A look at Tech's and UVa's opponents in the ACC

BOSTON COLLEGE

COACH: Steve Addazio (first year at BC, 13-11 in two years overall)

2012 RECORD: 2-10, 1-7

2012 BOWL: none

STARTERS RETURNING: 7 on offense, 8 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB Chase Rettig , WR Alex Amidon , TB Andre Williams , LB Kevin Pierre-Louis , LB Steele Divitto

KEY LOSSES: OT Emmett Cleary , LB Nick Clancy, P Gerald Levano

QB CHASE RETTIG ON THE OFFENSE: "It'll be more balanced. Last year we kind of came out throwing the ball everywhere. It was really fun for me. But we kind of got away from running the football. This year we want to have a run game and we want to have a passing game."

LB STEELE DIVITTO ON THE DEFENSE: "It's going to be much, much different - more attack-style, less kind of sitting back and adjusting. It's less of that bend-don't-break mentality and more kind of 'Go at it.' It'll be exciting and hopefully it will turn some heads. We just don't want to make offenses feel comfortable, like we have been."

CLEMSON

COACH: Dabo Swinney (40-21 in five years)

2012 RECORD: 11-2, 7-1

2012 BOWL: beat LSU 25-24 in Chick-fil-A Bowl

STARTERS RETURNING: 6 on offense, 6 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB Tajh Boyd, WR Sammy Watkins, OT Brandon Thomas , NG Grady Jarrett , PK Chandler Catanzaro

KEY LOSSES: TE Brandon Ford , WR DeAndre Hopkins , RB Andre Ellington , C Dalton Freeman , S Rashard Hall , DE Malliciah Goodman

QB TAJH BOYD ON THE TEAM: "This will be the best defense we've had since '09; they're going to step up and be huge for us. The offense is going to perform really well. We've got all the pieces in the puzzle."

DABO SWINNEY ON THE DEFENSE: "Last year at this time we were really kind of a major work in progress on defense. They got better and better and better. A lot of those guys are back. When the season is over this year, I really hope that people will say, 'Hey, Clemson's front seven was the strength of the team.' That's what I hope the major difference in our team is."

DUKE

COACH: David Cutcliffe (21-40 in five years, 65-69 in 12 years overall)

2012 RECORD: 6-7, 3-5

2012 BOWL: lost 48-34 to Cincinnati in Belk Bowl

STARTERS RETURNING: 7 on offense, 6 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB Anthony Boone, WR Jamison Crowder, DE Kenny Anunike, CB Ross Cockrell, P Will Monday

KEY LOSSES: QB Sean Renfree, WR Conner Vernon, S Walt Canty

QB ANTHONY BOONE ON THE TEAM: "We are very experienced - guys that got a taste of winning games. It's like we're vampires with blood. Once you get a taste, you want more of it. We want more wins. We're really hungry."

CB ROSS COCKRELL ON THE DEFENSE: "We'll be a much better defense than we were last year. We have guys on the defensive front that are going to be a lot older, a lot more experienced, and should lead our defense this year. That will translate into us stopping people. We know that there were games that we kind of let slip away from us just because we didn't have the defensive stops that we needed."

FLORIDA STATE

COACH: Jimbo Fisher (31-10 in three years)

2012 RECORD: 12-2, 7-1 (ACC champ)

2012 BOWL: beat Northern Illinois 31-10 in Orange Bowl

STARTERS RETURNING: 6 on offense, 4 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: RB James Wilder, QB Jameis Winston, C Bryan Stork, DT Timmy Jernigan, LB Christian Jones, CB Lamarcus Joyner

KEY LOSSES: QB E.J. Manuel, TB Chris Thompson, DE Bjoern Werner, DE Tank Carradine, CB Xavier Rhodes, PK Dustin Hopkins

CB LAMARCUS JOYNER ON NEW DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JEREMY PRUITT'S APPROACH: "We're going to put the offense [on] defense. Y'all have to adjust to us. We're pretty fired up about it and we believe in it. It's more aggressive, a lot more blitzing, a lot more man-to-man, less zone."

JIMBO FISHER ON THE TEAM: "We have [tied for] the least amount of starters back in the ACC, but we also have more junior and senior starters than we had a year ago. They still played a lot of plays in big games. So even though they're not considered returning starters, I still think they're very talented and will have a huge impact on our team."

