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.
In Other News...
Wake Forest Just Sent A Strong Message Before NC State
Wake Forests latest surge showed up where it mattered most, in the weekly ACC Football Power Rankings, after the Demon Deacons rolled past Stanford and stayed put at No. 2. The rankings are compiled each week by an editorial staff voting on recent performance, and the Deacs made a clear impression with one of the conferences most lopsided wins of the season.
Miami remains the unanimous No. 1, but Wake Forest has firmly separated itself from the rest of the league for now. With NC State next on the schedule, the Deacons have a chance to turn that strong showing into something even more meaningful, and their place near the top of the ACC gives that matchup a little extra edge. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Has New Life On Offense Before A Rivalry Test
NC State heads into its rivalry date with Wake Forest carrying a lot more confidence on offense than it did earlier in the season. Quarterback CJ Bailey has looked increasingly composed, Will Wilson has given the Wolfpack another weapon to lean on, and Harvey Dyson III has helped the defense keep things moving in the right direction as the program has steadied itself after an uneven start.
The improvement is real enough to make this a tougher test for Wake Forest than it might have seemed a few weeks ago, especially with NC State producing with more consistency and balance. Even so, the Wolfpack know the challenge in front of them is not just about keeping up offensively, because their chances against Wake Forest will also depend on whether they can tighten up the basics on defense and play with cleaner execution. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Faces A Pressure Test After Its Early Season Collapse
Wake Forests next ACC test comes with a familiar kind of intrigue, the sort that tends to follow NC State when expectations have already started to wobble. The matchup has plenty of attention around it because the Wolfpack are trying to steady themselves after an uneven opening stretch, and this one arrives as part of a wider weekend slate built around bold predictions and possible surprises across the country.
For Wake Forest, it is the kind of game that can reveal a lot about where the Deacons really stand in the league pecking order. NC State brings the pressure of needing a response, while Wake Forest gets a chance to poke at that urgency and make the contest uncomfortable. The preview leaves the result hanging, but the setup suggests this is exactly the kind of meeting where one teams early-season problems could become the others opportunity. [Read more 🡒]