FanHouse Boston College

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.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani referred to his team as a "high-wire act".

What does that make the Fighting Irish?

Notre Dame went Wallenda again on Saturday, defeating its Catholic university nemesis 20-16 in a game whose outcome was not decided until Brian Smith's interception with 1:38 remaining. That makes six consecutive games decided by seven or fewer points by the Irish, a school record. Tight-rope walking is all the Irish know.

As the sun disappeared behind the library mosaic of Touchdown Jesus, his arms, we now believe, held aloft in frustration as if to ask, "Not again?", Boston College was just 27 yards away from a game-winning touchdown. Notre Dame was practicing its insidious form of deja voodoo yet again.

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.

Boston College quarterback Dave Shinskie accomplished something extraordinary on Saturday against Virginia Tech: In the Eagles' 48-14 loss to the Hokies, Shinskie had more interceptions than complete passes, and he finished the game with an almost unheard of negative passer rating.

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.

With the exception of injured Tim Tebow, the top-ranked Florida Gators are right where they want to be one month into the college football season. The same could be said further South, where the Miami Hurricanes survived a brutal four-game stretch to merit top-10 consideration.

The mood in Florida's Panhandle, however, is far different. Slumping Florida State and its iconic coach, Bobby Bowden, are off to their worst start in more than a quarter of a century, creating an uncomfortable predicament that has left Bowden defending his program and fending off critics who are demanding immediate change in Tallahassee, Fla.

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.

An alarm clock.

That was one of the first purchases 25-year-old David Shinskie made as a college freshman. The days of sleeping until noon following late night minor-league baseball games have been replaced by 6AM weight-training workouts and two summer classes at Boston College.

"The college scene gets kind of hectic at times but it's starting to become routine," Shinskie told FanHouse.

"It was a little awkward at first but also fun at the same time to listen to what these guys have to say. I feel comfortable. It's going well. My mom always has said things happen for a reason. I was released and now I am here at Boston College trying to make this team better."

It seems to be perfect timing for the Eagles and pitcher-turned-quarterback Shinskie.

Mark Herzlich, the Boston College junior linebacker who was the ACC defensive player of the year in 2008, revealed Thursday that he has cancer.

Herzlich, who could have been a first-round NFL draft pick but chose instead to stay in school for his senior season in 2009, said that he found out this week he has Ewing's Sarcoma, a malignant tumor found in bone or soft tissue.

The ACC championship game has seen diminishing attendance from the 70,000 plus in the first game in 2005 down to a dismal sub-28,000 in 2008. The problem, it seems, has not been the fact that the ACC has been a collective morass of mediocrity that makes it less attractive for fans to want to make last-minute travel plans to the game. It has nothing to do with teams with smaller alumni bases like Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Boston College making appearances.

How about the fact that they have been held in Florida and only once has Florida State or Miami appear? Good luck getting the ACC to admit that was the expectation when they set it up for the first four games to be in Florida.