GEORGIA TECH

COACH: Paul Johnson (40-26 in five years, 147-65 in 16 years overall)

2012 RECORD: 7-7, 5-3

2012 BOWL: beat Southern Cal 21-7 in Sun Bowl

STARTERS RETURNING: 7 on offense, 8 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB Vad Lee, OG Will Jackson, C Jay Finch, RB Zach Laskey, DE Jeremiah Attaochu

KEY LOSSES: QB Tevin Washington, OG Omoreggie Uzzi, RB Orwin Smith, NT T.J. Barnes

OG WILL JACKSON ON THE RUNNING BACKS: "If we're talking Jonathan Dwyer superstar home-run threat, we haven't had that since 2009. But we've got so many guys that are going to be more than effective at running the ball this year. The great thing about our scheme is that it sets up a potential home run threat every down. You don't necessarily need a Jonathan Dwyer back there."

PAUL JOHNSON ON THE RECEIVERS: "Athletically we've got a good group, but you have to see it in a game. Physically, not many people are going to have a better specimen than Darren Waller - the guy's 6-6, 235, he runs a sub-4.5 [in the 40-yard dash]. But can he be consistent in the game?"

MARYLAND

COACH: Randy Edsall (6-18 in two years, 80-88 in 14 years overall)

2012 RECORD: 4-8, 2-6

2012 BOWL: none

STARTERS RETURNING: 6 on offense, 5 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB C.J. Brown, WR-RS Stefon Diggs, TB Brandon Ross, LB Cole Farrand

KEY LOSSES: WR Kevin Dorsey, DT Joe Vellano, DE A.J. Francis, LB Kenny Tate, LB Demetrious Hartsfield

QB C.J. BROWN ON THE TEAM'S FINAL ACC SEASON: "We're going to try to get to a bowl game, ACC championship, and we're going to try to go out with a bang. This is our last year. So it will add a little bit more extra motivation."

RANDY EDSALL ON THE OFFENSE: "We're going to be better on the offensive line. We do have three starters there coming back. But then when you take a look at what Brandon Ross did, I think he's got a chance to be a really good running back. When you take a look at our receivers, we have a very strong nucleus there. And then you have C.J. [Brown]. When you have those kind of skill people, it's exciting."

MIAMI

COACH: Al Golden (13-11 in two years, 40-45 in seven years overall)

2012 RECORD: 7-5, 5-3

2012 BOWL: none

STARTERS RETURNING: 10 on offense, 8 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB Stephen Morris, RB-RS Duke Johnson, OG Brandon Linder, OT Seantrel Henderson, DE Anthony Chickillo, LB Denzel Perryman

KEY LOSSES: RB Mike James, LB Vaughan Telemaque, S Brandon McGee

AL GOLDEN ON QB STEPHEN MORRIS: "Last year he made a lot of progress during the year and now clearly this is his team. His football intelligence is excellent. His arm strength, his range is excellent. His velocity is excellent. He can move with his feet. Stephen is very, very talented."

QB STEPHEN MORRIS ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE: "That's obviously the key to our whole offense, is everybody on the offensive line is back. We're two deep at every single position, so we rotate constantly. So guys are coming in fresh. It takes a lot off my shoulders while I'm trying to figure out the defenses."

NORTH CAROLINA

COACH: Larry Fedora (8-4 in one year, 42-23 in five years overall)

2012 RECORD: 8-4, 5-3

2012 BOWL: none

STARTERS RETURNING: 6 on offense, 7 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB Bryn Renner, TE Eric Ebron, OT James Hurst, DE Kareem Martin, P Tommy Hibbard

KEY LOSSES: RB-RS Gio Bernard, OG Jonathan Cooper, OG Travis Bond, OT Brennan Williams, LB Kevin Reddick, DT Sylvester Williams

LARRY FEDORA ON THE DEFENSE: "We're going to expect more out of them, even though we lost some really good kids. They have a better feel for what we're doing, so they're going to be more comfortable and I'm going to expect them to play smart, play fast and play physical."

QB BRYN RENNER ON THE LOSS OF RB GIO BERNARD: "Losing Gio is really going to hurt, but we've got two guys [A.J. Blue and Romar Morris] who have great experience and had great years last year in Gio's absence for those two games [when Bernard was hurt]. They're eager to play. They're going to replace him and do a great job."

