ESPN College Football

You are going to argue about this. How do I know? Because I'm still arguing with myself over it ...

1. Boston College: Luke Kuechly is one of the best in the country, but he’s not alone. The Eagles also have Kevin Pierre-Louis, who ranked second nationally among all freshmen in tackles per game last season with 7.15 -- ninth in the ACC. It won’t be easy to replace Mark Herzlich, on or off the field, but Steele Divitto played in 11 games last season, and Nick Clancy and Will Thompson both saw time on the second team.

2. Florida State: The Noles had to replace two starters, including Kendall Smith, the team’s second-leading tackler, last season, and Mister Alexander, but the upcoming talent could be even better. Nigel Bradham led the team with 98 tackles and five pass breakups last season, and Christian Jones, Jeff Luc, Telvin Smith and Vince Williams will also be competing for playing time.

3. Miami: Sean Spence, who has 30 career starts, should be one of the best in the country, and Ramon Buchanon, another senior, also returns. The Canes have five other linebackers with experience in Kelvin Cain, who started seven games, Jordan Futch, who had a great spring and will see the field, Tyrone Cornelius, Shayon Green and C.J. Holton.

4. North Carolina: Kevin Reddick, who led the Tar Heels with 74 tackles last season, returns for his third season as starter. Zach Brown is also a returning starter with game-changing capabilities, and there is plenty of depth with Dion Guy, Darius Lipford, Ebele Okakpu and Herman Davidson. Junior college transfer Fabby Desir could also have an impact.

5. NC State: Audie Cole and Terrell Manning have combined for 39 career starts, and Cole fared well this spring moving to the middle to replace Nate Irving. With the return of Sterling Lucas, Dwayne Maddox and Colby Jackson, there is plenty of experience, but not quite as much depth as some other programs.

6. Georgia Tech: The Jackets return both starters in Steven Sylvester and Julian Burnett. There is no shortage of depth with Jeremy Attaochu, Quayshawn Nealey, Brandon Watts, Albert Rocker, Malcolm Munroe and Daniel Drummond.

7. Clemson: This group has a lot of potential, especially if true freshmen Tony Steward and Stephone Anthony make an immediate impact. There’s no question they’ll be given a chance, but the Tigers already have a good group with Corico Hawkins, Quandon Christian and Jonathan Willard.

8. Virginia Tech: It seems like this rotation has been in flux for a while now. The Hokies’ leading tackler returns in Bruce Taylor, Barquell Rivers had 96 tackles as a starter in 2009 but was injured last season, and there are several young players adding to the competition. Chase Williams, Tariq Edwards, Telvion Clark and Jack Tyler are only a few. Whip linebacker Jeron Gouveia-Winslow will have to earn his spot back over Alonzo Tweedy, Dominique Patterson and Nick Dew.

9. Maryland: The Terps were hit hard here with the losses of Alex Wujciak (381 career tackles) and Adrian Moten (14.5 career sacks). Demetrius Hartsfield returns with 20 career starts, and there are four lettermen returning including Darin Drakeford, Isaiah Ross, David Mackall and Bradley Johnson.

10. Wake Forest: Kyle Wilber’s move to outside linebacker will give this position a boost, as he led the Deacs with 14.5 tackles for loss and six sacks last season. His backup is Gelo Orange (22 tackles). The Deacs also have Tristan Dorty, Joey Ehrmann, Mike Olsen, Scott Betros, Riley Haynes and Justin Jackson.

11. Virginia: Starters LaRoy Reynolds and Ausar Walcott both return, but neither has started more than 11 career games. Junior Steve Greer has prior starting experience but played mainly as a reserve last season. Adam Taliaferro, Conner McCartin, Tucker Windle and LoVante Battle are also in the mix for playing time.

12. Duke: Kelby Brown is the lone returning starter, but he’s a promising young player who led the nation last season as a freshman in fumbles recovered. He missed spring ball while recovering from a knee injury, but is expected to start with Tyree Glover or Kevin Rojas.

