ACC can talk a good game

There have been nights this summer when Virginia football player Clint Sintim has had trouble falling asleep. That's the degree of his excitement about the Cavaliers' opening game Saturday against visiting third-ranked Southern California.

"Just thinking about that game gives me the chills," Sintim, a senior linebacker, said recently. "I've had it on my mind since the end of the last game last season. Being on the same field with Southern Cal in Scott Stadium -- what a blast that's going to be."

For the Cavaliers and their ACC brethren, the prayer is that it will indeed be a blast, and not a blasting.

The same goes for at least two other conference openers this week -- N.C. State at South Carolina on Thursday and No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 24 Alabama on Saturday in Atlanta.

"It's a great chance for a lot of our teams to show the world what we can do," Clemson defender Michael Hamlin said. "Those are the kinds of games players sort of live for."

Those are also the kinds of games that routinely have kept the ACC's national image modest. Including an 0-2 stand by Miami and Florida State against Florida, Miami's trip to Oklahoma, an ear-ringing loss by Virginia Tech at Louisiana State and Maryland's 17-point setback against West Virginia last season, many of the ACC's big-game excursions resulted not only in defeat, but also in outright embarrassment.

"Last year is over and done. It's gone," said Jason Fox, Miami's best offensive lineman. "Rather than moan about it, the best thing for the teams in the league to do is use it for motivation and make people forget."

That is definitely the collective league stance as the opportunity for redemption approaches. Traditional powers Florida State, Miami and Clemson expect to be much improved while at least three others -- N.C. State, North Carolina and Duke -- think fast progress has been made by new coaching staffs. Two others -- Virginia Tech and Wake Forest -- insist there will be slippage.

"Top to bottom, the ACC's going to be better -- a lot better, I think," said Jeff Jagodzinski, beginning his second season at Boston College.

But will it?

Last season ended with a imposing exodus of skill-position personnel, led by former BC quarterback Matt Ryan, and that's been the ACC's most obvious shortcoming for several years. The league really hasn't had an abundance of consistent offensive big-play makers since 2002. Even then, no league team finished higher in the final polls than the Wolfpack at No. 11 in the coaches' ranking and No. 12 in the Associated Press.

"There's no substitute for quickness," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "But it goes in cycles, too. If you look around the league, I think you see that quickness level getting back up there."

Clemson should have enough offensive pop to get past Alabama, although it certainly won't be easy. But on paper, Virginia and N.C. State will find it difficult to match pace with Southern Cal and South Carolina.

At worst, the ACC needs to go 1-2, with a pair of competitive losses, in these three big-top openers. An 0-3 run, complicated by a wipeout or two, would equate to a devastating weekend that would be difficult to overcome.

Then, there's the David factor.

Miami, Georgia Tech, Carolina, Boston College, Maryland, Duke and even Virginia Tech (against East Carolina in Charlotte) are playing down in their openers. In some cases, ACC teams are playing way, way down. One loss, or even a few close shaves, in those games would give rise to eyebrows far and near.

Few leagues do better on the football talking points than the ACC. But the time always arrives when talking has to evolve into doing. That time is at hand.

(Contact Caulton Tudor at caulton.tudor@newsobserver.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)