ARMED & DANGEROUS       (click to return to top)
The ACC returns six starting quarterbacks from the 1998 season with two - NC State's Jamie Barnette and Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton - already listed among their school's Top 10 career passing yardage list.

School Passing Charts Leaders

                    200-Yd  Pass   School
Player               Games  Yards   Rank
Jamie Barnette, NCS   22    7,141   1st
Joe Hamilton, GaT     16    5,822   2nd

BRANDON STREETER, Sr., Clemson -- passed for 1,948 yards passing as a junior in 1998, the second best single mark in school history... threw for 13 TDs... completed 74-of-133 passes for nine TDs over the last four games of the season... currently 14th among school career passing leaders with 2,038 yards.

BOBBY CAMPBELL, Jr., Duke -- started the last five games of 1998... led the team with 1,199 yards passing and six TDs... completed 70-of-127 passes for 840 yards, 4 TDs passes and one interception over a four-game stretch (Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson and Vanderbilt).

CHRIS WEINKE, Jr., Florida State -- finished second in the ACC and 26th nationally in passing efficiency as a sophomore last fall... threw for 2,487 yards and a league-high 19 TDs before suffering a season-ending neck injury against Virginia... threw for over 200 yards in each of his first nine games, including three 300-yard games against Miami, Clemson and North Carolina.

JOE HAMILTON, Sr., Georgia Tech -- three year starter for the Yellow Jackets... second on Tech's and 10th among ACC career total offense leaders with 6,846 yards... 16th among ACC career passing leaders with 5,822 yards... has rushed for 1,024 yards in his career... has 27 TD passes and just eight interceptions over his last 17 games... has 36 career TD passes.

RANDALL JONES, So., Maryland -- started four of the last six games for the Terps... passed for 567 yards and a team-high three TDs... averaged 181.5 yards in total offense over the last two games of the year against Duke (213) and NC State (150).

RONALD CURRY, So., North Carolina -- earned MVP honors in the UNC's Las Vegas Bowl victory over San Diego State... set UNC freshman records for passing yards (975), TD passes (6) and total offense (1,394)... threw for 304 yards against Stanford and 230 versus Wake Forest... averaged 2.8 points and 1.7 assists for the Tar Heel basketball team.

JAMIE BARNETTE, Sr., NC State -- has started the last 30 games for the Pack... enters his senior season as the school's career leader in passing yards (7,141) and total offense (7,295)... needs to average 166.8 yards per game in total offense to become the ACC's all-time leader in that category and 206.2 yards passing per outing to become the league's all-time passing leader.

DAN ELLIS, Jr., Virginia -- backed up Aaron Brooks in 1998... has played in eight games in his first two years with the Cavaliers, completing 19-of-39 passes for 282 yards and one TD.

BEN SANKEY, Sr., Wake Forest -- played in 16 games the past three seasons as the backup to Brian Kuklick... started two games in 1997... has passed for 1,254 yards in his three years, including 259 yards against Georgia Tech a year ago and 251 yards against Florida State in 1997.

NC STATE'S BARNETTE HOLDS JUNIOR YARDAGE MARKS
NC State QB Jamie Barnette enters the 1999 season having more yards passing and total offense yards through his junior season than any other previous player in ACC history... Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton is third in total offensive yardage and sixth in passing yards.

Career Passing Yards as Juniors

                       Last   Passing
Player, School         Year   Yards
Jamie Barnette, NCS      **   7,141
Ben Bennett, Duke      1983   6,528
Spence Fischer, Duke   1995   6,353
Scott Milanovich, Md.  1995   6,125
Shawn Jones, GaT       1992   6,044
Joe Hamilton, GaT        **   5,822

Career Total Offense Yards as Juniors

                       Last   Total Off.
Player, School         Year   Yards
Jamie Barnette, NCS      **   7,295
Shawn Jones, GaT       1992   7,012
Joe Hamilton, GaT        **   6,846
Spence Fischer, Duke   1995   6,338
Ben Bennett, Duke      1983   6,111

BACK ATTACK       (click to return to top)
The ACC returns every one of last year's Top 10 rushers... in all, 14 of the league's top 15 rushers from a year ago are slated to return in 1999... all 11 players who rushed for 100 yards or more (a total of 29 times) a year ago return for 1999.