Wake Forest quarterback Tanner Price is the Demon Deacons' returning starter, but all five quarterbacks had a chance to make their case on Saturday in the second spring scrimmage. Price, Brendan Cross, Ted Stachitas, Patrick Thompson and redshirt freshman Keenon Rush each had at least one completion of 35 yards or longer in the hour-long scrimmage. Each of the top four quarterbacks either accounted for a scoring drive or drove the team into field goal range.

Offensive highlights:

• Lovell Jackson scored on a 65-yard swing pass from Cross.
• Brandon Pendergrass scored on a 12-yard run and led all rushers with 52 yard on four carries, including a 34-yard run.
• Price drove the Deacons to the 11 and 29 while Stachitas had a drive that ended at the 9. Thompson led Wake to the 1 before a fumble at the goal line.
• Michael Campanaro led all receivers with six receptions for 77 yards. Jackson had five catches for a team-high 91 yards while Matt James finished the scrimmage with 67 yards on three receptions.

Defensive highlights:

• Zachary Allen, Riley Haynes and Mike Olson all recorded sacks during the scrimmage.
• Kris Redding and Gelo Orange each recovered fumbles.

Quotable: “Last season doesn’t cut it,” coach Jim Grobe said of delivering a message to his players. “It’s not like we have a season like we had last year, we can’t all get together at Chuck E. Cheese and hand out trophies. At this level, it just doesn’t happen and our guys have to understand it. If you don’t practice, it’s going to be hard for us to be a good football team. We have to have durable and dependable guys.”

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

Yes, there are other games this week besides Georgia Tech and Miami. Here's what's being said about them:

• Will Yeatman is an interesting two-sport athlete who has gone from a former Notre Dame tight end and attackman to a Maryland lacrosse player and possibly back to the football field for the Terps.
• For the second time in three weeks, Virginia Tech's offensive line will have to deal with one of the nation's top defensive linemen.
• It's status quo for BC's quarterbacks -- Justin Tuggle will start but Dave Shinskie will also play.
• Clemson offensive lineman Landon Walker thought he was going to be kicked off the team, but instead, he got his starting job back.
• BYU quarterback Max Hall has impressed FSU's defense on film. Odds are they'll appreciate him even more on Saturday.
• Wake Forest's Gelo Orange is making the transition from linebacker to defensive end, and they need him now more than ever.
• Quarterbacks have been struggling in the state of North Carolina.
• NC State's longtime equipment manager is stepping down.
• Coaches throughout the ACC faced questions this week about whether or not the FCS schools are closing the gap. Well, they've certainly allowed them to keep it interesting.
• The ACC hasn't exactly gotten off to a strong start, that's for sure, and Barry Jacobs writes that knocking ACC football early in the season is "so easy its not very sporting."
• Larry Williams caught up with Dabo Swinney for an extended interview, and it's in a three-part series for the ACC Sports Journal.

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

Wake Forest was leery about playing Elon on Saturday to begin with, but facing the Phoenix will just be the beginning of about a six-week stretch without the Deacs' top pass rusher, defensive end Kyle Wilber. The one player at the position with the most experience broke a bone in his left leg in Saturday's 24-17 win over Stanford. While his stats might not reflect it -- six tackles and one sacks through the first two games -- Wilber was one of the more improved players on a defense already struggling to find replacements for their 2008 superstars. Heading into this season, the defensive line was easily the strength of the defense, and it still should be.

Coach Jim Grobe said he likes how redshirt sophomore Tristan Dorty has played at the other defensive end position in the Deacs' 4-3 defense, and said Dorty showed some positives in last weekend's win against Stanford. Grobe had just gotten comfortable with Dorty balancing out the end position with Wilber on the other side. With Wilber out, Wake Forest will likely turn to redshirt sophomore Will Wright, who hadn't taken any collegiate snaps entering this season.

