Around the ACC: Week 8

With Duke picking up its first ACC loss of the regular season in dramatic fashion, the Blue Devils fell behind archrival North Carolina in the race for the Coastal Division crown. The Blue Zone takes a look at the results of all 14 ACC teams in action this weekend: 

Miami (Fla.) 30, No. 22 Duke 27

The Hurricanes defeated the Blue Devils in improbable fashion in what will go down as one of the best games of the season. Down 12 with just three minutes remaining, quarterback Thomas Sirk led two quick drives, marching 80 yards down the field in the latter to score what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown with just six seconds left on the clock.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Miami (5-3, 2-2) used eight laterals to return the ball the distance of the field for a touchdown. The play was marred with several controversial calls as Miami freshman Mark Walton appeared to have his knee down while holding the football and a block in the back call was overturned. The ACC went on to suspend both the on-field officials and the replay officials after indicating that multiple errors were made on the final play of the game.

North Carolina 26, No. 23 Pittsburgh 19

In a Thursday night matchup of two of the three remaining unbeaten Coastal teams, North Carolina took an early 23-3 lead and did not look back. Although Pittsburgh (6-2, 4-1) was able to bring the score within a touchdown with 46 seconds remaining in regulation, their comeback effort was just not enough.

The Tar Heels (7-1, 4-0) built their lead as a result of two impressive plays from quarterback Marquise Williams. With 12:13 remaining in the second quarter, Williams escaped a tackle and hit receiver Ryan Switzer for a 71-yard touchdown. Nine minutes later, the quarterback struck again, this time throwing a 32-yard strike to Mack Hollins to extend the North Carolina lead to 17 points heading into halftime.

Williams finished with another solid day for the Tar Heels, compiling 270 yards and two touchdowns on 23 passing attempts. Running back Elijah Wood also added 98 yards on the ground as North Carolina outgained the Panthers 444-415 on the evening. 

Coming off of a dominant 58-0 rout of Miami, Clemson journeyed to Raleigh as overwhelming favorites. But the Wolfpack came out ready to play and took three separate first half leads and trailed by just six  with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Tigers were eventually able to find their footing and couple their dominant offense with defensive stops. In the final two minutes of the third quarter, Clemson put together a pair of touchdown drives, extending a six-point lead to 20 and putting the game out of reach for N.C. State.

For the Tigers (8-0, 5-0), quarterback Deshaun Watson assembled another solid offensive performance, throwing for 383 yards and five touchdowns and adding another score with his feet. The potential Heisman trophy candidate continued his knack for making big plays as all six of the sophomore quarterback’s scoring plays came from outside the red zone.  

On the opposite side of the field, senior Jacoby Brissett added to an already impressive final season at N.C. State (5-3, 1-3) with 254 yards and three touchdowns. The Wolfpack simply could not get the defensive stops they needed to pull off the upset. 

No. 17 Florida State 45, Syracuse 21

After a devastating last-second defeat at the hands of Georgia Tech, Florida State dominated throughout this game. Syracuse led for all of fifteen seconds in the first quarter before the Seminoles grabbed the lead and didn't look back. 

Making his first collegiate start in place of the injured Everett Golson, Sean Maguire acquired 349 passing yards and three touchdowns for the Seminoles (7-1, 5-0). His favorite target was clearly Travis Rudolph, who hauled in all three scoring passes and racked up 191 yards receiving.

The Orange (3-5, 1-3) struggled to put together much of offense throughout the game. Quarterback Eric Dungey failed to complete even half of his passes, going 11 for 24 in the losing effort. The Syracuse run game led by a stable of running backs was somewhat effective, but ultimately did not do enough to counterbalance the poor play of Dungey and the passing attack. 

Virginia 27, Georgia Tech 21

In this matchup of two teams desperate for a conference win, Virginia used a strong second half and capitalized on two Georgia Tech turnovers en route to a six-point victory. Each Yellow Jacket turnover came deep within their own territory, setting Virginia up nicely to convert the mistakes into points. 

Down by four at halftime, the Cavaliers (3-5, 2-2) turned up the heat in the second half, scoring 17 unanswered points to take a 27-14 lead. But Georgia Tech (3-6, 1-5) attempted to mount a late comeback and scored a touchdown with 2:22 remaining in the game.

Quarterback Justin Thomas finished 13 for 31 in the game and threw a pair of touchdown passes that kept his team in the game. With the loss, the Yellow Jackets have now dropped six of their last seven games and will need to finish with three straight victories to become bowl-eligible. 

Virginia Tech 26, Boston College 10

Virginia Tech took an early 7-0 lead and never looked back, preventing the Eagles from picking up their first conference victory.

The contest was sloppy to say the least as Boston College committed four turnovers to the Hokies’ two. Neither team managed more than 300 yards of offense and the two squads had a combined 81 rushing attempts for only 156 yards. Although Boston College (3-6, 0-6) has one of the top defenses in the country, the unit was hurt by the team's offense Saturday as the Eagles allowed Virginia Tech (4-5, 2-3) to start with great field position time and time again. 

Hokie quarterback Michael Brewer put together a solid performance, completing 15 of 21 passes for 180 yards. On the other hand, his counterparts John Fadule and Troy Flutie struggled mightily in the game and completed a total of just eight passes in the team's sixth conference loss of the season.