1999 Returning Rushing Leaders
(*denotes led team)

                            100-Yd  Total
Seniors                      Games  Yards
    1.   Thomas Jones, UVa*      7  1,303
   10.   Morgan Kane, WF*        1    454
   13.   Phillip Rogers, GaT     0    466
   15.   Letavious Wilks, Duke   0    362
   
Juniors
    2.   Lamont Jordan, Md.*     5    906
    3.   Travis Minor, FSU*      4    857
    6.   Antwoine Womack, UVa    3    708
    9.   Jeff Chaney, FSU        1    573
   
Sophomores
    4.   Ray Robinson, NCS*      3    822
    5.   B.J. Hill, Duke*        2    798
    7.   Travis Zachery, Clm.*   0    635
    8.   Rufus Brown, UNC*       1    468
   12.   Joe Burns, GaT*         1    474
   14.   Ronald Curry, UNC       0    419

ALL-ACC GROUND GAINERS
All four running backs who made 1st or 2nd team All-ACC in 1998 are slated to return this season... they are as follows:

THOMAS JONES, Sr., Virginia -- earned first team All-ACC honors in 1998 after rushing for 1,303 yards, the third-highest total in school history and eighth in ACC history... led the ACC in rushing TDs (13), total TDs (15) and 100-yard games (7).

TRAVIS MINOR, Jr., Florida St. -- FSU's leading rusher for the past two seasons... rushed for 100 yards four times in 1998, including the last three games of the season... third in the ACC with 857 yards rushing.

LaMONT JORDAN, Jr., Maryland -- second in the ACC in rushing last fall with 906 yards in 10 games... has seven 100-yard games in his first two seasons with the Terps..11th on Maryland's all-time rushing list with 1,595 yards.

ANTWOINE WOMACK, Jr., Virginia -- led the ACC in 1998 with a 6.3 yards per carry average... sixth in the ACC with 708 yards... had three games of over 100 yards rushing a year ago with a career-high 142 yards versus San Jose State.

THEY'RE BACK!       (click to return to top)
139 starters and 394 lettermen from a year ago are expected to return for the 1999 season... Florida State leads all ACC teams with 58 lettermen back from 1998.

RETURNING LETTERMEN FOR 1999

   School           Off. Def. Sp. Tot.
   Florida State     31   24   3   58
   Wake Forest       23   24   2   49
   North Carolina    24   19   5   48
   Duke              17   23   3   43
   Virginia          15   23   3   41
   Clemson           17   23   1   41
   NC State          18   19   3   40
   Georgia Tech      21   19   0   40
   Maryland          16   16   2   34

RETURNING LETTERMEN (1993-1999)

   School     ‘99  ‘98  ‘97  ‘96  ‘95  ‘94  ‘93
   Clemson     41   54   42   50   41   44   42
   Duke        43   46   34   44   47   49   38
   Florida St. 58   48   57   54   54   48   47
   Ga. Tech    40   41   41   37   38   42   52
   Maryland    34   41   42   38   48   26   30
   N. Carolina 48   44   34   40   35   40   45
   NC State    40   54   51   43   40   54   58
   Virginia    41   36   34   42   39   41   46
   W. Forest   49   42   36   37   34   42   44
   ACC        394  406  371  385  376  386  402

RETURNING STARTERS FOR 1999

   School        Off. Def. Sp. Tot.
   Duke            9   10   2   21
   Florida State   9    7   2   18
   Maryland       10    6   1   17
   Georgia Tech    9    6   0   15
   Virginia        7    6   2   15
   Wake Forest     5    8   2   15
   NC State        6    7   1   14
   North Carolina  7    4   2   13
   Clemson         5    6   0   11

RETURNING STARTERS (1993-1998)

   School     ‘99  ‘98  ‘97  ‘96  ‘95  ‘94  ‘93
   Clemson     11   16   12   17   15   12   12
   Duke        21   20   12   15   12   17   10
   Florida St. 18   11   15   14   13   16    9
   Ga. Tech    15   16   16   10   11   12   10
   Maryland    17   11   13   16   19    9   13
   N. Carolina 13   17   16   10    8   13   13
   NC State    14   18   13   12   14   10   14
   Virginia    15    9   13   17   15   14   16
   W. Forest   15   18   14   12   13   10   15
   ACC        139  136  124  123  120  113  112

TALENTED TOES       (click to return to top)
Seven of the league's starting placekickers from 1998, including four who were semifinalists for the Lou Groza award, are slated to return... the Groza semifinalists were Florida State's Sebastian Janikowski, Duke's Sims Lenhardt, Wake Forest's Matt Burdick and Maryland's Brian Kopka... Janikowski became the second ACC placekicker in three seasons to win the Groza Award.

