ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

One of the trends throughout the ACC this year is inexperienced backup quarterbacks, and when Georgia Tech backup Jaybo Shaw broke his collarbone on Saturday, the Jackets joined the club and lost one of the few edges they have over Coastal Division opponent Virginia Tech, which has zero game experience behind Tyrod Taylor.

Shaw is expected to be out for about six weeks, meaning his earliest possible return would be in time for the Oct. 3 game against Mississippi State. That means he will be out when Georgia Tech plays Coastal Division opponents Miami and North Carolina, two games that will help determine the conference race. The thing is, both of those programs are in equally precarious positions at quarterback. Nobody behind Miami's Jacory Harris has any experience, and nobody behind UNC's T.J. Yates has proven dependable.

At Georgia Tech, it's up to redshirt freshman Tevin Washington to take the majority of second-string reps, and Washington has struggled some with his consistency, and isn't quite where the staff needs him to be yet.

Shaw should return in time for one of the most important games of the season -- Oct. 17 against Virginia Tech. That game might not be as important, though, if Josh Nesbitt and Tyrod Taylor don't stay in the lineup, and neither of them made it through 2008 unscathed. There are enough situations like this throughout the conference (Maryland, FSU and Wake Forest also come to mind) that it could definitely be a factor in determining the ACC champion. Here's to hoping it's won on the field this year, and not lost in the trainer's room.