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In a federal courtroom on Monday, bureaucrats asked a judge to return wolves to the Endangered Species List. Across the country, the coach of the N.C. State Wolfpack was announcing his quarterback wouldn't play this week.

It's a remarkably familiar refrain in the ACC, in which injury, discipline and ineffectiveness have compelled nine of the 12 teams to change QBs already in 2008.

While they're at it, perhaps the feds should petition for the inclusion of Terrapins and Yellow Jackets to join Eagles on the list of the endangered. They can't do much about Hurricanes, Tar Heels, Cavaliers, Hokies or Seminoles, but it's a start.

The wounded:

• State has twice lost Russell Wilson (concussion) and will use its third starter in five games when Harrison Beck gets the call against South Florida this week.

• T.J. Yates is out at North Carolina for six weeks. He suffered an ankle injury late in Saturday's game with Virginia Tech and was replaced by Mike Paulus.

• Georgia Tech's Josh Nesbitt injured a hamstring against Mississippi State. In came Jaybo Shaw. The Yellow Jackets are off this week.

• Maryland's Jordan Steffy sustained a thumb injury and was replaced by Chris Turner, who nearly transferred when he lost the top gig to Steffy a couple of weeks earlier.

The disciplined:

• Virginia's Peter Lalich, who became the starter when incumbent Jameel Sewell was ruled academically ineligible, was removed from the team after running afoul of the law.

• Miami's Robert Marve sat out the season-opener as punishment for an off-season altercation. He returned the following week.

The ineffective:

• Sean Glennon of Virginia Tech was benched after the season-opening loss to East Carolina and replaced by Tyrod Taylor, whom coach Frank Beamer had hoped to redshirt.

• Christian Ponder got the hook at Florida State for two early interceptions against Wake Forest. His replacement, D'Vontrey Richardson, tossed three of his own and Ponder returned.

• Chris Crane of Boston College was briefly benched - and booed - in the Eagles' win over Central Florida. He came back and led the team to a 34-7 win.

The national theory on the attrition rate is related to the popularity of the zone-read offense, in which the quarterback takes off with a running start out of the shotgun.

"Everybody's bigger, faster and stronger," Wake Forest tailback Brandon Pendergrass said. "I mean, you see guys like (Deacon linebacker Aaron Curry) bearing down on you, and that's a pretty scary feeling. And that's for me as a running back. For quarterbacks, it's got to be worse. And then there's the fact that quarterbacks are starting to run more options. That's putting them in more positions to take hits like that."

There's no common, generic explanation for this many changes in any one league. The reasons have run the traditional gamut.

One thing the attrition does underscore is the necessity one of the hardest jobs in recruiting - successfully pursuing and retaining a second quality QB.
Backup tailbacks play in every game. Backup safeties play in every game. Backup quarterbacks can go weeks or even years without seeing the field, which is why their transfer rate is higher than that of other positions.

Most of the impacted ACC teams appear to have credible depth at the position, and that explains why the league has rebounded after a substandard start. The membership has gone 10-1 in non-conference games in the past two weeks, including Georgia Tech's win over Mississippi State and Maryland's victory over California, both of which were finished off by QBs who began the year as reserves.

Of course, things don't always work out. Carolina didn't move the ball after losing Yates in an eventual 20-17 loss to Virginia Tech.

ABOVE WATER: Duke (2-1), North Carolina (2-1), Wake Forest (3-0) and N.C. State (2-2) are all at or above .500 after three or more games for the first time since 1986. Only the Tar Heels and Wolfpack finished with winning records 22 years ago.

Wake is the only FBS team with three wins over members of BCS conferences - Baylor of the Big 12, Mississippi of the SEC and FSU. USC will likely join the group when it plays and presumably defeats Oregon State on Thursday. The Trojans have played only twice, having earned lopsided wins over Virginia and Ohio State.

ODDS AND ENDS: In falling to Wake 12-3, Florida State lost while allowing 12 or fewer points for the first time since a 10-9 defeat to Miami on Sept. 27, 1980. The Noles had been 105-0-1 in such games in the interim. ... Wake moved into the national lead in turnover margin thanks to seven takeaways at FSU.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com