By Christian Goeckel
SouthernPigskin.com

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Christian Goeckel’s biggest questions around the ACC heading into 2022

Can the returning quarterbacks take the next step?

The ACC may have the deepest collection of quarterbacks in the country. D.J. Uiagalelei (Clemson), Devin Leary (NC State), Brennan Armstrong (Virginia), Tyler Van Dyke (Miami), Malik Cunningham (Louisville), Sam Hartman (Wake Forest), Phil Jurkovec (Boston College), Jordan Travis (Florida State), Jeff Sims (Georgia Tech), and Garrett Schrader (Syracuse) all have multiple starts under their belt for their respective teams.

Each player in that group has shown the potential to be a star: Uiagaleleis 441 yard performance against Notre Dame in x9820, Learys 4 touchdowns against Clemson last year, but none have elevated their game to the elite level.

Clemson may be the only team capable of weathering shaky quarterback play and still taking the conference title. With that said, if one of the aforementioned signal-callers can take that next step, their team could potentially push the Tigers.

Sam Hartmans health.

One of last seasons most fun surprises was Sam Hartmans star turn. Hartman tallied 50 touchdowns during Wake Forests run to winning the ACC Atlantic. The 5th-year senior seemed poised for another big season, but a x9cnon-football-related medical conditionx9d will keep him out for an undetermined amount of time. Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson could not reveal the diagnosis due to privacy laws, but did reveal that his quarterback underwent a successful surgery and described the situation as “one of those things that could happen to any one of us.”

Wake does not face a conference opponent until week 4s matchup with Clemson. Hopefully we see Hartmans return sooner rather than later.

Can Clemsons defensive line find the magic that x9821 Georgia and x9818 Clemson lines found?

Make no mistake, this Clemson front absolutely has the talent to be on par with some of the bests to ever do it. Does that mean theyll have 5 defenders selected in the 1st round of the Draft? Probably not, but the talent is there. Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy, and Trenton Thompson will all be high draft picks. Tyler Davis is a future NFL player. Xavier Thomas could be if he could stay healthy.

Brent Venables is now at Oklahoma, but new DC Wes Goodwin has been around the program for a long time and knows that Clemsons greatest successes come when they are dominant at the line. The Tigers should be able to once again lean on a great defensive front, but if that unit can dominate Clemson very well may find itself back in the CFP.

Will Mario Cristobal make Miami a contender in year 1?

Everything is relative. Contender for the National Championship? No. Contender for the CFP? Probably not. Contender for the ACC Championship? Maybe.

A good quarterback can give any team a punchers chance. Tyler Van Dyke is very good. The questions revolve around the rest of the team. The first question has to be can you keep Van Dyke upright? By default Miami should be better upfront with Mario Cristobal as their head coach, but the offensive line was a serious issue for the Canes in 2021. Some additions from the transfer portal and the return of talented vets should help.

Defense is a huge question mark. Miami landed a ton of solid transfers, but questions remain about how the defense will gel.

So no, Miami will not be returning to their glory days in 2022, but Hurricanes fans should expect to see a better brand of football. A good litmus test will be September 17ths trip to #6 Texas A&M.