ACC football teams play waiting game until start of fall practice

And now the wait begins.

With spring practice wrapped up, and a bow neatly put on it Wednesday with the ACC’s teleconference with its coaches, nothing will happen for college football fans until the first week of August.

That’s about 15 weeks until the start of fall practice and 133 days until the season kicks off with N.C. State and William & Mary on Thursday, Sept. 1. North Carolina and Duke fans will have to wait two days longer for the start of the 2016 season.

There are plenty of questions between now and then but no real answers until the games start. Here’s one last lap around the spring progress at Duke, UNC and N.C. State to kick off the “Waiting” season:

N.C. State

N.C. State needs a quarterback to replace Jacoby Brissett, a two-year starter. Coach Dave Doeren liked what he saw from Jalan McClendon and Jakobi Meyers in the spring but isn’t ready to name a starter.

“I’m excited about the competition we have at quarterback,” Doeren said Wednesday.

Asked whether he was ready to name a starter, the fourth-year coach said: “We’re not there yet.”

That’s because the spring was focused on learning a new offense, under new coordinator Eli Drinkwitz.

McClendon, a third-year sophomore and Brissett’s backup last year, is presumed to have a leg up. He was the starter in the Kay Yow Spring Game and was sharp, completing 13 of 17 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Meyers, a redshirt freshman, missed most of last season with a knee injury but showed an ability to run the football that McClendon doesn’t have.

“Both made strides,” Doeren said. “It’s a matter of how fast they can advance. It’s hard to judge a competition as guys are learning a system.”

Quarterback won’t be the only position up for grabs. Doeren noted Connor Haskins, a graduate transfer from UNC Pembroke, will compete with Kyle Bambard for the kicking job.

Bambard, who was inconsistent as a freshman last season, missed the spring game with a hamstring injury.

Haskins was impressive in the spring game, making his only field-goal attempt, a 42-yarder into the wind, and all five extra points.

Duke

With games still months away, coaches still can envision best-case scenarios for their teams. But there already is one part of the Blue Devils’ roster that is looking thin.

Since the renaissance of Duke football began in 2012, the Blue Devils have featured strong offensive line play. That connection isn’t coincidental.

The Blue Devils already were in need of two new starters along the line for next season. Now at the end of spring practice, injuries have further complicated the situation.

Starting right guard Tanner Stone had back surgery last week and did not participate in the spring scrimmage, coach David Cutcliffe said. Stone started all 13 games last season, playing 1,010 snaps.

Stone could be available by the fall, Cutcliffe said. Beyond his on-field production, Stone leaves a leadership void on a unit that consistently has provided that for the offense in recent years. Center Matt Skura (2015), right guard Laken Tomlinson (2014) and left guard Dave Harding (2013) all have been team captains.

“I want to see (starting right offensive tackle) Casey Blaser take a bigger role,” Cutcliffe said. “(Starting left tackle) Gabe Bradner, as a junior, could really be that guy in a big way. It’s time to see Sterling Korona, Austin Davis, Zach Harmon, Christian Harris, all these guys have to understand that they are now the guys. They now have the rest of the team on their shoulders. That’s the mentality the offensive line has to have.”

Blaser, a redshirt senior (1,074 snaps in 2015), and Bradner (1,062), a redshirt junior, are the healthy returning starters. Redshirt junior Austin Davis (66 snaps) will take over at center for a graduated Skura, a first-team All-ACC pick last season. Korona (111 snaps), a redshirt junior, and redshirt freshman Zach Baker are in the mix at left guard. Baker worked most of the spring as the starter at that position.

Depth is not something the Blue Devils have in abundance, so some of the four incoming freshman linemen could fill out the two-deep depth chart. Tackle Robert Kraeling and guard Jaylen Miller are four-star recruits.

Last year’s offensive line ranked fifth nationally in fewest tackles for loss allowed (53), behind Toledo, Ball State, Georgia and Air Force. In 2014, the Blue Devils led the nation with the fewest tackles for loss allowed (41). Duke has ranked among the top 15 nationally since 2012.

Piecing together the best offensive line certainly will be a challenge for first-year position coach Marcus Johnson, who played for Cutcliffe at Mississippi before he was drafted in the second round by the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings in 2005. Johnson joined the staff in 2011 and was promoted in February when former offensive line coach John Latina retired.

“Every team we’ve had at Duke has had certain challenges, whether it’s physically or whatever the circumstances are,” Cutcliffe said. “Right now, our offensive line is one of those areas where we are challenged.”

North Carolina

Spring practice is over at North Carolina, and so now the focus has turned toward preparing for preseason practice – and for a much-anticipated season-opening game against Georgia on Sept. 3 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta.

That’d be challenging enough under any circumstances, with the Bulldogs’ status as an annual contender in the SEC. It might be more challenging now, though, given UNC coach Larry Fedora and his staff aren’t exactly sure what to expect out of Georgia.

The Bulldogs have a new coach in Kirby Smart, a former defensive coordinator at Alabama. They have a new offensive coordinator in Jim Chaney. The rest of Georgia’s coaching staff has been revamped, and it might have a freshman, Jacob Eason, starting at quarterback.

“One of the biggest factors is the unknown of the coaching staff,” Fedora said of the challenge of preparing for Georgia. “We know where Kirby comes from. We know where Jim Chaney comes from. We know where all the guys come from on the staff.

“But it doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘this is exactly what they’re going to run.’ ”

Then there’s Eason, who received strong praise for his performance in the Bulldogs’ spring game. His first college start could come in the season opener against UNC. If it happens that way, the Tar Heels would have little to go on while attempting to scout Eason.

Fedora said Wednesday that adjusting in the moment will be important in the opener. It likely will remain so, too, amid all the new coaching staffs UNC will face next season.

Four of North Carolina’s six opponents in the ACC’s Coastal Division – Miami, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech – have new head coaches. The Tar Heels’ first game of the season, then, will provide a chance for UNC to become familiar with encountering the unfamiliar.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 6:58 PM with the headline "ACC football teams play waiting game until start of fall practice."