Around the ACC: Week 5 Recap

Holy Cross - 3 | Syracuse - 41

Man, Syracuse needed a couple easy weeks in a really bad way after losing back-to-back games to Maryland and Clemson. The Orange now go into their bye week with a two-game winning streak before getting back into ACC play. Tommy DeVito had a big day through the air with four touchdowns to four different receivers. The defense also pitched a near shutout, holding Holy Cross to just 115 total yards of offense and three points.

Syracuse is on a bye this week.

Delaware - 14 | Pitt - 17 #goacc

And you thought the ACC Coastal couldn’t get any worse. You fool! The Fightin’ Blue Hens gave Pitt everything they could handle and would have had a chance to try for a game-winning drive, but they got called for a roughing the kicker penalty that gave Pitt a first down, allowing them to run out the clock. Delaware actually led this game for almost the entire third quarter! For some reason, Kenny Pickett didn’t play today, despite being dressed, but Nick Patti did a decent job filling in, throwing for 271 yards and two touchdowns. It was Pitt’s two turnovers that nearly cost them this game though.

Pitt plays again this week at Duke.

Georgia Tech - 2 | Temple - 24

Le sigh. We all know what happened here. There are a few candidates for the #goacc Moment of the Week, but I’m going to stick with Geoff Collins electing to not challenge the play where Ahmarean Brown looked like he caught a deep pass inside the 10-yard line and decided to punt instead. #goacc

Georgia Tech plays again this week against North Carolina.

Clemson - 21 | North Carolina - 20

Well Clemson nearly Clemson’d this one, but because they didn’t, they’re free of being nominated for the #goacc MOTW. The reason Clemson nearly lost, though, is because our old pal Mack Brown got a bit too aggressive for his own good. After scoring the final touchdown, bringing the score to 21-20 with about 1:15 to play, Brown elected to go for two and win the game outright instead of taking it into overtime. #goacc I don’t know that UNC would have been able to pull out the victory in overtime, but it would have been more fun to watch! Instead, the Tar Heels get the short end of the stick here.

Something that really impressed me in this game was UNC’s defense. Under first year DC Jay Bateman, the Heels held Clemson’s dangerous offense to just 322 yards, including just 125 rushing yards, which is very impressive against one of the best offenses in the country.

Clemson is on a bye this week. North Carolina plays again Saturday at Georgia Tech.

Wake Forest - 27 | Boston College - 24

The Demon Deacons faced what ended up being their toughest challenge to date this weekend as they faced the Boston College Eagles. Just like everyone expected, there were lots of points and yards in this one. The teams combined for 963 yards of total offense and 51 points. Quarterback Jamie Newnan was Mr. Do It All for Wake Forest again, accounting for 243 yards and two touchdowns through the air as well as another 102 yards on the ground. What really did the Eagles in was their three turnovers in this game.

Wake Forest is on a bye this week. Boston College plays again this weekend at Louisville.

Virginia - 20 | Notre Dame - 35

This one was close for the first half, but after UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins turned the ball over four times in the second half, the Fighting Irish were able to get away with this victory pretty easily. As a team, the Cavaliers had just four total rushing yards, which is...uhh...not good.

Virginia is on a bye this week.

Duke - 45 | Virginia Tech - 10

Well, the Hokies started this game really well, holding Duke to just five yards of offense in the first quarter, and then things got much worse for them. The Blue Devils started scoring with explosive play after explosive play before just piling on the points. With about eight and a half minutes to go in the game, up 38-10, David Cutcliffe decided to run a fake punt. #goacc Naturally, it worked and helped Duke set up their final touchdown.

Duke plays again this week against Pitt. Virginia Tech plays again this week at Miami.

NC State - 13 | Florida State - 31

This ended up being a much better game than a lot of people thought. Neither team got much of a chance to use their starting quarterback, with James Blackman missing the game due to a knee injury and Matthew McKay being pulled in favor of Bailey Hockman and eventually freshman quarterback Devin Leary. Out of the quarterbacks, it was FSU quarterback Alex Hornibrook that had the best game, going 29-for-40 for 316 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn’t all sunshine for him, though, as the Wolfpack defense put him on his back a whopping eight times in this game. The Wolfpack defense also did a great job of slowing down Cam Akers who, outside of his 41-yard touchdown run, averaged just 2.6 yards per carry.

NC State and Florida State are both on bye this week.

#goacc Moment of the Week

Well in impressive fashion, North Carolina losing to Ted Roof’s defense ran away with the victory last weekend! Let’s take a look at the full standings:

• Florida State - 2
• Boston College - 1
• North Carolina - 1
• Georgia Tech - 2 Honorable Mentions (I’m going to count this as half a MOTW each, so they’re currently tied for second)

Let’s take a look at this week’s nominees!