I think we’re going to lose to Alabama on Sept. 5, but I don’t think we’re going to have a apocalyptic season like Clemson had. The biggest thing to me is our offensive line. Clemson had huge question marks on the line going into last season, which is why I thought they’d fall flat to begin with. Our line is a strength in my opinion. We return three of five starting linemen from last year and four of five from the group that started the Orange Bowl. The line came together as the year went on (and the guys were actually healthy) and played their best at the end of the year.

Another big one is the coaching staff. Tommy Bowden was not a very good football coach and it looked like there may have been some in-fighting among that staff. That doesn’t happen here. And Beamer isn’t Tommy Bowden and doesn’t have his bitch mentality, as Orson likes to put it.

Also, our quarterback’s name isn’t Cullen. I don’t trust guys named Cullen.

Finally, we luck out a little bit with the schedule. We don’t play Florida State, Clemson or Wake Forest from the Atlantic and we play Miami early on. I think the Hurricanes could be a dangerous team late in the season, but not in September. And apart from Georgia Tech, our toughest conference games are all at home.

We’re not yet a national title contender and I don’t think we should be considered one. We’ll have a stereotypical Virginia Tech season: 10-2 with an appearance in the ACC title game. But we won’t implode. The upperclassmen on this team and the coaching staff won’t let that happen.