Atlantic Coast Conference Football News and Notes

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It was billed as the game of the season in the Atlantic Coast Conference and boy it did not disappoint. Clemson and Notre Dame staged a classic football game on Saturday night. When the dust settled, and two overtimes were played, the Fighting Irish (7-0, 6-0) gave head coach Brian Kelly his most important win since becoming the head man. The 47-40 victory was full of great plays and plenty of drama. The best part could be round two of this matchup when the league championship game takes place in the middle of December. For the Tigers (7-1, 6-1) the loss took them out of the # 1 spot in the country and ties them with Miami in the loss column for second place. For Clemson to guarantee themselves a spot in the College Football Playoff, some work now needs to be done.

As has been the case for most of the year the ACC still has three teams in the AP Top-25 poll. The Irish are now at #2 in the country, the Tigers now sit at #4 and the Hurricanes are at #9. This is the 17th time in league history, and the fourth time this season, that three teams have been ranked inside the Top-10. Two other schools, North Carolina and Wake Forest did receive votes toward making the Top-25.

Speaking of Miami (6-1, 5-1), what a comeback on Friday night vs North Carolina State (4-3, 4-3) The 44-41 victory was spearheaded by freshman quarterback D’Eric King who threw for 430 yards and ran for another 105. He is just the third player in ACC history to have 400 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game. King’s total of 535 total yards of offense is the seventh-highest total in conference history. King earned the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week honors for that performance vs NC State. King was also named ACC Quarterback of the Week. It’s the third time this season for him. He also was named to the O’Brien award list.

Television ratings do drive the sport of college football. Last Saturday night’s game at Norte Dame Stadium is another example of that. The overnight rating for Clemson and Notre Dame on NBC TV and NBC Sports Digital was 9.44 million viewers. It is the most-watched Fighting Irish game on the network in fifteen years. Only one other Irish game had better numbers for NBC. October 15, 2005, the Bush Push game against USC (10.1 million viewers). It is also the most-watched ND game in primetime on record.

For the Fighting Irish, the road to the championship game now heads to Boston College (5-3, 4-3). The Eagles are coming off a 16-13 win on the road at Syracuse (1-7. 1-6) last weekend. Boston College received a 100-yard rushing day from David Bailey in the win. It was Bailey’s first 100-yard game of the season. The defense held the Orangemen offense to 240 total yards for the game. Syracuse was just 3-13 on third downs on the day. Coming into that game they had converted on just 23% of third-down tries. Eagles QB Phil Jurkovec was 20-of-29 for 208 yards and a touchdown. On Saturday, he will get a chance to play vs the team he transferred from to play at Boston College. For the Eagles, this will be the third game vs a Top-25 team this season. in the previous two, BC has lost both. Against #12 North Carolina, back on Oct.3 (26-22), and two weeks ago to then #1 Clemson (34-28) Boston College is sure hoping the third time is the charm.

The Irish, now have the nation’s longest winning streak heading into their game at BC at 13 in a row dating back to last season. They have also won 23 straight games at home. Irish QB Ian Book was named to the O’Brien award list. He completed 22 of 39 for 310 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball 15 times for 68 yards. North Carolina RB/KR Michael Carter and NC State’s RB/KR Zonovan Knight were named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll for Nov.3. Carter rushed the ball 17 times for 85 yards, caught three balls for 46 yards and a score, and returned a kickoff. Knight was in on two scores as he rushed one in for a touchdown from a yard out. He also returned a kickoff for a 100-yard score. Both trips to pay dirt came in the third quarter. Knight became the fourth player in Wolfpack history to have a 100-yard kickoff return. Knight was also named Atlantic Coast Conference Specialist of the Week.

That wraps up another look inside the Atlantic Coast Conference for this week.