ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

Hopefully you guys had a great Fourth of July weekend. I'm back, I'm supercharged and ready to officially get this season started. I had a dream last night that I got the ball on a second-and-1 and dropped it. (Seriously). If we don't get some football going here soon, I might just transfer to North Alabama so I can play.

Thankfully, the ACC Football Kickoff is later this month, July 26-27 in Greensboro, N.C., so we're almost there. Between now and then I'll have some predictions for you, position rankings, more interviews and whatever else I can come up with to keep us all entertained.

First, though, a quick recap of what happened in ACC country while I was on vacation last week:

• The biggest news was also the most devastating. NC State linebacker Nate Irving suffered a broken leg and a collapsed lung after running his vehicle off the road on June 28. There still hasn't been any update from NC State on Irving's playing status or his condition, but I'll report that when NC State releases it. Thankfully, his surgery was successful and that's the most important thing, but it would obviously be a huge loss for the Pack if Irving couldn't play.
• NC State also announced three players who signed with the Pack in February will not enroll at NC State at this time: Tyson Chandler (OL, N. Plainfield, N.J.), Raynard Randolph (DT, Brandywine, Md.) and Bryan Underwood (WR, University Heights, Ohio). Also, sophomore cornerback Dominique Ellis has decided to transfer. Ellis played in all 13 games last season, mainly on special teams, and made 13 tackles.

"I appreciate everything the NC State coaching staff has done for me and taught me," Ellis said in a prepared statement. "I learned a lot from them, but at this time, I think that for personal reasons, it's in my best interest to continue my career at another school."

• On the recruiting front, it was a good Fourth of July weekend for Al Groh, as Virginia picked up three more recruits. The Cavs picked up their ninth commitment from 6-foot-1, 255-pound defensive end/outside linebacker, Chris Brathwaite of Holy Cross (Flushing, N.Y.).

Henry Coley, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker from Bayside (Virginia Beach, Va.), committed to Virginia. The Cavaliers also got their first commitment from an offensive lineman in 6-foot-6, 270-pound offensive tackle Conner Davis of Deep Run (Glen Allen, Va.). Davis was also offered by Virginia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest, Syracuse, West Virginia and Boston College.

"It was tough, especially with Tech being a recent powerhouse and having really good things going on up there," Davis told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "But it was hard for me to think about going to another school when all I could think about was sitting in the stands watching UVa. play and just dreaming about playing there. That just kept coming back to me, and I couldn't avoid it. Ultimately, it was just a dream come true, and that's why I picked Virginia."

• And -- yawn -- Florida State took the next step in the appeal process and again argued it's not fair for the individuals (read: Bobby Bowden) to be stripped of their wins when they weren't involved. Ah, but see, not being involved was the very problem.

I know, you missed me.