The ACC’s middle has gotten crowded, messy, and flat-out unpredictable, and Week 5 only poured more fuel on it. Miami stayed at the top by handling Clemson in Death Valley, while Louisville and Virginia both took big hits in the latest shakeup.
Miami didn’t need a perfect day from Darian Mensah or a big statistical burst from Malachi Toney to leave Clemson with a 41-13 win. Mensah didn’t complete 90% of his passes, Toney was limited to 40 yards, and the Hurricanes still took control late, outscoring the Tigers 17-7 in the fourth quarter. Miami gets the weekend off before hosting Florida State in the annual rivalry game.
Florida State was one of the week’s loudest risers after blowing past Virginia 38-7. Ashton Daniels set a Seminole record with five rushing touchdowns, and the defense came up with 10 sacks after producing seven in the previous four games combined. Mike Norvell survives another week, and Florida State heads into a road game at Louisville still looking for its first win away from home in over 1,000 days.
That matchup suddenly feels a lot different because Louisville keeps sliding. The Cardinals were upset by NC State after also losing to Wake Forest, and the back-to-back performances were nothing like what this team expected from itself.
NC State recovered three fumbles and led 28-14 in the third quarter before Louisville clawed back late, only for the Wolfpack to answer with the game-winning field goal in the closing minutes. Louisville’s offense still flashes, but the defense has become a problem and the penalties are piling up.
If the Cardinals don’t win on Friday night, the season could unravel fast.
Virginia’s trip to Tallahassee was its first true road test, and it went sideways in a hurry. The Cavaliers jumped ahead 7-0 in the first quarter, then got buried the rest of the way as Florida State outscored them 38-0. After a game like that, it’s hard to know exactly what Virginia is right now.
Clemson also took a major blow, suffering its first conference loss in the 41-13 defeat to Miami. In its two losses to ranked opponents, the Tigers have been outscored 92-23. The good news is that Clemson doesn’t have another top-25 team left on the schedule.
Wake Forest keeps looking better and better. After beating Louisville on the road, the Demon Deacons turned around and hammered Stanford 57-3.
They held the Cardinal to 197 total yards and scored at least two touchdowns in every quarter. This is a team moving in the right direction.
Pittsburgh pulled out one of the wildest wins of the weekend, surviving Virginia Tech 35-33 in Blacksburg on a missed field goal as time expired. The Panthers won an instant classic that could matter down the line, but they also lost starting quarterback Mason Heintschel to a torn ACL. Backup Holden Geriner now steps into a difficult spot.
Virginia Tech came within inches of moving to 5-0 before the ending turned brutal. The Hokies were right there against Pittsburgh, and even with the loss, James Franklin’s squad still looks capable of making noise in the ACC. They’re now on the road for the third time in four games and should be heavily favored against Cal.
SMU probably deserves a drop, but the results around the league kept that from happening. The Mustangs technically beat Boston College 25-16, though they were trailing 10-6 after the first quarter. Since losing to Louisville a few weeks ago, nothing has come easy.
Boston College has now dropped back-to-back games to Virginia Tech and SMU, even while leading in both. Bill O’Brien’s team gets the weekend off before a road trip to Pittsburgh.
North Carolina put up a fight against Notre Dame but couldn’t spring the upset. The Tar Heels may have a chance to stay competitive against Pittsburgh, especially with Mason Heintschel out.
Cal has lost two straight, most recently falling to UNLV 39-31. The bigger concern is quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who left with a scary head injury and is uncertain for Virginia Tech.
Syracuse escaped with a 42-41 overtime win over Cal, but that wasn’t enough to move the Orange up. They now head to Virginia for their third straight road game before facing Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, and Clemson. October could get rough in a hurry.
Georgia Tech had the week off and can start climbing out of the bottom if it pulls off an upset of Duke on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a disappointing loss to Stanford.
Duke, meanwhile, used its open date after starting 4-0 in September and now turns to a road game at Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils have a real shot to move to 2-0 in conference play.
And then there’s Stanford, which looked completely lifeless in a crushing 57-3 loss to Wake Forest. The Cardinal couldn’t build on their win over Georgia Tech, and in three conference losses, they’ve now been outscored 137-16.
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