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The 2024 college football season is nearly here, and as the calendar turns to August, many pundits are putting out their predictions for the upcoming season. This is part one of a two part series of the Atlantic Coastal Conference. Who's going to be the surprise team of the ACC this year?
Louisville Cardinals, Projection: 9-3 (ACC: 7-1)
Jeff Brohm surprised people last season with a 10-win season and a trip to the ACC Championship game for the first time since 2016. The Cardinals also finished as the 19th-ranked team in the Associated Press (AP) poll.
Last year’s quarterback Jack Plummer is off to the NFL after just one season spent at Louisville. So Brohm went out and brought in seventh-year quarterback Tyler Shough who comes from Texas Tech and will be under center for the Cardinals. Shough has seen limited action in his five years between Baylor and Texas Tech. Brohm has been a molder of QBs lately with Plummer joining Aidan O’Connell in the NFL. The Cardinals’ offense last season wasn’t their strong suit. It was the defense, but if Shough can improve his passing game this season the Cardinals should be on their way to another possible ACC title game. However, with just three returning starters on offense, it’ll be tough for the Cardinals against some of the tougher defensive teams in the ACC. Of the three returning starters both left and right guards Michael Gonzalez and Austin Collins will pave the way for redshirt junior and Miami transfer running back Donald Chaney Jr. who was just named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List.
The defense was ranked 31st in the country and is returning five starters this year. The defense can only get better this year, and it’ll need to carry the Cardinals again in 2024. The leaders on the defensive side will be defensive end Ashton Gillotte and cornerback Quincy Riley.
The Cardinals' schedule features a tough road game against Notre Dame in Week 5 that should serve as an early test. Home games against SMU and Miami in Weeks 6 and 8, respectively. Their final four games feature two road tests against Clemson and then on rivalry week, in Lexington, Ky., against the Wildcats in the Governor's Cup.
NC State Wolfpack, Projection: 8-4 (5-3)
North Carolina State looked like it was headed for a lost season after a 24-3 loss against Duke last year that put the Wolfpack at 4-3. A tremendous five-game win streak followed with home wins against Miami and Clemson. Now, the fanbase's hope is for that momentum to ride into this season.
Head coach Dave Doeren’s defense was ranked 29th in the country, a spot that will be tough to replicate with five returning starters. Senior safety Devan Boykin is tasked with anchoring the defensive side of the ball.
The offense has more question marks than the defense. Sixth-year quarterback Grayson McCall was the best quarterback in the Sun Belt Conference the past couple of seasons. McCall had more than 10,000 passing yards, 88 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions in five years at Coastal Carolina. He’ll be throwing to wide receiver Kevin Concepcion who had 71 receptions, 839 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in his true-freshman year. Protecting McCall is center Zeke Correll. The three of them hopefully will spark a big season for NC State’s offense. Correll will also block for Duke transfer and sixth-year running back Jordan Waters.
Aside from two tough games out of the gate against Tennessee and Clemson, the Wolfpack could be at 8-2 heading into Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. Then it will be onto Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on the always-tough North Carolina Tar Heels.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Projection: 6-6 (4-4)
In head coach Brent Key’s first full-season he did something that no head coach has done since 2018—take Georgia Tech to a bowl game. Was it beginner's luck or could this be the start of the next great wave of success for a program that has struggled to find consistency since the 1950s? Coming off a win against UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl, Yellow Jacket fans haven’t had this much hope in some time.
The offense was where the Yellow Jackets shined last season. Fifth-year quarterback Haynes King and redshirt junior running back Jamal Haynes both are primed for big seasons. Georgia Tech has two outside returning starters at wide receiver—sophomore Eric Singleton Jr. and senior Malik Rutherford., so the offense should continue to improve upon their 34th-ranked mark last season.
The defense unfortunately is the problem. A 120th ranking last season will need to improve for the Yellow Jackets. There is hope for improvement with seven returning starters on that side of the ball.
