Byline: ED MILLER AND KYLE TUCKER
A weekly look around the ACC:
FLORIDA STATE: Coach Bobby Bowden will spend today at the funeral of his grandson and former son-in-law, who were killed Monday in an auto accident in Quincy, Fla.
From there, Bowden will fly directly to Miami, where the Seminoles will face Miami Friday night in a game postponed by Hurricane Frances.
Bowden said that over the years, he has counseled many players who lost loved ones. Now, he has a better understanding of what they were going through, he said.
'Somebody can't tell you how it feels when it hasn't happened to them,' he said. 'Now it's happened to me, and it's happened to some of my players in the past, and I believe I can sympathize a little bit more.'
Bowden's grandson, Bowden Madden, 15, and former son-in-law John Allen Madden, 45, were killed when their car was hit by a utility truck that was repairing outages caused by the hurricane.
GEORGIA TECH: Defensive end Eric Henderson, who missed the season opener against Samford, is listed as doubtful for Saturday's game at Clemson.
Henderson, an All-ACC selection who led the conference in sacks in 2003, is out with an injury that coach Chan Gailey has refused to disclose.
'Eric is a phenomenal player. He's essential to our defense,' linebacker Chris Reis told the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. 'But we can do it without him.'
NORTH CAROLINA: Forgive the Tar Heels for opening with Division I-AA William and Mary last week. Starting with Virginia on Saturday, North Carolina faces eight consecutive teams that played in bowl games last year.
Carolina's next four opponents are ranked in the top 20, part of the reason its schedule is rated the fourth toughest in the nation by FoxSports.com.
For a team that finished 2-10 last year, this would seem to be a prescription for disaster. Quarterback Darian Durant is not looking at it that way.
'If we can go to Virginia and play well and win, then I think we'll be over that hump,' Durant said. 'Because we'll know what type of team we are. We'll know that we can beat anybody, instead of having speculation.'
N.C. STATE: Speaking of scheduling, the Wolfpack has an open date before hosting Ohio State on Sept. 18. It's the type of game coach Chuck Amato said he'll have to think hard about scheduling again, given the strength of the newly expanded ACC.
'Scheduling is the most important thing in our sport,' Amato said, adding that in conference play alone, 'You're going to be playing some bears.'
As to whether N.C. State will schedule another non-conference power like Ohio State, Amato said: 'We have to analyze that.'
The Wolfpack fell to Ohio State 44-38 in triple overtime last year.
WAKE FOREST: Junior running back Chris Barclay couldn't have done much more in his first two seasons with the Demon Deacons. He rushed for 21 touchdowns and nearly 2,000 yards. As a sophomore in 2003, Barclay led the ACC with 1,192 yards to go with 12 touchdowns.
Still, Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe thinks his star tailback doesn't always get the respect he should.
'I think he's somewhat underrated because of his size,' Grobe said of the 5-foot-10, 173-pound Barclay. 'But he's a pretty tough guy. He's not a big guy by any means, but he fights for tough yards.'
Barclay made a few believers in Wake Forest's opener against 16th-ranked Clemson. He ran 29 times for 179 yards, tops among ACC backs last week .
'He's small, but he runs straight down hill,' Clemson linebacker Leroy Hill told The State newspaper. 'He made a lot of people miss. We're going to have a lot of extra running after practice because of him.'
CLEMSON: The last time Wake Forest saw Chansi Stuckey, he was a freshman backing up Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback. Stuckey threw for 71 yards and two touchdowns against the Demon Deacons last season.
This year, in the season opener against Wake, Stuckey showed up earlier and a lot more often, just in different places. He's a receiver for the Tigers now and caught eight passes for 112 yards.
He also ran four times, breaking one for 14 yards, and blocked a punt for a safety. Stuckey narrowly missed blocking a second punt, then ran down the field and delivered a block that sprung a teammate's return for a score.
'He's special,' Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. 'Once he's got the ball in his hands, he just drives you crazy.'
MARYLAND: Ralph Friedgen knew it would take time to replace Scott McBrien, who was 21-6 as his starting quarterback. So he didn't flinch when Joel Statham struggled in his first career start against Northern Illinois.
Statham fumbled three times in the first quarter and later threw an interception. He went 12 for 23 for 169 yards.
'Joel obviously got off to a rough start,' Friedgen said. 'I went up to him to try to calm him down. He said, 'Coach, it can't get worse than this. I'm all right.' I said, 'You're right.' He's our quarterback. If I was going to change quarterbacks, I would have done it in the first three series. I have confidence in Joel.'
Luckily, Friedgen also has a pair of able running backs. Josh Allen and Sammy Maldonado combined for 186 rushing yards and two TDs to help the Terrapins narrowly avoid a second straight season-opening loss to Northern Illinois.
MIAMI: Make no mistake, it's still Florida State and Miami, a fierce rivalry with new conference title implications.
But after the 'Noles and 'Canes had to reschedule their epic opener because of Hurricane Frances, followed by the death of FSU coach Bobby Bowden's grandson, there may be some luster lost.
'I think it has,' Miami coach Larry Coker said. 'It really puts things in perspective. We feel for the Bowden family ? and all the homes lost. ? It gives us all a little bit of a reality check.'
Plus, the game is on a Friday night now, instead of the coveted Monday Night Football slot the game was scheduled to be played in. That's a downer for Coker .
'There was a lot of hesitation,' Coker said. 'We've had several requests to play on Friday night and we've declined them every time. High school football, it's our lifeblood, and I don't want to do anything to detract from high school football in the state of Florida.'
The Hurricanes, and no doubt Florida State, had invited several high school coaches and recruits to the game. But most high schools will be playing their own games Friday.
'It was going to be a big event,' Coker said.
DUKE: The Blue Devils lost their seventh season opener in nine years last Saturday against Navy.
They did it despite forcing three turnovers on the Midshipmen's first three possessions. Duke got just three points out of those miscues, then gave up 301 rushing yards to the Middies.
'Disgusted,' Duke coach Ted Roof said. 'We've got to be an opportunistic football team, and we didn't do that.'
Roof said the Blue Devils saw more than 1,700 reps in practice against Navy's triple-option offense. Despite seeing one of the Middies' plays 47 times, Roof said, it went for a big gain in the game anyway.
The Blue Devils are happy to be facing a more conventional offense this week against UConn. Or are they?
Huskies senior QB Dan Orlovsky threw for 382 yards and five TDs in their season opener. Against Navy, mainly a running team, Duke allowed 129 passing yards, including a critical 58-yard score.
CAPTION(S):
Friday
Florida State at Miami, 8 p.m., WVEC
Saturday
Duke at Connecticut, noon
W. Michigan at Va. Tech, noon
UNC at U.Va., 3:30 p.m., WVEC
Temple at Maryland, 6 p.m.
Wake Forest at ECU, 7 p.m.
Ga. Tech at Clemson, 8 p.m., WVEC
