ACC Football News & Notes: Two Weeks Left

Read Time:4 Minute, 2 Second

With two weeks left in the college football season, SMU is in the driver’s seat for at least a spot in the league championship game. But despite being undefeated, they are still outside the college football playoff. Could the Mustangs, with one loss, be this season’s Florida State if they win out? With two weeks to go, we will find out. Let’s see how the next to last weekend looks in the ACC.

As Saturday approaches, the race to the title game appears to be a three-team race: SMU, Clemson, and Miami. The Mustangs can clinch a spot in the championship game with a win on the road at Virginia. For Miami to get there, they would need some help this weekend. They need to beat Wake Forest and hope for a Miami loss in Charlottesville. Clemson, who has a week off from league play, can get in because Miami lost to Wake at home.

In the polls, the league looks like this. In the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, Miami is at #11, SMU is at #13 and Clemson is at #17. This is the first time in six weeks that the ACC did not have at least four teams in the poll. In the US LBM Coaches Poll, Miami is at #10, SMU is at #12, and Clemson is at #16. Only one team, the Miami Hurricanes, is in the college football playoff if it were to begin this weekend. The Hurricanes are at #8. SMU is just outside at #13, while Clemson sits at #17.

The league added another bowl-eligible team to their list, which now stands at nine. Five schools still need one more win to get there. BC, California, North Carolina State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. Wake Forest would need to win their last two games to get in. This marks the 23rd straight season that the league will have at least six bowl bids. Leaving out the pandemic year of 2020, the league has had at least nine teams in bowl games since 2016.

The conference has been a very good road league this year heading into this weekend at 40-32 in road games. The 40 wins are the most of any conference in FBS. The .556 winning percentage is the highest of any league in college football. The ACC is the only league with a winning record on the road this year. In league play, the road team has won 28 of the 54 games played.

Some individuals are honored to be recognized. First, QB Cam Ward of Miami is five TD passes away from breaking Case Keenum’s record for most passing touchdowns in NCAA history. Ward played at two other schools before he came to Miami. Has thrown for 151 touchdowns in his career. North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton has run for 100 yards in seven straight weeks and eight of the last nine weeks. Last week, Hampton ran for 244 yards on 35 carries, becoming just the third UNC back to have three-200 yards games. He is fifth All-Time in school history with 3,237 yards on the ground.

Hampton is the only FBS player in each of the last two seasons to have 1,400 rushing yards and 200 receiving yards. He is one of four to do this in the CFP era.

Placekicking has been a strong suit for the ACC this year as 12 have combined to make 32 field goals of at least 50 yards. SMU junior Collin Rodgers leads the country with seven FGs of at least 50 yards. He is one away from the All-Time record of eight in a single season in FBS.

Here is how the two most important league games shape up this weekend. SMU (9-1, 6-0) is at Virginia (5-5, 3-3). This is the first time these two have ever met on the football field. The Mustangs have won nine straight road games and are the only Power-4 team to have seven wins over Power-4 schools. Four of those wins are against teams that are bowl-eligible. Virginia has allowed the fewest yards on both kickoff and punt returns while safety Jonas Sanker was named ACC Defensive Back of the Week for the fourth time this season.

Wake Forest (4-6, 2-4) heads to Miami (9-1, 5-1). The Hurricanes have won seven straight vs the Demon Deacons. Miami’s offense is ranked first in scoring offense, total offense, passing offense, yards per play, offensive touchdowns, points scored, and plays of 20+ yards or more. Wake Forest has not beaten a team ranked #11 or higher in the AP poll since 1946 when they defeated #4 Tennessee, 19-6.

Next week, we will look at the final weekend of the season in the ACC.