With Duke finishing up its non-conference slate, several critical conference matchups were on tap this week in the ACC. The Blue Zone takes a look at how all 15 ACC teams performed this weekend:
Duke 44, Army 3
The Blue Devils broke out of their prolonged offensive slump and took advantage of several Army miscues to cruise to an easy victory on the road. Thomas Sirk looked comfortable all day, completing 17 of 27 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception. Jela Duncan also helped Duke’s rushing attack bounce back from a forgettable performance last weekend against Boston College, exploding for a 43-yard touchdown run to highlight his two touchdown performance. Duke was an extremely efficient 11 for 16 on third down and put up points every time they reached the red zone.
Duke’s defense continued to dominate and forced seven fumbles from Army’s triple option attack. The Blue Devils recovered two of these fumbles and added an interception to give their offense short fields to work with throughout the game. The Black Knights only managed 2.3 yards per rush during the game and were outgained 458-168 by the Blue Devils. With the win, Duke improves to 5-1 heading into its bye week. Following the week off, the Blue Devils will travel to Blacksburg, Va. for key a Coastal division matchup against Virginia Tech.
No. 12 Florida State 29, Miami 24
One of the best rivalries in the ACC lived up to its billing once again with another close encounter between the Sunshine State rivals. Miami rallied from an early 14-point deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but could not hang to defeat its unbeaten opponents. Running back Dalvin Cook led the Seminoles with 222 yards and two touchdowns on the ground to go along with a 36-yard touchdown reception. Florida State (5-0, 3-0 in the ACC) trailed 24-23 with just 6:44 remaining in the game when Cook ran for a 23-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winning score.
The Hurricanes’ offense came almost exclusively through the air, as quarterback Brad Kaaya threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns while Stacy Coley and Rashawn Scott both had over 100 receiving yards. The strong offensive showing was not enough for Miami (3-2, 0-1) to pull the upset on the road after Kaaya could not engineer a game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes.
No. 6 Clemson 43, Georgia Tech 24
Clemson jumped out to a 26-3 lead early in the second quarter and maintained a comfortable cushion the rest of the game to stay undefeated. Running back Wayne Gallman opened the scoring with a 66-yard touchdown scamper just a minute into the game, and quarterback Deshaun Watson threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tigers (5-0, 2-0) to their 32nd consecutive victory against an unranked opponent.
Meanwhile, preseason darling Georgia Tech and its triple-option offense could only manage 71 rushing yards—it’s lowest mark in eight years of using the run-heavy system under coach Paul Johnson. The Yellow Jackets (2-4, 0-3) have now lost four games in a row and will hope to get back on track at home next weekend against Pittsburgh.
Wake Forest 3, Boston College 0
Boston College suffered their second shutout of the season and lost without giving up a touchdown for the second straight week. The Eagles (3-3, 0-3) had several opportunities to get on the scoreboard, but Colton Lichtenberg missed two short field goals and poor clock management doomed the team's final drive. After being stuffed on first-and-goal from the one-yard line with less than 20 seconds left, the team did not have any timeouts left to stop the clock. The Eagles hurried to the line to spike the ball, but time ran out and they couldn’t get another play off. Boston College also had four turnovers that killed numerous other scoring chances.
One of these turnovers directly led to the only score of the game, when the Eagles fumbled deep in their own territory in the third quarter. The Demon Deacons (3-3, 1-2) didn’t even need a first down to kick the field goal that gave them all the points they would need to come away with their first victory in conference play. Wake Forest only had five first downs and 142 yards of total offense—compared to 18 first downs and 270 yards for the Eagles—but Boston College made too many mistakes and gave away a game they should have won at home. The Eagles will need another stout defensive effort when they travel to take on No. 6 Clemson next week.
Virginia Tech 28, N.C. State 13
Brendan Motley threw three touchdown passes to Isaiah Ford in the second-quarter to spark Virginia Tech to its first conference victory of the season Friday night. Ford just had four receptions all game, but the three touchdowns helped the Hokies (3-3, 1-1) rally from an early 10-0 deficit.
Jacoby Brissett struggled at quarterback for N.C. State (4-2, 0-2), completing just 12 of 25 passes for 113 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The Wolfpack’s lone touchdown came early in the second quarter on a pass to Jurmichael Ramos, but its offense was ineffective as it was outscored 28-3 the rest of the game. N.C. State stumbles into its bye week with two straight losses and will try to bounce back at Wake Forest in two weeks.
Pittsburgh 26, Virginia 19
Quarterback Nathan Peterman threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns as Pittsburgh led wire to wire to beat the Cavaliers. Peterman threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Scott Orndoff on the first drive of the game and the Panthers (4-1, 2-0) held a 17-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, forcing Virginia to play catch-up for the rest of the game.
Virginia’s defense returned a fumble for a touchdown in the second quarter to get back into the game, but didn’t score another touchdown until quarterback Matt Johns found Canaan Severin for a 32-yard connection with 5:50 left in the game. The Cavaliers (1-4, 0-1) had a chance to score a game-tying touchdown with time winding down, but their drive stalled on Pittsburgh’s 40-yard line.
South Florida 45, Syracuse 24
Syracuse’s defense had no answer for South Florida’s relentless attack in the second half, as the Bulls scored touchdowns on five of their last six drives to pull away from the Orange. Quarterback Quinton Flowers threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns while running back Marlon Mack added 184 yards and two touchdowns on the ground to lead the Bulls to victory. Eric Dungey had a solid game at quarterback for Syracuse—throwing for 232 yards and two touchdowns and running for another score—but the Syracuse offense simply could not keep up with their opponent down the stretch. This concludes non-conference play for the Orange (3-2), who will look to regroup and improve to 2-0 in the ACC at Virginia next week.
Byes: North Carolina, Louisville
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