BOSTON (AP) -Former NFL tight end Pete Mitchell stopped by Boston College practice this week to play a little defense.
``He told me to slow down a little bit,'' said Eagles receiver Rich Gunnell, who is closing in on Mitchell's school record for receiving yards. ``That's the only thing he's got going for him.''
Mitchell, who played at BC from 1991-94 and then spent eight years in the pros, holds the all-time BC receiving record with 2,388 yards. Gunnell is 236 yards shy of the mark, but he said he wasn't aware he was getting close until football operations director Barry Gallup called him at practice and told him, ``This is the guy you're chasing for the records.''
``I knew he was head and shoulders above everybody with records, but that was the first time I met him,'' said Gunnell, who leads all active Atlantic Coast Conference players with 161 receptions, 2,152 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. ``It would be a great honor. But the biggest honor for me would be to win an ACC championship.''
BC, which is off this week, can do that if it wins the rest of its games and Clemson loses once more. Until then, Gunnell's teammates are rooting for him to pick up some individual accolades.
``It just lights up my eye to see Rich being successful,'' said safety Wes Davis. ``For so long, he's been a huge part of our team. It's nice to see a somebody get what they deserve.''
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DUKE NEEDS 7: It turns out that Duke (5-3) will need two more wins to qualify for its first bowl since 1994.
The quirk in the Blue Devils' standard for bowl eligibility centers around its two games against Football Championship Subdivision teams. Bowl Subdivision schools may count only one FCS victory per season toward the six necessary to make the postseason.
For Duke, which opened the season with a loss to Richmond, the win over North Carolina Central wound up not counting toward that bowl total. N.C. Central is considered a transitional program by the NCAA, having started the 5-year move to Division I in 2007 and doesn't yet have the required number of scholarships.
The game with N.C. Central was scheduled in part to bridge the gap between the crosstown schools located 5 miles apart.
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BAD BEAMERBALL: One of the key elements to Virginia Tech's rise in stature has been the phenomenon known as Beamerball - special teams plays that lead to quick points for the Hokies.
When the Hokies play at East Carolina on Thursday night, they might have flashbacks to their season-opener a year ago when they experienced the other side.
Virginia Tech led 22-20 with about 2 minutes left when it was forced to punt. T.J. Lee blocked it for the Pirates and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown in ECU's 27-22 victory.
``It was pretty terrible,'' Hokies linebacker Cody Grimm recalled this week. ``I was running down the field and just heard the crowd roar, and I'm like, 'That can't be good.' I didn't really hear the block and then I turned around and saw the guy running into the end zone.''
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THE HONOR IS HERZ: Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich is racking up the awards.
The honorary ones, that is.
Herzlich, who's taking the season off while being treated for cancer, will receive an honorary Lott Trophy. The award, named for NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, goes to a defensive player with strong personal character; Herzlich was a quarterfinalist last year and on the watch list for 2009 before being diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma.
Herzlich was the Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year in 2008, leading Boston College with 113 tackles and adding six interceptions.
The only other honorary Lott Trophy was awarded in 2004 to the family of Pat Tillman, an NFL star who volunteered for the Army Rangers and was killed in Afghanistan.
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FULL CIRCLE: Wake Forest quarterback Ryan McManus went from imitating Miami's defensive backs to trying to beat them.
As a freshman in 2005, he was so low on the Demon Deacons' depth chart that he was reduced to playing safety on the scout team. But after one backup transferred and the starter was hurt, the fifth-year senior fell into some meaningful playing time last week against the Hurricanes.
McManus, who entered the Miami game with one career completion, played the final 6 1/2 minutes of the 28-27 loss after Riley Skinner left with a mild concussion. On his first snap, McManus threw a 4-yard pass to Cameron Ford; in all, he completed 5 of 9 passes for 42 yards.
``My first play, I tied my career completions,'' McManus said with a laugh.
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TALKIN' DABO: C.J. Spiller learned quite a bit about Clemson coach Dabo Swinney before ever stepping foot on the Tigers' campus.
Clemson's star runner recalled a two-hour car ride from the Atlanta airport after Swinney picked him up for his official visit a few years back.
``That's when I really realized that 'Hey, that guy can talk,''' Spiller said Tuesday.
Swinney's pitch must have worked since Spiller surprised coaches and recruiting analysts by picking Clemson over schools like Southern Cal, Florida, Miami and Florida State.
Did Swinney, then Clemson receivers coach, allow his future Heisman Trophy candidate to get a couple of words in?
``That's all he let me get in,'' Spiller said with a grin. ``He was excited about me coming up, talking about his family. It made me excited to want to meet them.''
Spiller has run his way into Heisman Trophy talk after his school-record 310 all-purpose yards in a 40-37 overtime victory over Miami Oct. 24 that kept the Tigers in line for a berth in the ACC title game. He's had a play of 60 yards or more in seven of Clemson's eight games this year.
The Tigers (5-3, 3-2 ACC) take on Florida State (4-4, 2-3) on Saturday night.
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AP Sports Writers Pete Iacobelli in Clemson, S.C.; Joedy McCreary in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Hank Kurz Jr. in Blacksburg, Va., contributed to this story.
