ACC Football News & Notes: A Better Week 2 for the League

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After stumbling out of the gate to begin the season in week one, the Atlantic Coast Conference rebounded rather nicely in Week 2. They went 11-3 in non-conference matchups. The eleven wins tied a mark set twice by the league in 2014 and 2019. The 18 total wins in non-conference play is second among power-5 conferences. This week, the ACC will play eight non-league games with six of them versus FBS schools, and two against FCS programs. Here is a look at what else is going on in the league.

The #15 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies have scored in 335 consecutive games. It is the third-longest streak in the nation among FBS programs. It also ranks as the sixth-longest streak in FBS history. This week, Virginia Tech hits the road for a game in Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers. West Virginia (1-1) has had the edge in this series all-time at 28-23-1. However, the Hokies (2-0) won the last meeting back in 2017 by a 31-24 score.

A team that is now in must-win mode could be the Florida State Seminoles (0-2). Last week’s home loss to Jacksonville State by a 20-17 score should be viewed as an embarrassing loss for everyone associated with the program. The good news for the Seminoles is this week they are in league play against Wake Forest (2-0). The reason why this could be a good thing is that Florida State has won seven of the last eight meetings and 23 of 28 between the two schools. Florida State is 9-4 on the road in this series which is where they will be on Saturday. For Wake Forest, this will be the last game of a three-game homestand to get the season started. It also starts a stretch of four straight conference games for the Demon Deacons.

A team that is making lots of news this week is Boston College (2-0). First, they have two players who made this week’s ACC Player of the Week honor roll. Travis Levy was named special teams Player of the Week for his play last Saturday at UMass which included a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It was the fifth-longest in BC history. Running back, Pat Garwo was named Running Back of the Week after rushing for 160 yards in the win over the Minutemen. He averaged 10.7 yards per rush and became the team’s first 100-yard rusher since 2019. The other bit of news is not so good for the Eagles. Starting QB Phil Jurkovec could be lost for the season after suffering a hand injury late in the first quarter of Saturday’s game. He underwent surgery on Monday to repair the hand. Backup QB Dennis Grosel will now take over running the offense beginning this Saturday on the road at Temple.

North Carolina (1-1) quarterback Sam Howell has thrown a touchdown pass in all of his 27 career starts. It is the longest active streak in the country. Career start number 28 will come this week in league play at home vs Virginia (2-0). The Cavaliers have won four meetings between the two. The #21 ranked Tar Heels will have their hands full with Virginia QB Brennan Armstrong who is third in the country with 372 passing yards per game. Last week, Armstrong threw for 405 yards and five touchdowns in the victory over Illinois. He was named Manning Award Star of the Week for that performance. Howell is 18th in passing yards with 280 per game.

Next week we will be back with more from the ACC.