As Duke dropped its third consecutive contest, North Carolina continued its strong stretch of play and No. 1 Clemson fought to stay undefeated. The Blue Zone recaps all of the matchups from around the league this week:
Pittsburgh 31, Duke 13
After getting off to a solid start for the first time in three weeks and taking a 10-7 lead in the second quarter, the Blue Devils’ weaknesses showed through in the second half. After the break, Pittsburgh (7-3, 5-1 in the ACC) outscored Duke (6-4, 3-3) 21-3 and left Durham with a crucial win, while remaining in contention for the ACC Coastal crown.
In his first career start for the injured Thomas Sirk, Parker Boehme put together a solid outing, completing 23 of 42 passes for 242 yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown. The highlight of Boehme’s day was a 77-yard run late in the first quarter that put the Blue Devils in scoring position for the second time in the day.
For the Panthers, quarterback Nathan Peterman tied a career high with three touchdown passes along with 180 yards through the air. Freshman Qadree Ollison—fresh off of a rough outing against Notre Dame’s stout run defense—torched the Blue Devils for 111 yards on the ground and helped Pittsburgh control time of possession in the game.
No. 1 Clemson 37, Syracuse 27
Clemson sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson kept his name in the Heisman discussion Saturday after racking up 465 total yards and three touchdowns. Tiger running back Wayne Gallman added 66 yards and brought his season total to nine touchdowns with an 11-yard scamper to finish off a 75-yard opening drive.
But Clemson (10-0, 7-0) kept Syracuse (3-7, 1-5) in the game far longer than expected with three turnovers, including one interception and two fumbles. Although it may not have been pretty, the Tigers eventually overcame a subpar performance to stay perched atop the college football world.
Virginia Tech 23, Georgia Tech 21
After going down 14-0 early in the game, Virginia Tech (5-5, 3-3) came roaring back to tie it up by halftime, before holding on late for a much-needed win.
Trailing 21-17 in the fourth quarter, the Hokies started driving down the field looking for the game-winning score. Virginia Tech found just that with under seven minutes remaining in the contest when running back Travon McMillian took a four-yard rush into the end zone, leaving the home crowd stunned. After a missed extra point, the Yellow Jackets needed just a field goal to escape with a win, but were stopped on the Virginia Tech 39-yard line.
With the loss, Georgia Tech (3-7, 1-6) is now guaranteed to miss a bowl game for the first time in 18 years. Once projected to be a top-10 team, the Yellow Jackets, will be watching from their television sets come January.
No. 4 Notre Dame 28, Wake Forest 7
In a game that was widely expected to be a blowout, the Fighting Irish did not disappoint, scoring three first-half touchdowns on the backs of their running game and defense en route to an easy victory. After DeShone Kizer opened up the scoring with a run for a score late in the first quarter, the Notre Dame defense followed suit just 55 seconds later with an interception return for a touchdown. But the indubitable play of the game came when freshman Josh Adams took a handoff 98-yards to the house in the second quarter to put the Fighting Irish up 21-0.
For Wake Forest (3-7, 1-6), the stretch of poor performances continued and the Demon Deacons have now lost four consecutive games. Although they outpossessed the opposition by nearly twelve minutes and gained 58 more total yards and collected eight more first down, Wake Forest never truly had a chance to make this game intersection. Quarterback John Wolford put together a solid game, completing 19 of 30 passes for 219 yards and freshman Tyler Bell looked promising and collected 90 yards on the ground.
Notre Dame (9-1) will look to play a more complete game in their matchup next week against ACC-doormat Boston College.
No. 16 Florida State 34, N.C. State 17
Although N.C. State came in as the underdog, the Wolfpack jumped out to an 17-3 lead late in the first quarter. But the upset was not to be as N.C. State failed to score in the remaining three quarters and could not shut down Dalvin Cook and the Seminoles.
Florida State (8-2, 6-2) committed five team turnovers, but somehow managed to put 34 points on the board and survive at home. This was largely due to the performance of Cook, who compiled 138 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries and set the school's single-season rushing record. The Seminoles held a major advantage in total offense yardage as they accumulated 479 total yards on the afternoon as opposed to the Wolfpack's 297 total yards.
No. 23 North Carolina 59, Miami 21
North Carolina continued to roll, scoring 59 points one week after dropping 66 on the Blue Devil defense. Quarterback Marquise Williams put together four touchdowns—three on the ground and one through the air to fuel an explosive Tar Heel offense. Led by Elijah Wood—who finished with 113 yards rushing and a touchdown—North Carolina ran all over the Hurricanes and finished with 298 yards rushing as a team.
Miami (6-4, 3-3) put up 425 total yards, but was plagued by three crucial turnovers that cost the team a chance to keep up with the Tarheels’ high-powered office. But this game was really over in the second quarter when wide receiver Ryan Switzer took a punt back for 78 yards and a score with 40 seconds left in the first half. North Carolina (9-1, 6-0) made sure to exact a measure of revenge on the Hurricanes and flipped the signature Hurricane 'U' on multiple occasions.
Louisville 38, Virginia 31
This game was tight throughout, but the Cardinals and running back Brandon Ratcliffe used a raucous home crowd by storm to capture a fifth conference victory and becoming bowl-eligible with the team's sixth win of the season.
With the game tied at 24-24 in the fourth quarter, Louisville (6-4, 5-2) scored two consecutive touchdowns to take a two-score lead. Although Virginia (3-7, 2-4) brought it back to a one-possession game behind the arm of junior quarterback Matt Johns and his four touchdowns, the Cavaliers could not get any closer and fell for the seventh time this season. With the loss Virginia is no longer bowl eligible and will head to Durham next week looking to finish the season strong.
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