NCAA Football north carolina state Wolfpack

Both Virginia Tech and North Carolina want to move forward Thursday night following difficult losses. One of the two will be disappointed.

The No. 14 Hokies (5-2 overall, 3-1 ACC) say they are no longer stewing over their 28-23 loss at Georgia Tech on Oct. 17, despite the lingering chatter about the Yellow Jackets' chop-blocking techniques and how Virginia Tech no longer controls its destiny in the ACC's Coastal Division.

UNC is coming off a tough loss, too. Playing its first Thursday night home game a week ago, the Tar Heels led Florida State 24-6 after halftime and then fell apart, losing 30-27. The Seminoles had 285 of their 395 passing yards in the second half to keep the Tar Heels (4-3, 0-3) winless in the ACC.

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.

Virginia Tech travels to Georgia Tech on Saturday in what may be the biggest hurdle left on the Hokies' regular season schedule. The fourth-ranked Hokies are in prime position to be in the national title race with some help. They will also virtually wrap up the ACC Coastal Division with a win in Atlanta.

Of course, this isn't expected to be a walk in the park for Tech either.

The Yellow Jackets, who have won three straight, present a unique challenge to the Virginia Tech defense behind their triple-option. Over the last three games, Georgia Tech has averaged 472.3 yards of total offense. The Hokies, always strong on defense and special teams, appear to be finally clicking on all cylinders now that quarterback Tyrod Taylor and running back Ryan Williams are propelling the offense.

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.

Tom O'Brien teams traditionally get better as the season goes on -- as North Carolina State did in winning four of its last five games last year. With Wake Forest, Duke and Boston College coming up in the next three weeks, the surging Wolfpack could be 6-1 going into its bye week prior to an Atlantic Division showdown at Florida State.

O'Brien, however, isn't about to get caught up in such nonsense. He's a game-at-a-time head coach, and Saturday's meeting at Wake Forest is N.C. State's first ACC game and first road game.

"All I know is what team I got this week against the team I am going to play," O'Brien said. "I don't know who is going to be here next week. We continue to march on and try to be the best we can weekly."

This was not the way the ACC was hoping to start the 2009 college football season. The conference is still trying to establish that it is on par with the SEC, Big 12 or the Big 10. Instead, it has barely kept itself in front of the Big East. The early returns suggest more of the same this year.

Through the 10 games to start the season, ACC teams went a combined 4-6. That's bad enough, considering that the ACC was a collective 0-4 against teams from the other BCS conferences. With Virginia Tech losing to Alabama in a semi-neutral site, Wake Forest suffering a home loss to Baylor, Cal destroying Maryland, and of course the opening night nationally-broadcast loss by NC State as the harbinger for this lost weekend. When the best win of the weekend is Clemson trouncing a middle-of-the-pack Sun Belt foe in Middle Tennessee State, that is not a good sign.

The dead ball era came to college football, at least for a night as South Carolina played ball control just a little bit better than North Carolina State. Both contributed woeful offensive performances, South Carolina finishing with 255 yards and North Carolina State just 133 in an ugly, sleepy affair.

A first half touchdown several plays after recovering a Toney Baker fumble deep in Wolfpack territory was all South Carolina needed. They actually missed a field goal and mishandled the snap on another but were never made to pay for their mistakes. North Carolina State receivers dropped endless passes, providing little help to quarterback Russel Wilson.

College football is B - A - C - K so grab a seat, pop on ESPN or some other network if you're watching one of the undercard games (Coastal Carolina at Kent State, perhaps?), and lets talk college football's opening night starting at 7 PM Eastern.

A team of FanHouse writers will be your hosts and we'll have updated Twitter feeds from various sources related to the involved teams updating within the chat software. See it all ... after the jump!

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Did the air smell crisper to you last night? This morning did you beat your chest and bellow as loud as you could while staring at the heavens? I did. College football is back. Thank the Lord. But for some of us, such as South Carolina fans, the season is not getting off to a nice, easy start. Nope, they're traveling north and taking on N.C. State in a game that they're expected to lose. That's despite the 34-0 walloping they put on N.C. State on a Thursday night to start last season. In fact, of the four teams playing tonight on ESPN, South Carolina has more at stake than any of them. Yep, more than Boise State, Oregon, or the Woflpack.

Why?

Because South Carolina has to survive September or their season is going to implode in a hurry. Let's dive in to the college football bonanza and I'll tell you why Gamecock fans are covering their eyes with their visor lids. And it has nothing to do with the debut of the Wild Cock formation. Seriously, am I the only person who can't wait to here Verne Lundquist/Benjamin Franklin talk about the Wild Cock?

Erin, Oprah. Oprah, Erin. Yes that Letterman skit was years ago but more timely is ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews' appearance on Oprah. She'll break her silence in an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show the morning of September 11th.

Sports Illustrated broke the news Monday, offering few other details besides time and date. If you're an American male you know the details but for everyone else late to the story, video of a naked Andrews shot through what appeared to be a peep hole surfaced several weeks ago. Its release prompted swift action by her attorneys and ESPN to suppress the video and seek action against whoever perpetrated the invasion of privacy crime against her.