Replacing Riley

Replacing QB Riley Skinner will be no small challenge for redshirt junior QB Skylar Jones. Cutting to the chase, there really isn't any way that Jones could possibly be a better passing quarterback than Skinner. Skinner, who is now competing to be Eli Manning's back-up on the Giants, left Wake Forest with 17 school records and 31 career victories. Last year Skinner threw for over 3,100 yards and passed for 25 tds while throwing just 12 ints.

In my opinion, the best case scenario is that Jim Grobe returns to a misdirection run-based offense that could take advantage of both Skylar Jones's athletic ability as well as Wake's veteran backfield. While Jones might not be the passer that Skinner was, he is certainly more athletic. According to the Wake Forest website, Jones has run a 4.33 40 yard dash and has a 35-inch vertical leap. Did anyone else notice Skinner's 40 yard dash time (5.07) at the NFL combine? Yikes that's slow. Jones's ability to run may give the Deacons a refreshing change of pace at the QB position. If Jones can throw on the run, then they could really give some ACC defenses fits.

In my opinion, this year's Wake team will look a lot more like Jim Grobe's teams from early on in his tenure at Wake. I expect to see a more run-based offense with lots of misdirection. I think Wake will finish the year around .500 with the possibility of sneaking into one of the smaller bowl games.

ACC Upswing

The ACC, which has been down for about the past decade, may finally have an impressive year as a conference. Two teams, FSU and Clemson, head into the season with highly-touted experienced quarterbacks (Christian Ponder and Kyle Parker, respectively). Further, ACC teams have winnable big games early in the season, which could help boost their standings on the college football landscape.

While I don't think the ACC will win all these games, I'm glad to see that a lot of ACC teams are playing tough road games early in the season.

SEP4: North Carolina at LSU
I can see North Carolina winning their game against LSU. While it's hard to believe, UNC will have the better defense. Though stats certainly don't say everything, UNC (whose defense should be even better than last year) was able to hold their opponents to 92.8 rush yds and 174.9 passing yds in 2009. If they can overcome what is sure to be a tough atmosphere in Death Valley, this would be a huge win that could set the tone for UNC's season.

SEP6: Virginia Tech vs. Boise State
Virginia Tech should win this game, which is what scares me. Although this game is being played at a "neutral site," it's practically a home game for Virginia Tech. With a talented team that's capable of competing for a national title, there is no reason for Virginia Tech to lose this game. That said, Virginia Tech literally seems to lose every big game they are in. Even though Boise State is an awesome program, if Virginia Tech loses, they should seriously put to bed all hopes of ever winning a national title.

SEP11: Virginia at USC
Although USC's coach is a moron and the school has had one of the worst offseasons of all-time, Virginia is still not winning this game.

SEP11: FSU at Oklahoma
I wrote a post on this earlier, but I really think FSU will win this game. I don't have a whole lot to base this on. Lots of analysts say that Oklahoma is going to be great this year, I just feel that Christian Ponder is going to have a big year.

SEP11: Miami at Ohio State
I'm going with Miami here, I really like where Randy Shannon has the program headed. Additionally, I'm a believer in Miami QB Jacory Harris (2009: 24TD, 17INT, 4 games of over 290yds passing) and not so much of a believer in Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor. I know everyone was excited after his solid performance against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, but if you look at his stats, that's just not something you can consistently expect from him.

Disclosure: As a graduate of an ACC school, you may assume that I am either biased or overly hopeful that the ACC will stop being an embarrassing BCS football conference. In reality, my alma mater (Wake Forest) actually benefits from the depressed state of ACC football because they are more likely to be competitive. Wake Forest will likely have no chance at competing for an ACC title if the ACC is actually as good as I expect them to be. That said, I don't expect them to be a complete embarrassment either, since they have a great coach in Jim Grobe, the 2006 AP Coach of the Year.