ACC Football News & Notes: Changes at the Top

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It was an interesting weekend, to say the least, in the ACC. Losses by Clemson and Pittsburgh have changed the top of the standings in the league. Miami and SMU are both at 5-0 in league play and now have a one-game lead on the field. With four weeks left in the regular season, it is anyone’s guess who will play for the league title in December. Let’s see how things stand at this point.

The results from last weekend have made an impact on the AP Top 25. A season-high five teams made the poll. Miami is at #4, up one spot from a week earlier. This is their highest ranking since November of 2017. SMU is at #13 and made the biggest leap in the group jumping up seven spots after their win at home over Pittsburgh. Their ranking is the highest in the AP poll since 1985. Clemson is at #19 after their loss to Louisville. The Cardinals are at #25. They have been getting consideration all season long. They are back in the poll for the first time since September 3, 2024. The US LBM Coaches Poll has Miami at #4, SMU at # 15, Clemson at #17, and Pittsburgh at #23. Both the Hurricanes and Tigers have been ranked in the coaches poll all season long.

The ACC has seven bowl-eligible teams as this weekend nears. They are one of three conferences to have seven or more teams eligible to date. The other two are the Southeastern Conference with nine and the Big 10 with seven. The ACC still has eight teams that could get to six wins and become bowl-eligible.

Here are some notes from around the league to ponder. Louisville’s win over Clemson was their first-ever win vs the Tigers. They were 0-8 heading into last Saturday’s game. They are bowl-eligible for the 13th time in the last 14 years. It was also their first win in the state of South Carolina. Miami’s 53-point outburst vs Duke last week gives them five games with 50+ points. It is the first time in program history they have done this. North Carolina’s defense has been on quite a roll over the last two weeks. The unit has recorded 17 sacks over the last two games. They had 15 over the first seven games.

California defensive back Nohl Williams has been named a semifinalist for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award. He leads the nation with six interceptions and has returned one for a score. He also is pretty good on special teams having returned a kickoff for a touchdown as well. Duke’s QB Maalik Murphy has thrown six TD passes over the last two weeks in games vs Top-20 teams. He has thrown 20 for the season which has him eighth in the country. Florida State is first in the country with 18 successful fourth-down conversions. They have at least one in eight games this year. Georgia Tech has played several ranked teams. In fact, under head coach Brent Key, they have played 31 games winning 11 of them. They are 1-2 this year.

The 59 points the North Carolina Wolfpack scored is the most in a league game. It also ties for the most points scored by any ACC team this year. Pittsburgh’s defense ranks fifth in the nation in tackles for loss per game with 8.1 and 11th in sacks per game with three. SMU RB Brashard Smith ranks in the top 25 in several categories. He is top 10 in total touchdowns with 13, all-purpose yards with 145.22 a game. He is 14th in rushing touchdowns with 11, fifth in rushing yards with 906, 19th in rushing yards per carry with 6.47, and 21st in rushing yards per game at 100.7.

Before his injury last week. Stanford QB Austin Daniels ran for a 67-yard TD run. That was the season’s longest run and the longest run by a Cardinal QB since 2003. He ran 11 times for 129 yards before the injury. In his second game back from injury, Syracuse’s Marlowe Wax had nine total tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in the Orangemen OT win over Virginia Tech. Virginia’s schedule is getting tougher by the week. They will be playing their third straight Top 25 team in Pittsburgh this week. They have two more top 25 games over the next two weeks in Notre Dame and SMU.

The Hokies are missing two key members of the offense in Kyron Drones and Bhayshul Tuten. The duo have combined for 340 yards of passing and rushing. Wake Forest’s Taylor Morin has been good in the kicking game for the Demon Deacons. He is averaging 17.5 yards per punt return which leads the league and is fourth nationally. He is second in punt return yards with 763 which is the most among active players.

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