Reasons for low ACC expectations now apparent

Six things we learned during the first weekend of the ACC football season:

* Overall expectations for the league were low. Now we know why.

Other than Georgia Tech's surprisingly easy win at Notre Dame, very little went right. Maryland struggled for more than a half against Villanova, and Miami won against Marshall in coach Randy Shannon's first game -- but only after new quarterback Kirby Freeman did next to nothing in the passing game.

Virginia, N.C. State and Duke got handed embarrassing losses.

* Tom O'Brien's first game at State was a nightmare. There's just no other way to put it.

When you fall behind 25-3 in one half against a lightly regarded visiting underdog and surrender an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, you're just not ready to play.

The good news was that the Wolfpack rallied, forced Central Florida to settle for a 25-23 win and got a promising performance from backup quarterback Harrison Beck.

There's no real reason to panic, of course. Lou Holtz's debut at State was a 24-24 tie against Maryland in Carter-Finley Stadium. That 1972 team was 1-2-1 entering October and finished 8-3-1 with a rousing bowl win over West Virginia. Bo Rein's first game in 1976 was a loss to visiting Furman.

Almost no one expected O'Brien's first team to be a big winner, but Central Florida should not have been a missed opportunity. The biggest shock was State's inability get much out of its ground game.

* Al Groh may be a man on the go -- as in go looking for work -- unless Virginia's offense does a fast 180.

The Cavaliers' 23-3 loss at Wyoming equated to a statistical train wreck under any circumstance, but particularly so for a coach in Groh's delicate situation. Veteran quarterback Jameel Sewell threw two interceptions and eventually got yanked in favor of Peter Lalich. The running attack was a joke.

It all added up to a 110-yard offensive performance that completely deflated preseason expectations for a fast start.

Groh's next two games are against Duke in Charlottesville and at North Carolina, where his team took a 7-5 loss in 2005. He'd better win both.

* Virginia Tech's offense is still a work in progress.

The Hokies' offensive line and running back Branden Ore basically were bullied throughout by East Carolina's defensive front. Only an awful pass by the Pirates, which resulted in an interception for a touchdown, kept them having a chance to win the game on their final possession.

Similar offensive execution this week at LSU will leave the Hokies with virtually no chance to win.

* North Carolina seemingly has found its quarterback in freshman T.J. Yates.

But based on the way that ECU defense played at Blacksburg, Yates will be in for a challenge in Greenville this week. Yates had time to look around and find receivers against James Madison. The Pirates were in Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon's face on almost every pass he attempted.

* Steve Logan has revved up the offensive tempo at Boston College. In Logan's first game as the Eagles' offensive coordinator, Matt Ryan piled up 408 yards passing and had five touchdown throws against Wake Forest.

In typical Logan style, it was impossible for the Deacons to counter with effective coverage schemes. That was because 10 Eagles receivers made catches.