Clemson's 40-24 win over Florida State means the Tigers have to beat N.C. State, in Raleigh, and Virginia, at home, to win the Atlantic Division.

That's it and not even Tommy Bowden could screw that up (or only Tommy Bowden could screw that up).

Even if the spirit of Bowden possesses the Tigers, 4-2 in the ACC, and they lose once, they would still hold the tiebreaker over Boston College (3-2), which finishes with Virginia, UNC and Maryland.

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- C.J. Spiller had a career-high 165 yards rushing and his 20th touchdown of at least 50 yards and Clemson took its biggest step yet toward an ACC title with a 40-24 victory over Florida State on Saturday night.

Spiller, the Tigers’ star senior, caught a 58-yard TD pass from Kyle Parker and, with 312 all-purpose yards, surpassed the school record of 310 he set in Clemson’s 40-37 overtime win at Miami two weeks ago.

Quick and dirty version of the JP Top 25 this week:

Deep thoughts to ponder while you try to forget about the two winless teams in the ACC:

Georgia Tech @ Virginia, noon

Circled this game in July as a loss for Georgia Tech. The 3-4's a problem for the option and Virginia inexplicably has a Boise-like home-field advantage, minus the weird turf.

But Virginia running back Mikell Simpson is not healthy and without him, UVa won't score enough points to beat a hot, yet weary, GT team.

Pick: GT

Since you miss the Pick Six, and since it's an interesting weekend of football. With apologies to Jack Handey, Deep (football) Thoughts:

Wake @ Clemson, noon

In a normal conference, Wake wins, the Atlantic Division is theirs and Clemson fans scorch the Earth.

In the no-sense ACC, Clemson wins, everyone's a step closer to finishing 4-4 and the tiebreaker system exploding.

N.C. State's Oct. 17 football game at Boston College will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by ABC, the ACC announced Monday.

Wake Forest at Clemson will begin at noon in a Raycom Sports broadcast.

The stats kept by the ACC and NCAA don't make any attempt to differentiate the level of competition. A game against Murray State counts the same as Alabama.

You can see the flaw in that book-keeping. With all due respect to Richmond, William and Mary, the CAA at-large and the powers of the Southern Conference, a statistical database that only included Division I-A teams against Division I-A teams would give a more accurate portrayal of a team's strengths and weaknesses. (Yes, I know Army and Alabama aren't equal either but at least we're comparing widgets to
widgets.)

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Clemson: You have to admire coach Dabo Swinney's honesty after Clemson's 30-27 loss to Georgia Tech on Thursday night.

“I got my butt outcoached in the first half," Swinney admitted after his team fell behind 24-0 on a series of special teams blunders.

You also have to tip your hat to Swinney, whose credentials have been questioned in this space, he got his team back in the game. If Tommy Bowden was still calling the shots, the Tigers lose by 30, not three.

Old meets new: A pair of oldtime powers got a lift from a young face on Saturday — Michigan from freshman quarterback Tate Forcier, to nip Notre Dame in the final seconds, and Southern California, from frosh Matt Barkley, for a fourth-quarter comeback at Ohio State.

And you thought only Demi Moore liked them young.

East Carolina: Pirates coach Skip Holtz summed up his team's pass defense in their 35-20 loss to West Virginia, thusly:

"Outside of the big plays, I thought our secondary did some decent things," said Holtz, whose team gave up 334 yards and big gains of 58, 55, 46 and 28.

Apart from that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

Maryland: In two games, the Terps have given up 959 total yards and 87 points. At this rate, they'll have to change their name to "Marylan." Still, the Terps can make one claim Duke or Virginia can't — they're 1-0 against the Colonial Athletic Association.

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Confidence equals controversy

Duke coach David Cutcliffe knows quarterbacks but Late Hits knows press conference pump-fakes.

That's what Cutcliffe's attempt at squashing the notion of a quarterback controversy, sounded like. Freshman quarterback Sean Renfree replaced ineffective senior Thad Lewis and threw a pair of touchdowns to lead Duke to a 35-19 over Army.

"I made my mind up we would play [Renfree] regardless of circumstance," Cutcliffe said. "It's not any kind of statement in anything other than confidence in Sean."

Well, confidence and controversy both start with "con."

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Ranking the ACC

Top 3
1. Virginia Tech: Fifty-two points? Who are these guys?
2. Georgia Tech: Talent and coaching is quite a combination.
3. Miami: ACC will only let ratings-winner play in primetime.

Bottom 3
10. Maryland: The Fridge petitions league to use 12 on defense.
11. Duke: Coach Cut petitions league to use two QBs.
12. Virginia: Lord Groh petitions NCAA for Matt Schaub's eligibility.

Sept. 26

UNC @ Georgia Tech, noon (Raycom)
South Florida @ Florida State, noon (ESPNU)
TCU @ Clemson, 1
Wake Forest @ Boston College, 2
Miami @ Virginia Tech, 3:30 (ABC)
Pittsburgh @ N.C. State, 3:30 (ESPNU)
Rutgers @ Maryland, 3:30
N.C. Central @ Duke, 7

Give the schedule makers in the ACC office some credit.

At a time when news of the SEC's giant TV package is dominating the college sports landscape, ACC officials landed four huge national television opportunities for the conference in the first eight days of the football season.