ACC TALENTED TOES
(1998 Statistics)

Player                    FG-Att.   Pct
Sebastian Janikowski, FSU   27-32   .844
Josh McGee, UNC             14-18   .778
Sims Lenhardt, Duke         16-22   .727
Matt Burdick, WF            13-18   .722
Brian Kopka, Md.            12-18   .667
Todd Braverman, UVa         12-19   .632

JANIKOWSKI
FSU's Sebastian Janikowski kicked three field goals against Florida, giving him an ACC-record 27 field goals on the season... tied for the fourth highest single season total in NCAA history and fell only two short of the NCAA record of 29 set by UCLA's John Lee in 1984... finished with 123 points, the second-highest single season total in ACC history.

Single Season NCAA FG Leaders

   John Lee, UCLA             1984   29-33
   Paul Woodside, WVa         1982   28-31
   Luis Zendejas, Ariz. State 1983   28-37
   Sebastian Janikowski, FSU  1998   27-32
   Fuad Reveiz, Tennessee     1982   27-31

Duke's Sims Lenhardt made good on all four of his field goal attempts against Vanderbilt, connecting from 25, 45, 53 and a career-long 54 yards... the first player in ACC history to have two field goals of 50-or-more yards in a single game... Wake Forest's Matt Burdick ranked 29th nationally hitting on 13 of 18 FG attempts... only one of his five misses came from inside 45 yards... had a 53-yarder against Appalachian State...

Maryland's Brian Kopka led the Terps in scoring with 58 points... made 12 of 18 field goals, including five of 45 yards-or-longer ... did not miss an attempt, that wasn't blocked, from inside 45 yards... Virginia's Todd Braverman was second on the team, and sixth in the ACC, in scoring with 74 points... hit on 12-of-19 FG attempts and 38-of-39 extra points... North Carolina's Josh McGee has made 35 of 51 (.686) field goal attempts in his career and is 10th on UNC's career scoring list with 205... played all 11 games in 1998 despite suffering a torn ACL in his right knee in October.

TOP '98 FRESHMEN       (click to return to top)
NC State's RB Ray Robinson finished the season fourth in the ACC in rushing as a freshman a year ago with 822 yards and 10 TDs... the 822 yards was the 11th best single season total by a freshman in ACC history... Duke's B.J. Hill's 798-yard total was the 12th best frosh mark.

ACC Freshmen Rushing Yardage

   1.   Amos Lawrence, UNC   1977  1,211
   2.   Joe McIntosh, NCS    1981  1,190
   3.   James McDougald, WF  1976  1,018
   4.   Leon Johnson, UNC    1993  1,012
   5.   Michael Ramseur, WF  1982    966
   6.   Ted Brown, NCS       1975    913
   7.   Jimy Lincoln, GaT    1991    913
   8.   Terry Allen, Clem.   1987    868
   9.   Robert Lavette, GaT  1981    866
  10.   Natrone Means, UNC   1990    849
  11.   Ray Robinson, NCS    1998    822
  12.   B.J. Hill, Duke      1998    798

TOP FROSH
Robinson's 822 yards were also the fourth- best rushing total by a Division I-A freshman this past season while Hill's 798 yards were fifth... Derrick Nix of Southern Mississippi led all freshmen with 1,180 yards... .Robinson's 202-yard effort against Virginia was the ninth best single-game rushing total ever by an ACC freshman.

1998 NCAA Freshman Rushing Leaders

   1. Derrick Nix, So. Miss        1,180
   2. Ken Simonton, Oregon State   1,028
   3. Demarco McClesky, Cincinnati   861
   4. Ray Robinson, N.C. State       822
   5. B.J. Hill, Duke                798

GETTING DEFENSIVE       (click to return to top)
Over the past four seasons (1995-1998), Florida State and North Carolina rank 1-2 among all Division I-A programs in total defense... the Noles have allowed an average of 256.8 yards per game over 45 regular season contests while North Carolina has yielded an average of 262.2 yards in 44 contests.

