ACC Football News and Notes: The Final Weekend is Here

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The final weekend of the conference season has arrived and the Coastal Division will be decided on Friday afternoon. The winner will be heading off to the championship game on December 7th to play Clemson for the title. Two other teams have one last shot at becoming bowl eligible. Happy Thanksgiving and hope you save some room for ACC football this weekend.

Virginia and Virginia Tech, both 5-2 in the league, will meet on Friday afternoon to decide the Coastal Championship. The series has been a bit one-sided over the years with Tech winning the last 15 meetings. Last year’s win came in overtime 34-31. With a win, the Hokies can win their seventh division title. The Cavaliers are looking to become the seventh different team to win the division in the last seven years. They would also become the 11th different team to play in the championship game. The five wins by Virginia are the most in the league since 2011 when they went 5-3. Tech arrives at this game with a four-game conference win streak It’s the first time they have done this since 2011 when they won seven league contests in a row.

Two teams with one last shot at a bowl game are Boston College and North Carolina, both at 5-6 overall. The Eagles will have to get it done on the road on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Pittsburgh. The Panthers lead the all-time series at 17 wins to 13 losses. The last time the two teams met was in 2014 with Pitt getting the win 30-20. The Eagles offensive line will be tested by the best front seven in the nation when it comes to getting after the quarterback. Pittsburgh leads the conference and is first in the nation with 48 sacks as they average 4.36 a game. Boston College has one of the better running games in the league led by junior RB A.J. Dillon who is averaging 123.6 yards a game.

The other team with one more shot at a bowl bid is the North Carolina Tar Heels. This Saturday night, they too will be on the road facing in-state rival North Carolina State. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series at 66-36-6. However, State won last year’s game 34-28 in overtime. State will have to slow down Carolina freshman quarterback Sam Howell who leads the conference and is fifth in the nation with 32 TD passes. North Carolina State has started 45 different players this year and that’s the most of any Power 5 school. They have also played more freshman than any other team in the country with the exception of one, Clemson.

Two of the best conferences in the nation will square off with four games this weekend. The ACC and SEC will meet up with Florida vs Florida State, Clemson vs South Carolina, Louisville vs Kentucky, and Georgia vs Georgia Tech. Since 2014, the Atlantic Coast Conference leads the series 30-28 with 11 of those wins by the Clemson Tigers.

Next week, a look ahead to the ACC championship game.