No. 4 Miami looks like the team setting the pace in the ACC, and this weekend could make the rest of the league’s climb a whole lot steeper.
The Hurricanes head to Clemson with a 2-0 conference record and a clear edge on paper. Miami is a two-touchdown favorite against a Tigers team that did enough to win at Cal last week, but the bigger picture is what comes next for the ‘Canes.
If they handle business Saturday, they would move to 3-0 in ACC road games. After that, five of their six remaining league matchups come at home, where Miami has already piled up a 129-10 scoring margin against two overmatched opponents.
The schedule only gets friendlier from there. Miami has a bye next week, then home games against Florida State and Pittsburgh, both of which figure to put the Hurricanes in double-digit favorite territory.
Their final ACC road trip comes at North Carolina on Halloween. The only major nonconference detour left is a Nov. 7 visit to No.
3 Notre Dame, a game set for NBC and must-watch status. November closes with three straight home games against Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
There’s also movement elsewhere in the league. Pitt is 4-0 and outscoring opponents 157-34 after Mason Heinstschel threw six touchdown passes against Bucknell.
Virginia Tech is 4-0 for the first time since 2017, already owns two Power Four wins, and goes to Cal a week from now. Both teams are 1-0 in ACC play, and the winner could push into the Top-25.
No. 3 Notre Dame (minus-21) at North Carolina, 9 a.m., ESPN
CJ Carr has completed 70 percent of his passes and thrown nine touchdowns for the Irish, who are 4-0. North Carolina is 2-1 and has beaten Notre Dame only twice in 23 meetings.
The Tar Heels’ most recent win came in 2008, a 29-24 result that was later vacated because of NCAA violations. Can Bill Belichick add a victory over the Fighting Irish to his resume of six Super Bowl titles?
Boston College (plus-21) at No. 21 SMU, 9 a.m., CW Network
Boston College is 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the ACC after beating Rutgers and staying close to Virginia Tech before a 21-14 loss last week. The Eagles have won just one of their last 10 road games.
SMU is 3-1 and 1-1 after Kevin Jennings threw for 464 yards in a win over Missouri State. Jennings now holds the school records for completions, passing yards and touchdowns responsible for, combining passing and rushing.
Stanford (plus-12.5) at Wake Forest, 9 a.m., ACC Network
Stanford, 2-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play, is trying to end a 12-game road losing streak. Wake Forest is 3-1 and 1-1 after a 30-27 upset at Louisville. Stanford quarterback Davis Warren had the best game of his career last week, throwing for 396 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-27 win over Georgia Tech.
Syracuse (minus-6.5) at UConn, 9 a.m., CBS Sports Net
Syracuse is 1-2 and steps out of conference play to face UConn, which is 2-2. The Orange beat UConn 27-20 in overtime last year, with Steve Angeli setting a career high with 416 passing yards. Angeli managed only 161 yards and threw two interceptions in last week’s 27-13 loss at Pitt.
Cal (plus-2.5) at No. 15 Oregon State, 12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network
Cal is 2-2 and needs a win over the Rebels to avoid its first losing record in nonconference play since 2021. The Bears are still searching for a reliable ground game because of a depleted running backs corps, and that has not helped Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. ESPN ranks him 50th among FBS quarterbacks this week after he averaged 5.7, 4.9 and 3.5 yards per dropback against Power Four opponents.
Louisville (minus-3.5) at NC State, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network
Louisville is 2-2 and 1-1 in the ACC, with a 41-31 win over then-No. 16 SMU and narrow losses to Ole Miss and Wake Forest. NC State is 2-2 and 0-1, still looking for its first win over a Power Four opponent after its last-second collapse at Vanderbilt two weeks ago.
Virginia (minus-2.5) at Florida State, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2
Florida State is 2-2 and 0-1 after giving up 77 points in its two losses to Power Four opponents. Virginia is 3-1 and 1-0, and has allowed only 52 points total in four games.
Darian Mensah has 14 touchdown passes and 12 incompletions while completing 88.7 percent of his throws for Miami through four games. In the ACC’s only matchup of teams already 2-0 in league play, Clemson will try to disrupt his rhythm. The Tigers couldn’t do it last year when Mensah was at Duke and threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns.
In Other News...
Cal Heads To UNLV With Pressure Mounting On A Stalled Offense
Cal heads to UNLV trying to steady a season that has begun to wobble in more than one way. The Bears took a significant hit against Clemson, and the ripple effects have reached beyond the field, with some of their top 2027 recruits reopening their recruitment or choosing other schools. Against that backdrop, the trip to Las Vegas carries extra weight for a team that needs signs of progress, not more reminders of how much ground still has to be made up.
The biggest concern remains the offense, which has struggled enough this fall to put pressure on head coach Tosh Lupoi to make a change. UNLV brings a mixed record into the matchup, but it also has enough firepower to test a defense if Cal cannot find a better rhythm on the other side of the ball. For the Bears, the next step is less about style points than simply showing the unit can move forward before the frustrations deepen. [Read more 🡒]
Cals Biggest Problem Might Not Be The One Fans Blame
The 2026 Cal offense is still searching for ways to create clean space, and the bigger frustration may be that the usual fixes have not shown up. The run game has been stuck in traffic from the start, with blockers failing to generate the kind of push that lets backs work past the line of scrimmage with any regularity. Pass protection has also been only middling, so even when the Bears try to lean on the passing game, there has not been much margin for error.
JKS accuracy issues only deepen the problem, because the passing game has not been efficient enough to make defenses pay for crowding the box. The ripple effects show up in the individual evaluations too, with the production of Ian Strong and the overall contributions of players like Adam Mohammed and Kingston Lopa all tied to an offense that still feels short on answers. Cals defense has its own concerns as well, especially against the run, so the larger issue may be that the Bears are fighting on too many fronts at once. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Heads Into A Trickier UNLV Test Amid Dan Mullen Buzz
UNLV has not quite matched the buzz that surrounded it before the season, and Donovan Hicks said the Rebels 2-2 start has left the program in a more complicated spot than many expected. Even so, there are still reasons opponents have to take this team seriously, from the visibility and recruiting appeal of Allegiant Stadium to the presence of players like JaiDen Thomas and Jackson Arnold, who have helped give the offense some life.
For Cal, that makes this a less comfortable follow-up than it might have looked a month ago. Hicks also pointed to the conversation around Dan Mullen and where things go from here, which only adds another layer to a game that already carries more weight than a routine nonconference trip. The Bears are walking into a setting that can still feel like a stage, and UNLVs mix of talent, expectations and uncertainty makes the matchup more intriguing than the record suggests. [Read more 🡒]