by media members over the Seminoles. While Louisville is poised to make a leap in Year 3 — under Bobby Petrino, it Clemson’s Deshaun would be a shock if the Watson still thinks about Tigers and Seminoles carrying an unbeaten don’t finish atop the divirecord into the final game sion. of the season before losing to Alabama with a national championship on the line.
The Tigers and their star quarterback are the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference and be positioned to return to the College Football Playoff, but there’s another team — Florida State — that enters the season with a playoff shot within reach.
In fact, it’s not impossible that both teams could find themselves in playoff position coming out of a league where the balance of power is tipped heavily toward the Atlantic Division that includes both the Tigers and Seminoles.
“We know how to get there,” Watson said of last year’s title-game loss. “We’ve experienced it and we’ve got to start over this year and try to get back there.”
Clemson (14-1) and Florida State (10-3) have combined to win the last five ACC championships. They’ve combined to go 57-3 against the rest of the league, while the last time either lost to a division opponent came nearly four years ago.
“We’ve been able to recruit well and have very good players and we’ve been able to coach them well,” Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher said of the gap between the Atlantic powers and the rest of the league. “Not that other guys haven’t, but we’ve been able to be fortunate in certain games. I mean, we’ve created a culture that right now we’re both playing pretty well.”
THE FAVORITES Atlantic Division
Clemson. The Tigers were the preseason pick
Coastal Division
North Carolina. The Tar Heels are coming off an 11-win season and are trying to become the first repeat Coastal champion since 2011 in a typically wide-open division.
TOP PLAYERS
-Deshaun Watson, Clemson. Last season, he was ACC player of the year, third in Heisman Trophy voting and the Manning Award winner as the nation’s top quarterback. All as a sophomore.
-Dalvin Cook, Florida State. The Seminoles have their own Heisman candidate with a junior running back who ran for an ACC-best 1,691 yards and 19 touchdowns last year.
-Elijah Hood, North Carolina. The junior is a physical presence for the Coastal champions after running for 1,463 yards and 17 scores.
NEW FACES
-Mark Richt, Miami. He spent the past 15 seasons at Georgia but is now at his alma mater, trying to provide a jolt to a onetime power that has yet to win the Coastal title.
- Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech. The former Memphis coach is replacing longtime Hokies coach Frank Beamer, taking over a program that had gone from annual 10-win seasons to consecutive 7-6 finishes.
-Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia. The Cavaliers have one winning season in eight years. Now it’s up to the former BYU coach to turn things around.
- Dino Babers, Syracuse. The former Bowling Green coach takes over a Syracuse program that has seven wins in the past two seasons.
-Eli Drinkwitz, North Carolina State. Drinkwitz is the Wolfpack’s new offensive coordinator after leading one of the nation’s top offenses at Boise State.
- James Conner, Pittsburgh. This is a welcome-back season for the running back and 2014 ACC player of the year who went down with an opening-game knee injury, then battled lymphoma.
ON THE HOT SEAT
Boston College’s Steve Addazio is coming off an 0-8 ACC season.
PICKS
Atlantic: Florida State. In what could be a coin flip between two talented teams, the Seminoles’ home-field advantage for the Oct. 29 meeting with the Tigers could be the difference.
Coastal: North Carolina. The Tar Heels are breaking in a new quarterback but have several key pieces back from an offense that averaged 40.7 points and 486.9 yards per game. That could again provide cover for a questionable defense, though its matchup with Miami and quarterback Brad Kaaya comes on the road Oct. 15.
League champion: Florida State.
In other preseason ACC news:
Cancer free, Pitt star James Conner ready to play football
— James Conner doesn’t care where he plays, how he plays or how much he plays, he just wants to play football.
That was the driving force behind the Pitt redshirt junior running back’s six-month recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma, and toward that end, he joined his teammates Monday in the Panthers’ first day of training camp.
Conner was diagnosed in November but continued training and working out during his chemotherapy, even participating in spring practices with a surgical mask to protect his weakened immune system. In May, was declared cancer free by his medical team.
Throughout, the goal was to get back on the football field.
“Being out there with my teammates who competed all summer with me and who stuck by my side through my whole journey, it’s just awesome to be back,” Conner said after completing his first practice.
Even before his diagnosis, Conner’s 2015 had taken a frustrating turn. He tore his medial collateral ligament in Pitt’s season opener against Youngstown State and wasn’t able to return.
That means Conner has a decent amount of rust to shake off to return to the form that made him the ACC Player of the Year in 2014, when he rushed for 1,765 yards and scored 26 touchdowns. Physically, he has no limitations, but to get his timing back, it’s all about getting reps in camp.
“Just getting the feel,” he said. “You have to be in shape, just getting the feel and getting back into the rhythm of things. That’ll come with reps in practice. Every day, I work on every part of my game. It’s just taking reps, getting back into my rhythm. It won’t take long.”
“It’s the mental part of the game that you need,” agreed coach Pat Narduzzi. “It’s not just running the ball. Some people might think that playing running back is easy — you just carry the ball and find a whole. But there’s a lot more to it than that.”
In Conner’s absence, Qadree Ollison turned in a 1,121-yard season that earned him ACC Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. They’ll be joined by senior Rachid Ibrahim, sophomore Darren Hall and freshman Chawntez Moss in what could be a crowded backfield.
“They’ve proven that they can carry the load,” Conner said of his backfield mates. “I’m just helping out now, they’ve established and proved to themselves that they can compete in the ACC. Without me, they had something great going. I’m just trying to add to it.”
The plethora of running talent has led to new offensive coordinator Matt Canada tinkering with some multi-back sets and with Conner lining up at wide receiver from time to time this season. Conner did some pass-catching drills on the first day in addition to working out with the first team at running back.
Wherever he ends up and whatever his role will be, Conner feels forever changed by his experience.
“It’s bigger than the game of football,” he said. “It’s bigger than myself. The impact that I’ve had on others, I don’t take that for granted any more. I’m just thankful to God. You won’t hear me complain, my teammates won’t ever hear me complain again and they won’t be complaining, either. Anything is better than receiving chemotherapy. I’d rather be out here playing football.”