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 By David Dacus/ STUDENT PUBLICATIONS |
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| Florida State's loss to North Carolina State will kill some of their mystique and should result in a more wide open conference race than in past years. | |
Last year, the Yellow Jackets finished 5-3 and tied for third in the ACC. This season, Tech will join the rest of the league in chasing the Florida State Seminoles for the coveted ACC Title, and head coach George O'Leary will try to land his team in a higher-seeded bowl.
The Jackets will not have an easy time getting back to postseason play, as the league appears to have more depth
then ever. That was never more apparent then two weeks ago when conference favorite Florida State was stunned by North Carolina State. The loss was shocking in that the Seminoles have dominated conference play since they joined the league, losing only one previous ACC contest, to Virginia in 1995. Last year, the Seminoles went 8-0 for the second year in a row, including a 38-0 trouncing of Tech down in Doak Campbell Stadium. Despite the setback at N.C. State, they are still the ACC's most talented team.
Coach Bobby Bowden returns seven offensive starters and five defensive starters. Junior quarterback Dan Kendra is out for the year, so sophomore QB Chris Weinke will lead the offense. Weinke is a 26-year old who has played minor league baseball in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
Bowden's deep lineup includes junior wide receiver Peter Warrick, a second team all-ACC selection, sophomore running back Travis Minor, the 1997 ACC Rookie of the Year, and junior second team all-ACC guard Jason Whitaker. When the offense is off the field, senior free safety Dexter Jackson and senior linebacker Lamont Green lead the Seminoles' defensive attack.
One of the top challengers is North Carolina. In 1997, the Tarheels led the ACC in total defense and went 7-1 in the conference, losing only to FSU. Carolina visited Grant Field last year for a Thursday Night ESPN matchup, which the Tarheels won 16-13.
Ten starters return to Carolina, but last season's successful defensive coordinator is now the head coach. Carl Torbush took over for the departed Mack Brown. The key players to watch in 1998 are junior cornerback and consensus all-American Dre' Bly, senior outside LB Keith Newman, senior QB Oscar Davenport, senior split end L.C. Stevens , and second team all-ACC, junior tight end Alge Crumpler.
Also up for the challenge is Clemson, whom the Jackets defeated 23-20 at home after backup kicker Brad Chambers' field goal went through the uprights to put Tech on top. Clemson went 4-4 in the ACC in 1997 for the fifth-place slot.
Eleven starters return for the new season, five on offense and six on defense. Nealon Greene, the school's all-time leading passer, has moved on, but the leading candidate to start in his place is junior QB Brandon Streeter. Streeter threw for 87 yards last season. Other movers and shakers will be junior fullback Terry Witherspoon, senior tackle Holland Postell, and for the defense, second team all-ACC strong safety, senior Antawn Edwards, and junior OLB Rahim Abdullah.
In 1997, Tech let the game against Virginia slip away. Despite the Jackets leading late, the Cavaliers went on to win 35-31 at home. Virginia won five of its eight conference games to finish in a tie for third place in the ACC. Six offensive starters and a league-high nine defensive starters return to help head coach George Welsh make another run for the ACC title.
Leading the list are the ACC's top-rated QB in 1997, senior Aaron Brooks, and all-American defensive back, senior Anthony Poindexter. Other top returnees are first team all-ACC junior DT Antonio Dingle, senior LB Wali Rainer, and junior RB Thomas Jones.
Wake Forest is a team that made progress in 1997. The Demon Deacons went 3-5 in the ACC and tied with N.C. State for sixth place. It was Wake's best season since 1992. One of those five conference losses was to Tech, 28-26. Wake returns the most experience out of any ACC team this year. Sixteen of the Deacons' 1997 starters return for the 1998 season. Coach Jim Caldwell will have two major offensive weapons to use: senior QB and second team all-ACC Brian Kuklick and senior WR Desmond Clark, who led the ACC in receptions last season. Anchoring the defense are senior LB Kelvin Moses and junior LB Dustin Lyman.
N.C. State also returns some experience to try to build on its 3-5, tied-for-sixth-place finish of last year. Their stunning conquest of FSU indicates they will finish higher this year. Eleven starters rejoin the huddles for 1998. Highlighting the roster is first team all-ACC senior WR Torry Holt. Another marquee player is junior QB Jamie Barnette, who threw for the ACC's second-highest total of yards in 1997. Other players to watch are junior RB Rahshon Spikes , junior middle LB Sheldon Kee, and junior CB Tony Scott. The Wolfpack were Tech's 1997 Homecoming opponent, and the Jackets beat the Pack 27-17.
Maryland and Duke round out Tech's ACC competition. The two squads finished in the bottom two spots in the conference last year, with Maryland going 1-7, and Duke ending up 0-8. The Terrapins' only ACC win came against the Blue Devils.
Despite low expectations surrounding these teams, both schools return a bevy of experienced and talented players. Second-year Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden sees seven offensive and four defensive starters come back to the 1998 lineup. Senior LBs Eric Barton and Kendall Ogle were the team's top two tacklers last year, and a season of experience has done good for sophomores RB Lamont Jordan, SE Moises Cruz, and WR Omar Cheeseboro.
Fifteen of Duke's 1997 starters return, with nine of them on the defensive side of the ball. Last season, the Blue Devils gave the Jackets a scare but lost 41-38. Duke was last in the league in 1997, but some key returnees are second team all-ACC junior DT Chris Combs , sophomore WR Scottie Montgomery, who was named second team all-ACC as a specialist, and first team all-ACC placekicker, junior Sims Lenhardt. Another factor will be junior RB Letavious Wilks.
All these teams stand between Tech and a second-straight bowl invitation. Once again, the ACC is chock full of marquee players and superstars, but the Jackets have their own weapons to counter with. The real season will begin tomorrow. It will be StinGTime!