Much of the credit for Clemson's turnaround this season goes to its offense. Let us count the ways.
During Clemson's current five-game winning streak -- the program's longest in three seasons -- the Tigers have scored at least 38 points in each game, a program first. During that span, Clemson has averaged 42 points per game, 425 total yards per game, 6.87 yards per play and 220 passing yards a game.
No wonder the Tigers, who had lost three of their first five games by a total of 10 points, are positioned to clinch their first trip to the ACC title game with a home victory Saturday against struggling Virginia.
Of course, Clemson's success on offense revolves around all-purpose back and Heisman Trophy hopeful C.J. Spiller. Spiller needs 103 all-purpose yards to break the ACC single-season record of 2,054, held by Virginia's Thomas Jones.
In last Saturday's victory over N.C. State, Spiller had a 16-yard touchdown run, caught a 34-yard scoring pass and threw a 17-yard touchdown to Xavier Dye, becoming the first Clemson player to do all three in one game.
That's what we may get from the ACC this weekend in terms of divisional winners advancing to the title game in Tampa, Fla., next month.
Clemson could clinch the Atlantic Division Saturday if the Tigers beat North Carolina State and Boston College loses at Virginia. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, can clinch the Coastal Division by beating Duke in its last league game. Of course, keep an eraser handy, just in case.
Bobby Bowden turned 80 on Sunday, but he wasn't in the mood to celebrate.
Bowden's Florida State Seminoles lost a key ACC game at Clemson and also their starting quarterback, Christian Ponder, possibly for the season with a separated shoulder in the process on Saturday. Talk about a family funk.
Bowden's son, Terry, whose coaching staff includes younger brother Jeff, saw his undefeated and top-ranked Division-II North Alabama Lions tumble in four overtimes on Saturday, too. And Bowden's son-in-law, Jack Hines, the defensive coordinator at Colquitt County High (Ga.), opened the weekend with a defeat on Friday.
"Our whole family got whipped. We ain't celebrating nothing," Bowden quipped Sunday.
It's becoming clear that Florida State's Bobby Bowden, who turn 80 on Sunday, wants to coach the Seminoles in 2010.
The feisty Bowden has tipped his hand many times since coming under fire from high-level boosters, fans and the media following a 2-4 start.
Consecutive victories over North Carolina and North Carolina State have helped quiet restless critics -- and a victory Saturday at Clemson would vault FSU into second place in the ACC Atlantic Division -- and Bowden said Wednesday he will make the final call on who replaces retiring Mickey Andrews as defensive coordinator.
However, Bowden also stressed that head coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher will make a strong contribution to the process, so don't expect a disagreement conspiracy between the pair.
It seems as if C.J. Spiller's career has been punctuated by big decisions and big plays.
Spiller selected the Clemson Tigers over childhood favorite Florida State and others out of Lake Butler (Fla.) Union County. A frustrating freshman season nearly prompted him to transfer to Florida. Spiller could have entered the NFL Draft last year as a possible first-round selection. Known as a quiet leader, Spiller promised to speak up this season.
Check, check and check -- Spiller has made all the right moves.
"It has gone by so fast," Spiller told FanHouse Tuesday morning. "It seems like I just got here, and now ... these last five [regular-season] games I am going to enjoy the best way I can with my teammates. Coming back was the best decision I've made in my life. You don't have a better experience than your college one."
It has reached this point at Florida State: panicking Seminole fans are searching for victories.
At 2-4, FSU and head coach Bobby Bowden need to find four more victories in their remaining six games to become bowl eligible. That challenge starts Thursday night in a nationally-televised game at North Carolina. The Seminoles close October against North Carolina State and tangle with Clemson, Wake Forest, Maryland and Florida in November.
FSU has played in 27 consecutive bowl games dating back to 1981, when the Seminoles went 6-5.
A solid rivalry has developed between Boston College and Virginia Tech.
While the Eagles have won the last three regular-season games against the Hokies, Virginia Tech has beaten Boston College when its counted most in the past two ACC Championship games. Plenty is at stake again when the two tangle Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.
"These guys are a premier program in the country and they haven't skipped a beat since the last time we saw them," BC coach Frank Spaziani said.
Matt Daniels doesn't even want to think about the repercussions if Duke loses to North Carolina Central University on Saturday.
The two campuses are just five miles apart, and locals in Durham, N.C., have been chatting for months about whether the Eagles can compete against a Blue Devils team that already this season has lost to a Football Championship Subdivision school.
"A lot of heads are going to be turning," said Daniels, Duke's sophomore safety.
Clemson fans didn't react well to their team's Thursday night loss at Georgia Tech. It was the kind of game that drives fans into fits of rage. One moment your team is down 24 points and you're sitting in the stands thinking, "I hope these bums get their scholarships pulled. I'm never watching another game. Ever. Why did I drive all the way to frigging Atlanta to begin with?" Then, miraculously, the winds of college football fate shift direction. Suddenly you find yourself standing in the visiting section of an eerily quiet stadium screaming at the top of your lungs as your team storms back to take a 27-24 lead in the fourth quarter. All is right in the college football universe.
Except, of course, it isn't. Which leads to the above vignette we like to refer to as the Cry of the Tiger. Here's what happened.
Staring down the barrel of an embarrassing 24-0 first half deficit to Georgia Tech, Clemson had two choices -- go down in flames, as has been its pattern in recent years, or muscle up and do something about it. Clemson chose the latter, and nearly staged an epic comeback. The Tigers surged back with 27 straight points to take the lead before the Yellow Jackets booted a pair of field goals, one with just under a minute left, to claim the 30-27 home victory.
Things started out poorly as the Clemson defense let 230-pound Georgia Tech tailback Anthony Allen take a simple short-side option pitch 82 yards for the game's first score. Later, the Tigers lined up for a 57-yard field goal. Kicker Richard Jackson instead punted the ball, but the home team was ready, and returnman Jerrard Tarrant fielded the punt and raced nearly untouched for an 85-yard return in one of the dumbest moments of this young season. Tragedy turned to comedy when Georgia Tech then faked its own field goal, with kicker Scott Blair throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Demaryius Thomas for the 21-nothing lead.
NCAA Football 
Much of the credit for Clemson's turnaround this season goes to its offense. Let us count the ways. 
Closure.
Bobby Bowden
It's becoming clear that Florida State's Bobby Bowden, who turn 80 on Sunday, wants to coach the 
It seems as if 
It has reached this point at Florida State: panicking Seminole fans are searching for victories.
A solid rivalry has developed between Boston College and Virginia Tech.
Matt Daniels doesn't even want to think about the repercussions if Duke loses to North Carolina Central University on Saturday. 
Staring down the barrel of an embarrassing 24-0 first half deficit to 