The beginning of the season is difficult with a neutral site game in Dublin, Ireland, against Florida State. The Yellow Jackets will face Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Georgia on the road. A neutral site game in Atlanta will be tough for Georgia Tech against Notre Dame. If Key can get Georgia Tech to win the games they are supposed to and play strong against their better opponents, the Yellow Jackets could go bowling again.
Clemson Tigers, Projection: 9-3 (6-2)
Head coach Dabo Swinney has set a ridiculously high standard at Clemson. That standard wasn’t there before 2015 when the Tigers weren’t playing for national championships in about every season. A nine-win season last year that featured back-to-back losses for the first time since 2011 has caused fans and media members alike to question whether Swinney had lost touch with his team. The hard-headed coach doesn’t want to adapt to the new-age Transfer Portal that veteran coaches have had to deal with. So what should we expect from Clemson this year?
On offense, Maxwell Award Watch List selection and junior quarterback Cade Klubnik struggled last year with 2,844 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. That led to a 50th-ranked total offense last season, a mark that Clemson will have to improve on. Senior running back Phil Mafah was named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List and averaged 74 rushing yards per game last year and three returning offensive linemen will help that average improve upon this year. The receiving core needs Klubnik to improve his decision-making because he has the comfortability of two returning wide receivers in sophomore Tyler Brown and junior Troy Stellato.
Defensive has always been Swinney’s bread and butter. The Tigers were ranked No. 8 last year. However, with just four players returning it will be difficult for the Tigers to find that consistency again. A rebuilding season on defense has the potential to be the case this year. Five underclassmen will be starting as well, but one should catch the eyes of many fans—sophomore defensive end Peter Woods. Senior linebacker Barrett Carter is primed for a big season this year for Clemson as well defensively, but as previously stated a nine-win season could be used as a launching point for 2025.
The schedule for Clemson features some tough opponents for a relatively young team playing Georgia right out of the gate, having a road game against Florida State in Week 5, and facing a rowdy Blacksburg, Va., crowd in Week 10—a game that could determine who plays in the conference championship game.
Syracuse Orange, Projection: 5-7 (3-5)
The firing of former head coach Dino Babers did not come as a surprise. Even though Barbers had some successful seasons, he could never establish consistent winning. Now it’s a new era with head coach Frank Brown entering his first year at Syracuse, and fans are hoping for the same defensive mentality from Georgia.
First-year offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon has an NFL pedigree. A former NFL running backs coach who has worked with Christian McCaffrey with the Carolina Panthers and in New York Giants with Saquon Barkley. Junior running back LeQuint Allen will benefit from Nixon’s coaching wisdom. Allen was named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List this past week and should put up numbers for the offense, especially for senior quarterback Kyle McCord. Brown has raved about McCord, “I think he had one day that I wish we could take back throughout the spring, he’s just a pro [and] he does it all the right way,” according to Lindy's Sports.
The defense is returning six starters from last year, which should bolster that side of the ball. There is room for improvement for the players who stayed on with the program this year. Being ranked 65th in total defense last year and the 57th-ranked defense in terms of points surrendered is a mark that needs to be improved upon.
The schedule will increasingly get more difficult as the season progresses. With road games against UNLV, NC State and Pitt, and home games against Virginia Tech and Miami will be difficult games to get wins. However, if the ‘Cuse can play hard and compete against those tough teams that should lay the foundation for the coming years. That’s exactly what this season should be about for the Orange.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Projection: 5-7 (2-6)
Head coach Dave Clawson has built a consistent program at Wake Forest. In a 12-game season, Wake Forest has only had three losing seasons out of nine. The first two were in 2014 and 2015 and the third was last year. A 4-8 season is far from what has been expected of a Clawson-led team. After a 3-0 start the Demon Deacons went 1-8 the rest of the way. However, it was a rebuilding year and this season could be viewed as the same. If the Demon Deacons can come back this year and win the games they’re supposed to and stay competitive against the upper echelons of the ACC it should be a good year in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The offense returns five starters. Three at the offensive line, and for a rushing attack that ranked 94th, junior running back Demond Claiborne could be tasked with carrying this offense. Claiborne, who was just named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List this past week, burned his redshirt status in his freshman year so he’s had tons of playing time in this offense. With just 586 total yards on the ground last year as a backup it could be tough out the gate for Claiborne, but he should settle in well throughout the year. Sixth-year quarterback Hank Bachmeier will also need some time to settle in. With 8,663 passing yards, 51 touchdowns and 24 interceptions between Boise State and Louisiana Tech, Bachmeier has seen his fair share of college football. Clawson raved about Bachmeier earlier this August.