NORTH CAROLINA STATE

COACH: Dave Doeren (first year at State, 23-4 in two years overall)

2012 RECORD: 7-6, 4-4

2012 BOWL: lost to Vanderbilt 38-24 in Music City Bowl

STARTERS RETURNING: 5 on offense, 5 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: RB Shadrach Thornton, WR Quinton Payton, DE Darryl Cato-Bishop, CB Donate Johnson

KEY LOSSES: QB Mike Glennon, OG R.J. Mattes, CB David Amerson, S Earl Wolff, S Brandon Bishop

WR RASHARD SMITH ON THE TEAM: "We've always been an inconsistent team. If you interview most of the players, most of the players will be like, 'We're inconsistent. We're so inconsistent.' That's something we've been preaching on this year. We can't be that inconsistent team no more."

SMITH ON THE PACE OF THE NEW OFFENSE: "Running the no-huddle, spread offense, coming from the pro-style offense, that's the biggest difference - getting everybody in shape to run that type of offense. With the pro-style, we could run a play, get back in the huddle and catch our breath. With this offense, you've got to run a play, get up, line up and run another play."

PITTSBURGH

COACH: Paul Chryst (6-7 in one year)

2012 RECORD: 6-7, 3-4 Big East

2012 BOWL: lost 38-17 to Ole Miss in BBVA Compass Bowl

STARTERS RETURNING: 5 on offense, 7 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: WR Devin Street, QB Tom Savage, DT Aaron Donald, FS Jason Hendricks, P Matt Yoklic

KEY LOSSES: QB Tino Sunseri, RB Ray Graham, RB Rushel Shell, WR Mike Shanahan, C Ryan Turnley

WR DEVIN STREET ON THE TEAM'S BACK-TO-BACK 6-7 SEASONS: "We can't just settle for winning six games. We have to go out there and contend for the ACC championship."

PAUL CHRYST ON THE RUNNING GAME: "It's certainly a question we've got to get answered. I'm not going to say I'm worried, but I'm not going to say, 'Boy, I feel great about it.' I'm excited about the guys that we've got, but we've got a ways to go."

SYRACUSE

COACH: Scott Shafer (first year)

2012 RECORD: 8-5, 5-2 Big East

2012 BOWL: beat West Virginia 38-14 in Pinstripe Bowl

STARTERS RETURNING: 5 on offense, 6 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: RB Jerome Smith, C Macky MacPherson, LB Dyshawn Davis, CB Keon Lyn, PK Ross Krautman

KEY LOSSES: QB Ryan Nassib, WR Alec Lemon, OT Justin Pugh, DE Brandon Sharpe, SS Shamarko Thomas

NT JAY BROMLEY ON THE TEAM COMING OFF A WINNING SEASON: "There's just a different swag about the university and us as football players. We're a lot more confident. We know we can win games. We look forward to building on that, knowing we have to improve if we want to raise our level in this league."

C MACKY MACPHERSON ON GOING TO A PISTOL OFFENSE: "It's going to be a little more conducive to us running the football, but we can still get the ball out and spread people out. So we can run the ball up the middle if we need to or we can get those quick passes out."

WAKE FOREST

COACH: Jim Grobe (73-74 in 12 years, 106-107-1 in 17 years overall)

2012 RECORD: 5-7, 3-5

2012 BOWL: none

STARTERS RETURNING: 7 on offense, 8 on defense

KEY PLAYERS: QB Tanner Price, WR Michael Campanaro, RB Josh Harris, NG Nikita Whitlock, CB Kevin Johnson

KEY LOSSES: FB Tommy Bohannon, WR Terence Davis

JIM GROBE ON QB TANNER PRICE: "We want to run Tanner more, whether it's draws or powers or even some option stuff - however we can best get him involved in the run game. When were doing hand-the-ball-off type stuff, it really made it too easy on defenses. We've got to be more serious about Tanner being involved in the run game and not just being a thrower."

GROBE ON THE DEFENSE: "I like where we are defensively. We've probably got seven or eight guys that I feel great about and two or three guys that I don't feel bad about. We've got some players right now that can be very opportunistic and go take the ball away from you."

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