Aaron McFarling

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This column starts and ends up front.

It’s a football column, after all. And EVERYTHING in football starts and ends up front — or so we’ve been told.

Well, we’re about to find out if that’s true. This season, the ACC will deliver an interesting gauge on the importance of an experienced offensive line.

The preseason choices to meet in the ACC title game — Clemson and Virginia Tech — couldn’t look much different offensively.

The Tigers have a veteran quarterback. The Hokies have been debating over two.

The Tigers have a tailback tandem with extreme skills and a flashy nickname. The Hokies have, at this stage, an anonymous collection of candidates.

The Tigers have a brilliant receiving corps led by All-ACC pick Aaron Kelly. The Hokies have their fingers crossed that somebody can fill a gaping void left by three NFL draft choices.

But the Hokies do have an edge.

They know who their linemen are.

Ed Wang, Nick Marshman, Ryan Shuman, Sergio Render — if Tech has its way, these four returning starters along the line will make the attrition at the skill positions less noticeable.

“The game’s won in the trenches,” Tech quarterback Sean Glennon said.

“The learning curve for a receiver can be picked up quicker than the learning curve for an offensive lineman or a quarterback or something like that. So if you’re going to have young guys play, that’s the place to have them play.”

Clemson, meanwhile, is breaking in four new starters on the line. The only returner is center Thomas Austin, leaving coach Tommy Bowden wary of a daunting season opener against Alabama in Atlanta.

And he should be. Even if the offensive line is a physical place, there’s plenty to learn for any first-timer.

“I’ve heard the phrase many times: 'Big, dumb offensive lineman,’” Glennon said. “But offensive line is tough. Your blocking scheme changes for fronts and blitzes. You’ve got to learn how to pass off when people blitz, make a lot of calls based on little alignments.

“You’ve got to be reading the linebackers, their alignments and how deep they are. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just the big, dumb lineman blocking the guy in front of you.”

That’s why Tech offensive line coach Curt Newsome says in a perfect world, his guys won’t start until they are at least redshirt sophomores.

The Hokies are making an exception this year because of need, plugging redshirt freshman Blake DeChristopher into the right tackle position, but the other four are juniors and seniors.

“They need two years to get used to the speed, to understand the system, to understand that plays are changed at the line of scrimmage,” Newsome said. “There’s a whole lot that goes into it. You feel like you’ve recruited the right ones when they can play in three years.”

Clemson’s Cullen Harper was the best ACC quarterback south of Boston College’s Matt Ryan last season, throwing for 27 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards.

But with four freshman and a sophomore in the two-deep of protection, it’s dangerous to assume that he’ll automatically look better — or even as good — this season.

“A quarterback can’t perform without an offensive line. Period,” Tech QBs coach Mike O’Cain said.

“You look at any level, if you can’t protect your quarterback, your passing game’s not very good. I don’t care how good you are at receiver, and I don’t care how good you are at quarterback.”

That’s why Maryland has a chance to be decent on offense despite a quarterback battle that raged into preseason practice. Like Tech, the Terrapins return four starters on the O-line, and they have three experienced reserves.

North Carolina, a darkhorse pick to win the league, has four veteran O-linemen back with a combined 67 starts between them.

Of course, “experienced” doesn’t always mean “talented,” but the Hokies are pretty comfortable with the guys they have. Wang’s return from injury last season — which allowed Marshman to move from tackle to a more appropriate guard position — coincided with the team’s offensive resurgence in the second half.

As Newsome points out, a tailback who can make people miss can make an offensive line look better than it is, a definite plus for Clemson.

And we haven’t even discussed defense or special teams, which might have a little to do with the outcome of football games.

But we’re told it all starts up front.

We’ll see how it ends.