ACC football News & Notes: Louisville on Top of the League.

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As the conference begins its second month of play, the Louisville Cardinals (5-0, 3-0) have the top spot. They have won six in a row dating back to a season ago, and seven in a row at home. This week they put that steak on the line as they host #10 Notre Dame in a battle of ranked teams. The Cardinals joined the AP Top 25 this week at #25. They are one of five schools in the league that are ranked. The others are, FSU at #5, UNC at #14, Miami at #17, and Duke at #19. This will be the second straight week for the Irish on the road in the ACC. Last week they defeated the Blue Devils 21-14. Here is more news from the league.

Duke and Pittsburgh have the weekend off. Through the first five weeks of the season, the league is 29-13 in non-league games. This week there are four non-conference games on the schedule. As week six begins, the league still has four teams that have yet to taste defeat. Louisville, Florida State (4-0), Miami (4-0), and North Carolina (4-0). All four are in action this weekend, and all are at home. The league is tied with the Big 10 and Pac-12 for the most unbeaten teams in any FBS conference. Wake Forest (3-1, 0-1) heads to Clemson (3-2, 1-2) with two guys that have been getting to the quarterback frequently. Jacob Roberts is third in the country with five sacks, an average of 1.25 a game. His mate, Jasheen Davis is fourth at 4.5 and 1.12 a game. A third member of the league, Louisville’s Ashton Gillotte also is averaging one a game and has five on the year.

If the Cardinals are to stay unbeaten, then RB Jawhar Jordan will need a big night. So far that is what he has been giving the Cardinals offense through the first month of the year. He ranks seventh in the nation in FBS in all-purpose yards with an average of 146.4 a game. He has gained over 100 yards in three of the five games played. He has recorded over 100 all-purpose yards in four of the five. At Miami, it has been the Tyler Van Dyke show. He ranks second in the country in passing efficiency (197.8), seventh in completions percentage at 74.7%), eighth in yards per pass attempts (10.53), and 16th in passing touchdowns with 11.

North Carolina (4-0, 1-0) has won their last seven games on the road. It is the second longest streak to Georgia’s 12-game road winning streak. Defensive back Antavious Lane is tied for second among all active players with 11 interceptions and third in interceptions per game at 0.28. Meanwhile, QB Derek Maye is fifth among active players in total offense per game at 284.4 yards a contest. Through four games, the Tar Heels are averaging 296.8 yards in the air. That ranks third in the league and 20th in FBS. Maye has thrown for 1,187 yards so far and is the only Tar Heel QB to start a season with four straight games of 20 or more completions. The Tar Heels are home to Syracuse (4-1, 0-1) this Saturday.

As Pittsburgh (1-4, 0-2) enters their bye week, they do so with some things to clean up. Yes, their offense is averaging 23.4 points per game, and they have outgained their opponents by 1,541 to 1,508. But they have lost the turnover battle so far. In the five games to date, the Panthers have committed eight while they have forced only four. It will be something they will have to turn around if their season is to get better.

In Clemson’s big road win at Syracuse, they got a career day from freshman WR Tyler Brown. He set career highs in both receptions with nine and in receiving yards with 153. It was his first 100-yard day at Clemson in just his fifth career game. He is the seventh player in Tigers history to have a 100-yard day within his first five games. He also recorded his first rushing attempt, a 23-yard run on a reverse in the second quarter.

North Carolina State’s LB Payton Wilson recorded 10 tackles over 68 snaps in last weekend’s loss to Louisville. He now has 18-double figures tackle games for his career. He has led the teams in tackles in every game so far this year and has 26 more tackles than any other member of the defense. At the moment Wilson has 56 total which leads the ACC in tackles per game with 11.2 per outing. That also has him ranked eighth in FBS. He is looking for back-to-back seasons of leading the league in tackles.

That’s all for this week. We will be back next week with more from the ACC.