FSU Seminoles

Wake Forest starting noseguard Nikita Whitlock has been ruled out for Saturday's game against Florida State with a sprained ankle.

Whitlock was hurt last week against North Carolina and has been unable to practice. On the ACC coaches call earlier this week, Grobe talked about the prospect of playing without his top defensive lineman.

"I like Tylor Harris," Grobe said. "He's a true freshman, but he's a big guy, he's very athletic, he's a pretty physical kid. I really like the things that he's doing right now. Some of our other guys that have been very productive, I thought the nice thing was when we didn't have Zach Thompson last week that Hasan Hazime came in and played absolutely great, and now he'll be starting at defensive end. That might give us a chance to move Zach down inside.

"It's really hard to replace Nikita, but I think the thing we've got is we've got about five guys in that defensive front for those three positions where we've kind of through practice in August rotated those guys around, and most of those guys have played either noseguard or defensive end.

"We've got enough athletes that we can move those guys around. We'd hate to miss Nikita, but I think Tylor Harris will be the guy starting out, but we'll have to roll some of those guys in behind him to try to keep him fresh."

The ACC had its weekly coaches' conference call shortly after the Notre Dame news broke. Here is a sampling of what some of the league coaches had to say about the addition of Notre Dame, which will play five games annually against ACC teams.

Frank Spaziani, Boston College: “We have a mutual respect for each other, an appreciation for each other. We understand what a great institution it is. So I think it’s tremendous for our league and certainly for Boston College. We play them; now to be playing them in other sports, it’s valuable. It’s very valuable. … It’s a marquee brand. I think any time you add a marquee brand to your established tradition and the wonderful stuff that you have, it enhances it.”

Then a joke: "From our perspective, we play them every year. I thought they were in the ACC, to be honest with you."

Dabo Swinney, Clemson: "I’m sure they could have their pick of conferences, and for them to choose the ACC is, I think, a great thing. They’re making a commitment to play five conference football games. Even though they’re not going to be a football member right now, for them to make that commitment, I think that’s very strong, so it’s exciting. It further secures this conference’s strength of schedule and moving forward as we get into the playoff scenarios. I think it’s a real positive for the ACC."

Randy Edsall, Maryland: "Personally, yes I wish they were all in for football, but again, until I get all the information in terms of how those five games are going to be structured and is it going to be a home-and-home situation, or who are the five teams they are going to play. There’s still so much information, but for the overall good of the league, it is a quality institution and a quality program."

Jim Grobe, Wake Forest: "It brings a lot of respect to our conference to have Notre Dame affiliated. Our game last year with them was probably the most exciting environment and fun night that we’ve had playing football. The problem is they’re good and we had a chance late to tie it and go into overtime. We didn’t get the job done; that was tough in the locker room after the game. But the excitement and the experience having Notre Dame come to town was fantastic."

Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech: "I think it's great for the ACC and great for Notre Dame. Both of us benefit ... helps us with the bowls in every way."

Al Golden, Miami, on the hope that Notre Dame becomes a full-time football member: "I think I share the sentiment of everybody: We’d love to have them. They represent all the things we represent in the Atlantic Coast Conference. I would hope it would be that at some point. I just think it’s great, and I can’t say enough about the leadership in our conference for what we’ve gotten done in the last year."

Last week, the ACC went down the runway in a pair of Wranglers. Comfortable? Yes. Style points? No.

Let’s dress it up a little bit this week, shall we, guys?

Week 1 was good but not great for the conference. NC State was outplayed by a faster Tennessee team, but Clemson looked impressive in its victory over Auburn. Miami and Boston College entertained us, while Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech lulled us to sleep before a surprisingly fantastic finish in the first overtime game in Lane Stadium history. Wake Forest, though, barely beat Liberty, and Maryland mucked its way to a 7-6 win over FCS William & Mary with four turnovers along the way.

In Week 2 -- which is mostly a dud as far as the national spotlight is concerned -- ACC teams need to leave no doubt they’re the best on the field.

Boston College needs a convincing win over Maine. NC State needs a no-nonsense rebound at Connecticut. Duke needs to maintain the momentum it gained by beating Florida International on the road against an unimpressive Stanford team. Virginia needs to stay focused against Penn State. And Maryland? Well, it would be nice if the Terps could just score in Philly.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the first week was filled with mistakes and near-upsets as teams figured themselves out and worked their way through the kinks and opening-day jitters. The ACC was hardly alone in its lackluster start, as Wisconsin got a scare from Northern Iowa, Stanford snuck past mighty San Jose State, 20-17, and Pittsburgh lost to Youngstown State. The offenses we saw in Blacksburg on Monday night were underwhelming, as the defenses stole the show until late in the fourth quarter. Both Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech can and will get better as the season goes on, and both will have glorified practices against unheralded opponents this weekend in Presbyterian and Austin Peay, respectively. There’s no reason either should be on upset alert.

In fact, it should be an uneventful weekend for the ACC. With the exception of Duke’s trip to Stanford and Miami’s trip to Kansas State, the ACC should come out a winner against its nonconference opponents again. That’s not to say Duke or Miami won’t win -- but those games aren’t gimmes like, say, Florida State-Savannah State. Virginia could have a tough time at home against Penn State, which is trying to avoid an 0-2 start in its first road trip under Bill O’Brien, and NC State might struggle at Connecticut, but they’re hardly matchups against ranked opponents.

While it was a disappointing loss for NC State, the ACC doesn’t have anything to be ashamed about in Week 1. The league went 7-0 against its nonconference opponents Saturday, and 7-1 overall. Clearly, though, there is room for improvement. Even Virginia left something to be desired in its 43-19 victory over Richmond. This week’s lineup is less about making a statement on the national level -- there aren’t enough ranked opponents on the schedule to do that -- and more about playing polished. Wake Forest will host North Carolina in the only league game of the week, and coach Jim Grobe knows that 42 total yards of offense midway through the second quarter won’t cut it against the Heels. UNC put up 62 points against Elon -- and did it with style, as running back Giovani Bernard scored on a reception, a run and a punt return.

“There were a handful of FBS teams that lost to FCS teams this weekend, so we’re fortunate to get a win,” Grobe said. “But we need to play better. I don’t want to take anything away from Liberty; I thought they had a great plan and a great coaching staff with a lot of good players. We were fortunate to get a win, but we’ve got a lot of improvements to make.”

Winning ugly is better than not winning at all, but with four FCS schools, one MAC school and two Big East schools on the schedule this week, the ACC shouldn’t have to cut it close.