6 spring football questions we have about the ACC

Spring football is upon us, and here is part three of a week-long series on big spring questions for each league. Today, it’s the ACC.

There are a lot of new coaching faces in the ACC. There are four new coaches (at Duke, Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech), and every school but NC State has at least one new coordinator. New coaches obviously mean questions, but we’re bypassing questions about new coach “fits” because those are too easy. We’re trying to go deeper.

With that caveat, here are our biggest questions about the ACC. We looked at the SEC on Wednesday and the Big Ten on Thursday, and will look at the Pac-12 on Saturday, the Big 12 on Monday and the Group of 5 and independent ranks Tuesday.

Clemson: Can the Tigers’ pass offense rebound?

The skinny: Last season, Clemson’s defense was elite, the offense was mediocre and the Tigers finished 10-3. The offense did get better, especially on the ground, as the season progressed, and the Tigers have to feel relatively good about the offensive line and happy with the running backs. Still, there’s a whole lot of new with the offense this spring, starting at coordinator. Tony Elliott now is coach at Virginia and Brandon Streeter was promoted from quarterback coach to replace him. The Tigers are rebuilding their receiving corps. And there is a quarterback competition, too, after D.J. Uiagalelei struggled last season. He got hit a lot early in the season and it seemed to adversely impact his play throughout the campaign. He threw nine TD passes and 10 interceptions, had five games (including three against ACC opponents) where he completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes and averaged a paltry 6.0 yards per attempt. Five-star freshman Cade Klubnik — the No. 3 quarterback and No. 27 recruit nationally in the On3 Consensus rankings — enrolled early and will go through spring drills. How coaches divvy up the snaps this spring will be interesting. Uiagalelei has to show he can handle the job, but presumably coaches also will want to find out how far along Klubnik is in his development. Klubnik was the second-highest-ranked recruit signed by an ACC school (UNC OT Zach Rice was the highest.). It will help the cause if the receivers show out. Joseph Ngata and Beaux Collins figure to be the guys vying for the go-to role, and both have a lot to prove. In addition, there is a lack of proven depth, so this is a wildly important spring for the receiving group as a whole.

Miami: How will QB Tyler Van Dyke handle things?

The skinny: It was expected that Tyler Van Dyke would sit and learn behind D’Eriq King last season. Instead, King played in only three games before suffering a season-ending injury, and Van Dyke was pressed into duty. He responded by playing at a high level, throwing for 2,951 yards and 25 TDs and completing 62.3 percent of his passes. In a league filled with some of the most productive quarterbacks in the nation, Van Dyke was second in the conference in passing efficiency. He and Oklahoma transfer Charleston Rambo developed an excellent rapport, with Rambo finishing third in the ACC with 79 receptions. Well, Rambo is off to the NFL and OC Rhett Lashlee left to become coach at SMU. The new OC is Josh Gattis, whose Michigan offenses weren’t exactly great throwing the ball. Miami’s new quarterback coach is Frank Ponce, who had been Appalachian State’s OC. Thus, Van Dyke has to get used to a new go-to receiver (who that will be is a question, too), a new offense that figures to be a little more run-heavy than it was and a new position coach.

NC State: Will the running game improve?

The skinny: In 2021, the Wolfpack featured one of the nation’s best offensive linemen in the nation in LT Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu, a productive quarterback in Devin Leary (a school single-season-record 35 TD passes) and two solid running backs in Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person Jr. But the rushing attack was a huge disappointment (126.2 yards per game, just 4.1 yards per carries, a league-low 11 rushing TDs). While Leary is back, Ekwonu and both running backs left for the draft, which means the Wolfpack is searching for both a starting running back and some depth. (Coaches also will be looking for the line to get a much better push in the running game, and if that doesn’t happen, it won’t matter who’s running the ball.) Jordan Houston is the most experienced running back. He rushed for 526 yards on 101 carries in 2019, but he dropped down the depth chart and rushed for a combined 226 yards the past two seasons. Coaches have said good things about Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, but he has zero carries in two seasons. Consensus four-star freshman Michael Allen enrolled early and will go through spring ball, and he figures to get ample opportunities. The bottom line: Leary is a proven quarterback, but the running game has to be more productive than it was last season if NCSU wants to win a division title, much less the ACC title. There was too much pressure placed on Leary and a solid defense last season.