"Will is kind of a physical guy, probably not the edge rusher that Kyle Wilber was," Grobe said. "And Gelo Orange is a kid we moved from linebacker to defensive end. Gelo has lots of ability, but he played a year at linebacker last year, and so learning the defensive end position is kind of new to him. We've got some young guys we're going to be taking a look at this week. Kevin Smith is a guy that we're going to look at, and maybe a couple of other guys."

Smith is a redshirt freshman out of Texas, and Orange, originally from Haiti, didn't start playing football until he was a sophomore in high school. He moved from Haiti to the United States in 2004. His mother, Geronne, still lives in Haiti. He played in all 13 games last year but didn't record any defensive statistics. He did, however, block a punt in each of the last two regular-season games.

"We've got some guys with ability, we just don't have guys with a lot of experience," Grobe said. "We're going to be scrambling this week to try to find somebody to replace Kyle."

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

Each team is going to need a little bit of help this fall (some more than others). Here's a look at where everyone in the ACC needs the most help heading into summer camp:

BOSTON COLLEGE -- Quarterback. It's easily the biggest question mark in Chestnut Hill, and it will also be one of Frank Spaziani's first major decisions as head coach. Regardless of whom he picks -- Dominique Davis, Codi Boek or Justin Tuggle -- experience will be at a minimum.

CLEMSON -- Wide receivers. Somebody needs to help Jacoby Ford, and Aaron Kelly and Tyler Grisham are no longer around to do it. Xavier Dye didn't quite have the consistency he'd hoped for this spring. Marquan Jones and Terrence Ashe could also be factors.

DUKE -- Offensive line. The Blue Devils lost three starters there and moved a fourth (Kyle Hill from left guard to left tackle), so it will have an entirely new look. The one player back in his original position is center Bryan Morgan.

FLORIDA STATE -- Receivers. FSU is waiting until the legal process unfolds to determine the length of Rod Owens' suspension, and it's uncertain how quickly Taiwan Easterling will be cleared to play after an injury to his Achilles. Bert Reed, Louis Givens and Jarmon Fortson will be heavily depended upon.

GEORGIA TECH -- Linemen. The Yellow Jackets have to replace three of four starters on the defensive line, and injuries to Cord Howard, Dan Voss and Nick Claytor slowed the progress on the offensive line this spring.

MARYLAND -- Offensive line. The Terps lost three starters and will have four players in new positions. Phil Costa should be the leader of an otherwise inexperienced group.

MIAMI -- Linebacker depth. There were a few position changes, and Colin McCarthy missed the spring. Sean Spence is proven, but depth remains a concern.

NORTH CAROLINA -- Receivers. This group had to be completely rebuilt, as UNC lost players who accounted for 17 of 21 receiving touchdowns last year. Greg Little had a good spring and should be the leader now, and freshman Joshua Adams benefitted from enrolling early.

NC STATE -- Safety. This is coach Tom O'Brien's biggest concern, and the Pack need Javon Walker, who tore his ACL and missed the spring, back and healthy. Clem Johnson played well last year despite being hindered by several injuries. O'Brien is looking for more from Jimmaul Simmons and Justin Byers.

VIRGINIA -- Linebackers. The backups to Antonio Appleby, Jon Copper and Clint Sintim rarely played, as Al Groh wanted to keep his best players on the field. Darren Childs, Steve Greer, Aaron Taliaferro, Cam Johnson, and Darnell Carter will have to grow up quickly.

VIRGINIA TECH -- Kicker. For the third straight year, Frank Beamer is in search of a new kicker, this time to replace Dustin Keys. Matt Waldron was the leading candidate out of the spring, but the competition is wide open.

WAKE FOREST -- Linebackers. Gone are Aaron Curry, Stanley Arnoux and Chantz McClinic. Introducing Gelo Orange. Yes, that's his name. Orange, along with Hunter Haynes, Jonathan Jones and a host of others have some big shoes to fill.