Interesting First Week for the ACC

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On the surface, the first week of the college football season was a good one for the ACC. There were two significant wins to consider. Florida State’s win over Alabama and Miami’s win over Notre Dame. Those victories mark only the second time since 1980 that one conference has been able to achieve this in Week 1. The SEC did it back in 2018. Additionally, the two top non-conference wins over top-10 teams were the 10th time overall since 1980. It is the first time this has taken place in the same week since the Sun Belt did it in Week 2 of the 2022 season.

For the first week, the ACC went 12-4 with three wins over Power-4 schools. ND, Alabama, and Colorado were the victims. It has helped the league to have 4 teams ranked in this week’s AP Top 25 poll. Miami at #5, Clemson at #8, Florida State at #14, and SMU at #17. In the US LBM Coaches Poll, the same four schools are ranked just in different positions. Miami at #7, Clemson at #8, SMU at #16, Florida State at #19. All 16 teams show an ability to put points on the board. All of them scored in double figures, with three going over the 50-point mark: Boston College, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. Five schools went over 45 points in week one. To date, the conference is averaging 32.2 points per game. That is the third most among all leagues.

Stats Perform came up with two pretty good stats of their own. First, the conference has a yards per catch rate of 12.57 for the season. That is the highest of any FBS league. Second, teams have combined for 39 offensive plays of at least 30 yards so far. That is the most of any FBS conference.

Some individual news to give you. Miami’s Carson Beck helped the Canes get off to a good start. The 27-24 win over the Fighting Irish on Sunday night improved Beck’s record as a starting QB to 25-3. That is the best of any active quarterback with a minimum of five games. Duke’s QB Darian Mensah had 389 yards passing vs Elon, and it was the fourth most by a QB in a single game so far this season. He joined four other ACC quarterbacks who have had 350+yards of passing and 3+ touchdowns in their first game in the league. Cam Ward 2024, Kyle McCord 2024, Jameis Winston 2013, and Philip Rivers in 2000. George Tech’s Haynes King recorded 140+ passing yards, 140+running yards, and 3+rushing touchdowns in his season opener. He became the second FBS player to do this since 2000. His performance earned him ACC Quarterback of the Week honors.

Needless to say, Florida State’s big win over Alabama gave the Seminoles plenty of attention. Head coach Mike Norvell earned the Bear Bryant Coach of the Week award and the Dodd Trophy of the Week. FSU quarterback Thomas Castellanos earned several awards for his performance last week. He was named the Davey O”Brien National Quarterback of the Week. He and Carson Beck were named the Davey O’Brien Great 8 Quarterbacks, and Castellans was named Honorable Mention AP Player of the Week. The Manning Award Star also went to Castallanos. Thomas threw for 152 yards while rushing for a team-high 78 yards and a score.

Boston College heads to East Lansing, Michigan, for a Saturday night prime-time game vs Michigan State. The Eagles are looking for their third straight win and fifth in the last six meetings. BC opened up with a 66-10 win over Fordham last Saturday. It was the most points BC had scored since a 75-point game against Howard back on September 12, 2015.

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