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Late Hits: Sept. 28

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Virginia Tech: Miami's back? Virginia Tech never left. Another blocked kick, another win — 31-7 over then-No. 9 Miami on Saturday — and another season of the rest of the ACC looking up at the Hokies.

Houston: Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, the two most famous members of Phi Slamma Jamma, attended Saturday's 29-28 win over Texas Tech. It's the first time they have seen the Cougars, 2-0 against the Big 12, win a big game in the last minute.

Coaching succession plans: Really, Florida State and Maryland? Your teams' performances are such that Bobby Bowden and Ralph Friedgen have earned the right to set the course directly into the iceberg even after they're gone?

North Carolina: As good as the Tar Heels looked against East Carolina, they were equally bad against Georgia Tech. They couldn't run and couldn't stop the run. Hold off on the engraving of that "state champions" trophy.

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Aim for the big yellow posts

The ACC's problems have been numerous this decade, and the four previous ones, but a new malady has entered the equation.

What in the name of Marc "Asti" Primanti is going on with the kickers in this league?
Seven ACC kickers (from Georgia Tech, UNC, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Florida State, Wake Forest and Clemson) combined to go 5-for-14 on field-goal attempts on

Saturday, with six misses from inside 40 yards. And that's without any help from Duke, which is 1-for-4 but did not attempt a field goal against N.C. Central. Georgia Tech's Scott Blair missed two chip shots, one from 27 yards, and UNC's Casey Barth missed a 32-yarder after missing from 38 last week.

Five-of-14 will get you to Cooperstown, but it's not going to win many football games.

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Winning attitude

Ole Miss suffered a nose bleed after reaching its highest ranking (No. 4 in the AP poll) in 39 years, but perhaps the Rebels were sunk even before Thursday's 16-10 loss at South Carolina.

After the game, Ole Miss tackle Bradley Sowell expressed relief from the preseason pressure.

"I'm glad it's over with so everyone can just stop talking about it," Sowell said.

Somebody needs a visit to Need4Snead.com, the Web site dedicated to quarterback Jevan Snead's Heisman candidacy, to get in the winning spirit.

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Ranking the ACC

The middle six

4. Florida State: Watch out, BC —here comes the "good" FSU.
5. N.C. State: Beating Pitt is better than ...
6. UNC: ... beating ECU ...
7. Clemson: ... or Middle Tennessee.
8. Boston College: Not all 3-1 records are created equal.
9. Wake Forest: The Deacs will always have '06.

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About the blogger

J.P. Giglio covers the ACC for the News & Observer, where he has worked since 1997.

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