North Carolina: Who will replace Sam Howell?

The skinny: QB Sam Howell is off to the NFL, which means that for the first time in his four seasons, coach Mack Brown will have a different starting quarterback. The top candidates are Drake Maye, an On3 Consensus national top-50 recruit in the 2021 class, and Jacolby Criswell, who signed in the 2020 class. Criswell is a dual-threat guy, while Maye is a pocket passer. Still, offensive coordinator Phil Longo relied heavily on Howell’s legs last season (Howell had just four fewer carries last season, 182, than he had in his first two seasons combined), and even if Maye — who has the higher upside — wins the job, he will be called upon to run. It’s extremely doubtful UNC will come out of spring with a definitive starter, but it still is important that both top candidates show this spring they’re not overwhelmed by the responsibility. Developing a rapport with star WR Josh Downs would be good, too.

Virginia Tech: What will the passing game look like?

The skinny: The Hokies have a new coaching staff, which obviously means a new offensive coordinator. There’s also going to be a new starting quarterback, a new go-to receiver, a new feature back and a revamped line. Other than that, there’s not that much work to do on offense this spring. For this exercise, let’s focus on the passing attack, a facet of the game where the Hokies were mighty pedestrian for the past three seasons. Tech grabbed two quarterbacks out of the portal: Grant Wells, a two-season starter at Marshall, and Jason Brown, who started four games at South Carolina last season after transferring from FCS member St. Francis (Pa.). Wells has a good arm but also is mistake-prone, with 22 picks in two seasons. Connor Blumrick is a holdover, but it’s hard to see him winning the job. The quarterback needed to be a running threat under the previous staff, but those days seemingly are gone. Temple transfer Jadan Blue might end up as the go-to receiver; no holdover receiver had more than 20 catches for the Hokies last season. Blue had a great 2019 season, with 95 catches for 1,067 yards (the only 1,000-yard season by a receiver in Temple history) and four TDs. He had just 71 receptions and six touchdowns total in the past two seasons, but that was more a function of bad quarterback play for the Owls. The new offensive coordinator is Tyler Bowen, who had been the Jacksonville Jaguars’ tight end coach. He has a ton of work to do to spruce up the passing attack. It’s unlikely the Hokies will name a starting quarterback until late in summer camp, but as at UNC, Wells and/or Brown need to show this spring they are up to the task of leading a rebuilt unit.

Wake Forest: Can the offense be even better?

The skinny: The Demon Deacons’ passing attack was lethal at times last season (307.4 yards per game, 39 TDs), and QB Sam Hartman and WR A.T. Perry should head another prolific attack in 2022. And while WR Jaquarii Roberson is gone, Donavon Greene — who missed 2021 with an injury after a solid 2020 — is set to return at receiver. Four starters return along the offensive line, with LT Zach Tom the only departure. But Wake gets back Je’Vionte Nash, a starter at right tackle in 2020 who missed last season with an injury, and everybody else in the two-deep is back, too. And while leading rusher Christian Beal-Smith entered the transfer portal (he’s now at South Carolina), Wake should be fine at running back with Justice Ellison and Christian Turner, who combined for 1,047 yards and 12 TDs in 2021. The Demon Deacons were fourth nationally in scoring last season at 41.0 points per game and second in plays from scrimmage (1,084) — and expecting the offense to be better this season isn’t a stretch. The defense remains a concern, but 2022 should be another season where Wake — which was 11-3 in ’21 — simply outscores its ACC foes. Establishing a pecking order at receiver after Perry is something to watch for this spring.