“He’s smart, he’s done a really nice job with fitting in with this team, pleased with his progress,” he said.
Defensively is where Wake Forest was the most effective last year. A 74th-ranked mark in total defense should be improved upon this year with six returning starters. Three of the four returning are defensive linemen.
Wake Forest will be tested in Week 3 against the Ole Miss Rebels. The toughest home games will follow against Clemson in Week 7, but that pails in comparison to the road contests the Demon Deacons will find themselves in. NC State, North Carolina and Miami are tough games for a team that could be in place for a bowl game down the stretch.
Virginia Tech Hokies, Projection: 11-1 (7-1)
Throughout most of these predictions, the schedule has been saved for the end, but this is a surprise for many. The Hokies' schedule is one of the easiest in the ACC. CBSSoprts ranked it as the second-easiest in the ACC and their out-of-conference schedule could feature one of their most difficult game against Rutgers, but the rest is fairly easy with Vanderbilt, Marshall and Old Dominion. The conference schedule is pretty ridiculous compared to some of their ACC counterparts. The Hokies play Stanford, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Duke and Virginia, in the Commonwealth Clash. Some of those teams will give them a game but most listed are but most may be looking toward next season by the time they square off. The Hokies will also take on Miami on the road and Clemson at home.
It’s Year 3 for head coach Brent Pry at Virginia Tech. The Hokies have improved every year under Pry. Last year the Hokies defense ranked in the top 20 in total defense and fourth against the pass. They’ll return seven starters on defense, and graduate student defensive tackle Aeneas Peeples should be the most effective player on defense.
The player on offense with the most pressure to succeed is redshirt junior quarterback Kyron Drones. Over the past two seasons offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen has improved his offense. The offense ranked 57th in points per game last year with senior running back Bhayshul Tuten who combined with Drones for 1,681 rushing yards. If Drones can improve his passing this year the skies are the limit for where the Hokies can go. All things go well and Virginia Tech could be in the ACC title game for the first time since 2016.
Duke Blue Devils, Projection: 4-8 (1-7)
Mike Elko leaving for Texas A&M has left a void for the Duke football program. Luckily, new head coach Manny Diaz had two outstanding seasons as the defensive coordinator at Penn State. Now that Diaz is back in the ACC it will be an adjustment starting from scratch this time in Durham, N.C. When Diaz was promoted to head coach at Miami back in 2019 he inherited a team that was expected to maintain the high standard that comes with coaching at “The U." At Duke, that same pressure won’t be placed on Diaz, but what Diaz will be expected to do is bring on a high standard of defense.
First-year offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer spent last season splitting that role at SMU, but now he’s entering that position in a full-time role with all of the responsibilities. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy is entering his first full season as a starter. Murphy will go through some growing pains, but if he can improve throughout the season he can help set Duke up for a better 2025 and even grow Murphy’s game. Next season, Duke could return a good majority of the offense. If Duke starts slow offensively fans should be patient and see what happens throughout the season before passing judgment on Brewer and Murphy.
On defense, that’s the side of the ball that will hold more of the expectations, because of what Diaz did at Penn State. Diaz will have four returning starters on defense who were tied for 16th nationally in points against last year. A defense that also defeated Clemson 28-7 and held their own against Notre Dame losing by just a touchdown. Those same attributes are exactly what Diaz is looking for which should create a smooth transition into next year.
The schedule is difficult having to play against Florida State, SMU, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech, respectively. How Duke shows growth going from game to game will show what to expect heading into next year.
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