The ACC spent Week 2 stacking up wins against the Big Ten, padding the record in a way that should get the league some attention even if the scoreboard wasn’t always pretty. Three matchups with Big Ten opponents.
Three ACC victories. That’s the kind of clean sweep that changes the tone around a conference, at least for a week.
Boston College got the trend started Friday night with a 28-21 win over Rutgers, a result that says plenty about where the bottom of the ACC sits compared to the bottom of the Big Ten. On Saturday, Wake Forest pulled out a double-overtime road win at Purdue, 38-36, before Duke added another one by going to Illinois and leaving with a 31-27 victory. For a league that often gets talked about like it’s carrying only one or two heavyweights, that was a strong answer.
The ACC’s week also included a rougher showing in its lone matchup with the SEC. Georgia Tech was handled by Tennessee, falling 45-24, and the Yellow Jackets are now 0-2 after also losing to Colorado last week.
Elsewhere, several ACC teams took care of business in comfortable fashion. Louisville, Virginia and NC State all rolled in Friday games against lesser competition.
SMU looked sharp in a 56-10 win over UC Davis, a tune-up before next week’s trip to Louisville. North Carolina, with Bill Belichick in the mix, moved to 2-0 after beating East Tennessee State 35-3.
Virginia Tech is also 2-0 under new coach James Franklin after a 44-21 win over Old Dominion, a team the Hokies have had trouble with before.
Not every victory came with style points. Pitt had to grind through a 12-7 win over Central Florida at home, leaning on defense in a game that didn’t do much to boost confidence around one of the league’s possible sleepers.
Clemson was in a similar lane, beating Georgia Southern 22-7 after last week’s loss to LSU. The Tigers led the whole way, but they never really broke it open, scoring only one touchdown and settling for five field goals.
And then there was the mess in Berkeley. Cal opened ACC play with a 21-18 win over Syracuse, despite being outgained 436-249.
The Orange piled up 132 yards in penalties and turned it over three times, including the pick-six that swung the game. Cal didn’t cough it up, but it was hardly pretty on offense, and the Bears were flagged for 87 yards themselves.
Even so, the win goes to Cal.
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New athletic director Bryan Blair has already tried to nudge things in the right direction with ticket discounts and other efforts to improve the gameday experience, yet attendance remains a stubborn issue. That makes the next few games carry more weight than just wins and losses, because Syracuse is still trying to prove it can give supporters a reason to come back and stay engaged through a full season. [Read more 🡒]
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Syracuse May Be Zeroing In On One Priority Recruit Out West
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Among the names drawing attention is 2028 four-star guard Darren Ford, a prospect whose long-term upside fits the kind of recruiting work the Orange have been doing on the trail. No official scholarship offers have been confirmed yet, but the interest is notable, especially with AZ Compass Prep viewed as a strong contender for the upcoming high school national championship. [Read more 🡒]