Total Defense (1995-1998)

       Team (Games)        Yards    Per Game
   1.  Florida St. (45)    11,556   256.8
   2.  No. Carolina (44)   11,537   262.2
   3.  Kansas State (45)   12,083   268.5
   4.  Michigan (46)       12,613   274.2
   5.  Ohio State (46)     12,675   275.5

RECORDS WITHIN REACH       (click to return to top)
Several ACC career marks are in danger of being eclipsed this season as several ACC standouts enter into their junior and senior seasons... in alphabetical order they are as follows:

JAMIE BARNETTE, QB, NC State
Needs 2,002 yards in total offense to become the ACC's all-time leader in total offense... enters his senior season seventh on the ACC's total offense list with 7,295 yards... also needs 2,474 yards to become the ACC's career leader in passing yardage..12 TD passes shy of breaking the ACC career mark of 57 set by FSU's Danny Kanell.

JAMMIE DEESE, WR, Wake Forest
The second-leading receiver in the ACC in 1998 with 68 receptions for 826 yards and three TDs... enters his senior season with 152 receptions, the 17th highest in ACC history... needs 65 receptions to move past former team-mate Desmond Clark as the ACC's all-time leading receiver.

JOE HAMILTON, QB, Georgia Tech
Needs 2,451 yards to become the ACC's all-time leader in total offense... starts 1999 10th on the ACC's total offense list with 6,846 yards.

SEBASTIAN JANIKOWSKI, PK, Florida State
1998 Lou Groza Award recipient... first-team AP All-America and All-ACC after making an ACC-record 27 of 32 field goal attempts... set an ACC kick-scoring record with 123 points a year ago... starts his junior season 30th on the ACC's career scoring list with 208 points, needs 119 points to pass FSU's Scott Bentley (326 points) as the league's all-time scoring leader... is already 76 points ahead of Bentley's pace, Bentley had only 132 points after his sophomore season.

PETER WARRICK, WR, Florida State
A consensus All-American in 1998 after catching 61 passes for 1,232 yards and a league-high 12 TDs... currently seventh on the ACC's all-time receiving yardage list with 2,583 yards, needs 736 yards to pass former Duke WR Clarkston Hines for the top spot in league annals... has 24 career TD receptions, 14 shy of Hines's ACC record of 38... Warrick is sixth in ACC history in TD catches per receptions (see below).

TOUCHDOWN TERRORS

   Player, School (Last Year)  TD   Rec   Ratio
   Tyrone Davis, UVa (‘94)     28   103   3.68
   Herman Moore, UVa (‘90)     27   124   4.59
   Cedric Jones, Duke (‘81)    21    99   4.71
   Clarkston Hines, Duke (‘89) 38   189   4.97
   Greg Hill, Md (‘84)         18    97   5.39
   Peter Warrick, FSU (**)     24   136   5.67

VOICES OF THE ACC       (click to return to top)
As a conference the ACC has some of the most distinguished and recognizable play-by-play announcers in the country... led by Clemson's Jim Phillips' 32 years tenure calling Tiger football games, the nine announcers total 162 seasons behind the microphone in the ACC.

Golden Voices

Announcer, School            Years
Jim Phillips, Clemson           32
Woody Durham, North Carolina    29
Bob Harris, Duke                24
Gene Deckerhoff, Florida State  22
Johnny Holliday, Maryland       21
Mac McDonald, Virginia*         15
Gary Hahn, N.C. State           10
Wes Durham, Georgia Tech         5
Stan Cotten, Wake Forest         4
*includes six seasons at Wake Forest

NEW FACES       (click to return to top)
On December 2, 1998, ACC football fans were introduced to two new head football coaches as Duke named Carl Franks as the 19th head football coach in school history and Clemson tabbed Tommy Bowden as the 24th head coach in 103 years of Tiger football.

CARL FRANKS, Duke
An assistant coach at Florida for the past nine seasons and Duke from 1987-89, Franks was a three-year letterman for the Blue Devils from 1980-82... saw action at both running back and tight end and was an Academic All-ACC performer in 1982... joins Mike McGee and Bill Murray as the only other Blue Devil football alumni to hold the head coaching position at Duke.

TOMMY BOWDEN, Clemson
Arrives at Clemson following two highly successful seasons as the head coach at Tulane where he led the Green Wave to a 18-4 record in two years, including a perfect 11-0 regular season mark in 1998 ... Bowden's first Tulane team in 1997 finished 7-4, posting the most wins by a Tulane team since 1980... a year ago, the Green Wave posted its most wins since 1931 and a No. 7 ranking by both major polls - its first ranking since 1979.

BOWDEN vs. BOWDEN
When Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden brings his Seminoles to Death Valley to face Tommy Bowden's Clemson Tigers on October 23, it will mark the first game in college football history where a father and son have coached against one another as head coaches.