ACC Football News & Notes: Tight Race in the Coastal Division

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Just when it looks like things are starting to become clear, a team makes a mistake, and things get muddled again. That team is the Pittsburgh Panthers (6-1, 3-1) whose bad first half of football at home last Saturday vs Miami led to a home loss that has brought the rest of the Coastal division closer to them. That is not the case in the Atlantic where Wake Forest took care of business against Duke and stayed undefeated at 8-0, 5-0 in league play. The victory also leapfrogged the Demon Deacons into the Top-10 in this week’s latest A.P .Top-25 poll. With that, let’s look at what else is going on in the ACC.

This weekend the Demon Deacons will put their #10 ranking on the line at Chapel Hill vs UNC (4-4, 3-3). For the second time in recent memory, these two teams will play a game that will not count in the league standings. Back in 2019, Wake was the winner 24-18. Last season they met in a game that did count in the league and it was a wild one, to say the least. The 59-53 Tar Heels win was backed by QB Sam Howell who threw for 550 yards and six touchdowns. However, it was Howell’s legs that gave North Carolina the win. With 4;11 left in the game, he rushed for the go-ahead score. The rushing TD allowed his team to come back from down 21 points to get the win. This is something that the Demon Deacons probably have not forgotten. Howell is responsible for 101 career touchdowns, 12 rushing, 87 passing, and two receiving. That is a school record as is the 9,419 passing. Wake is off to their first 5-0 conference start in program history and the eight-game winning streak is their longest in school history. Quarterback Sam Hartman, who threw for 402 in last week’s win at Duke has now thrown for 300 yards or more for the fourth straight game and has back-to-back 400 yard games.

Syracuse running back Sean Tucker moved into third on the Orange list of single-season rushing. The nation’s leading rusher finished with 207 yards on the ground in last Saturday’s win at home vs Boston College. He also recorded his 11th rushing touchdown of the season and his 13th overall. For the season to date, Tucker has 1,287 yards on the ground and 1,505 all-purpose yards. The win put Syracuse (5-4, 2-3) within one victory of being bowl eligible This weekend, Syracuse has off.

The Clemson Tigers (5-3, 4-2) may not be in a position to play for a league or national championship, but they can still make a bowl game this Saturday. To do it, they will have to beat a Louisville Cardinal team (4-4, 2-3) they have handled rather well since the Cardinal have joined the league. The two programs have met six times since the Cardinal became a member of the ACC. The Tigers have won all six games. If they can make it seven straight, they would become the fifth conference team to become bowl eligible so far this season. Cardinal QB Malik Cunnigham has run for 13 touchdowns this season. That ties him for the 10th best single-season mark in ACC history.

Despite the loss to Miami (4-4, 2-2), Panthers QB Kenny Pickett had himself a record-setting afternoon. He threw for three scores in the loss, and in doing so, is now responsible for 84 TD’s in his career. He surpassed the record set by Dan Marino of 82 for 1979-82. He owns the school passing record with 11, 492 yards passing that was established by Alex Van Pelt in 1989-92. Van Pelt had 11, 148. Pickett’s 519 yards of passing last Saturday set a school single-game record.

On the other side of Heinz Field last Saturday, Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke had himself quite a day in the win over #17 Pittsburgh. He set a career-high in passing yards with 426, completions at 32, and threw three more touchdown passes with one interception. This week, the Hurricanes face Georgia Tech (3-5, 2-4) where they have lost to the last two times they have played.

Next week we will have more from the ACC.