groh wearing Georgia Tech garb when Groh dropped by to watch Boland's team play the Yellow Jackets tennis team.

Groh, of course, was hired by Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson to coach the Yellow Jackets' defense. As defensive coordinator, Groh has installed the 3-4 scheme for the Ramblin' Wreck.

Johnson said that his interactions with Groh have been great and there are no issues about Groh having been a head coach before. In fact, there are three former head coaches on Johnson's GT staff: Groh, also co-offensive line coach Mike Sewak (a former Wahoo, class of 1981), and secondary coach/recruiting coordinator Andy McCollum.

"Everybody gets along really well, it's a good working environment," Johnson said. "Those guys will tell you that I like to think they know where the lines are and we'll sit down and discuss everything, but ultimately one guy is going to have veto power and everybody understands that."

Johnson said he is excited to have Groh on the staff and believes his input will make Georgia Tech a better football team.

"He has a great reputation as a defensive coach," Johnson said. "He brings a system that is proven. The guy just loves football. He'd stay there 24 hours a day if you'd let him. His idea of a vacation was going up and spending two or three days with Coach 1/8Bill3/8 Belichick (New England Patriots' head coach and long-time friend of Groh's). I mean, he just loves it."

Johnson said that his job as head coach is to give Groh the tools to be the defensive coordinator and let him plan the defense. When he visits Groh's office on Tuesday or Wednesday of game week and asks what the plan is, Groh will show him the defensive game plan and what the defense must stop in order to win.

"I may ask him, 'How are we going to stop this, or how do you slow down a C.J. Spiller?' and I expect Al will have the answers," Johnson said.

Spiller, a solid Heisman Trophy candidate at Clemson, had his least success against Groh's Virginia defenses than any other opponent in his career as a Tiger.

"I expect Al will have answers," Johnson said. "A guy with his experience, he knows what I'm looking for because he's been in my chair."

Quote of the Week

After UNC coach Butch Davis opened up the battle for starting quarterback between three-year returning starter T.J. Yates and redshirt freshman Bryn Renner, Yates was asked if he thought Davis was trying to light a fire under him.

"I imagine he did, and if he did, it worked," said Yates, who is expected to start Saturday against LSU in the Georgia Dome. "I've worked harder than I ever have."

Stat of the Week

Virginia Tech has the ACC's longest current active scoring streak at 189 games, the sixth longest current streak in the country.

Bible is back

N.C. State's offensive coordinator, Dana Bible, will be back on the sidelines Saturday after last season's cancer scare. Last November, Bible was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia and, after taking 30 days of treatment at UNC's Lineberger Cancer Center in Chapel Hill, he underwent six months of chemo.

In June he was told that his body is cancer free and Bible set out on a conditioning schedule to be ready for training camp.

"August certainly took somewhat of a toll," Wolfpack head coach Tom O'Brien said of Bible's hard work. "It was tough on him because his immune system isn't 100 percent."

Herzlich is not

One of the best stories in college football is the return of Mark Herzlich, the 2008 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, who missed last season in his fight against Ewing's sarcoma after a cancerous tumor was discovered in his left leg.

Herzlich's return has been delayed though, and he is questionable for Saturday's opener against Weber State.

"He's not ready to go," Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani said Wednesday. "He was cleared from his medical doctors this spring and started working out this summer. He was ready to start fall preseason camp and he had a little broken bone in his foot, which set him back."

Spaziani said that Herzlich has decided to push his recovery and started working last Saturday for the first time this fall.

"Rusty is not the right adjective, but he's working hard and I'd never put anything past him. Hopefully we can get him in the game this week."

Short yardage ...

...After struggling with an uptempo offense last season, Clemson will try to play faster again this season. "We're trying to decrease the recovery time for the defenses just a little bit," Tigers' OC Billy Napier said. "Not as drastic amount, like maybe a Michigan or Auburn." Clemson will be the only ACC team to run a no-huddle. ...N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien said that while Russell Wilson is clearly the starter, he hopes to work backup Michael Glennon into Saturday night's opener, he just doesn't know at what juncture.

...UNC's Butch Davis said that preparing for LSU reminds him of preparing for Miami and FSU in terms of talent: "I think it's indicative of teams in the South, to be honest. I think there's such a dramatic difference between teams in the ACC, the SEC, and probably even in the southern half of what used to be the Big 12, where there's a lot of skilled athletes, there's an awful lot of speed. You can make the same argument about Georgia, Clemson, any of the teams in the SEC. They're a fast team, got a lot of good athletes."

...Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer said that the one thing he has learned from playing big season-openers like USC, LSU and Alabama the past few years is that those games usually come down to one or two plays. "In all those games, it was close. We had a chance there against Southern Cal. We had an interference call that certainly kind of changed that game around. You hope you're on the positive side of those one or two plays."

...Miami has started negotiations with Yankee Stadium for a game there in 2013 against a yet-to-be determined opponent. "It's an opportunity for us to be in the northeast, which is a big University of Miami alumni base area, for the fans to come out and enjoy the game," said Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon. Shannon said that Miami is negotiating with a couple of teams but declined to reveal the potential opponent.

The picks ...

Tonight: Miami 40, Florida A&M 10; Wake Forest 33, Presbyterian 3. Saturday: Florida State 42, Samford 0; Boston College 37, Weber State 13; Georgia Tech 44, S.C. State 7; Clemson 30, North Texas 10; N.C. State 33, Western Carolina 10; Duke 28, Elon 7; LSU 23, Carolina 17; Virginia 28, Richmond 10; Monday: Navy 28, Maryland 17; Virginia Tech 36, Boise State 20.

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