ACC Roundup - Week Five Standings & More

ACC conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week and the conference roundup.
 
Atlantic Boston Coll | Clemson | Florida St | Maryland | NC State | Wake Forest
Coastal Duke | Georgia Tech | Miami | North Carolina | Virginia | Virginia Tech
ACC Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

ACC Game of the Week

North Carolina 28 ... Miami 24
North Carolina got a 14-yard touchdown catch from Brooks Foster with 46 seconds to play to take the lead for good, but it took a big play in the end zone to secure the win. Miami got to the UNC 20 with 15 seconds to play, and it appeared that Robert Marve had connected with Kayne Farquharson for a touchdown, but the ball was bobbled and Tremaine Goddard picked it off for the win. The Canes jumped out to a 14-0 lead on two Marve touchdown passes, and a four-yard scoring pass to Aldarius Johnson in the fourth quarter made it a ten-point lead with under ten minutes remaining. UNC got back in it on a 74-yard Hakeem Nicks touchdown play.

ACC Player of the Week
North Carolina CB Tremaine Goddard made eight tackles and two interceptions with a broken up pass in the 28-24 win over Miami

 

Standings	Conference			Overall
Atlantic	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Maryland	1-0	20	17	4-1	134	99	W3
Wake Forest	1-0	12	3	3-1	100	68	L1
Clemson	1-1	44	29	3-2	153	80	L1
Florida State	0-1	3	12	3-1	157	40	W1
Boston Coll	0-1	16	19	3-1	113	26	W2
NC State	0-1	9	27	2-3	83	150	L1

Standings	Conference			Overall
Coastal	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Virginia Tech	2-0	40	34	4-1	121	98	W4
Duke	1-0	31	3	3-1	123	65	W2
Georgia Tech	1-1	36	36	3-1	115	57	W1
No Carolina	1-1	45	44	3-1	124	83	W1
Miami	0-1	24	28	2-2	120	84	L1
Virginia	0-1	3	31	1-3	36	128	L2

Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - ECU 27 ... VT 22
Sep. 6 - Wake Forest 30 ... Ole Miss 28
Sep 13 - VT 20 - GT 17
Sep 20 - NC St 30 - ECU 24 OT
Sep 27 - UNC 28 - Miami 24

Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - Jonathan Dwyer, GT
Sep. 6 - Sam Swank, Wake Forest
Sep 13 - DaRel Scott, Davin Meggett, Maryland
Sep 20 - Jon Dwyer, GT
Sep 27 - Tremaine Goddard, UNC

Saturday, September 27

at Duke 31 ... Virginia 3
CFN Prediction: Duke 27-17  Duke -6.5

Maryland 20 ... at Clemson 17
CFN Prediction: Clem. 31-14  Clem -12.5

North Carolina 28 ... at Miami 24
CFN Prediction: Miami 27-14  Miami -7.5

at Boston College 42 ... Rhode Island 0
CFN Prediction: BC 41-0

at Florida State 39 ... Colorado 21
CFN Prediction: FSU 17-13  FSU -7

Navy 24 ... at Wake Forest 17
CFN Prediction: Wake 41-27  WF -15.5

South Florida 41 ... at NC State 10
CFN Prediction: USF 28-16 USF -8

Virginia Tech 35 ... at Nebraska 30
CFN Prediction: Neb 27-16  Neb. -7

Conference Roundup
Boston College … So now what’s the quarterback situation? BC decided to go exclusively with the running game against Rhode Island, only throwing it nine times with just three completions, with Chris Crane completing just one of four passes and Dominique Davis completing two of five throws. This was truly a game for the backups, but Montel Harris ran well enough to earn more playing time. Now it’s on to NC State and its inept offense, and as long as BC is mistake-free, it should be 4-1 going into a bye week.
Clemson … Clemson's offensive line continues to have issues. It didn't do nearly enough to open up holes for the running game in the second half against Maryland, and once the momentum started going the other way, the offense as a whole didn't do anything to slow things down. This is a far more talented team than it's playing, and it's far too good to be losing at home to Maryland. These are going to be a long two weeks before the trip to Wake Forest with the season on the line. It'll be interesting to see how the heat is suddenly turned up to another level for Tommy Bowden.
Duke … While David Cutcliffe is being hailed for recharging the Duke offense, it’s the improved play of the defense that came through against Virginia. The defense swarmed all over Virginia and still-learning quarterback Marc Verica, never giving him a chance to breathe. It would be nice if there was more of a running game, it only gained 84 yards and averaged 2.3 yards per carry, but Duke finally stopped a 25-game ACC losing streak. There’s no nitpicking.
Florida State … Florida State might have had too many drives against Colorado stall, with field goals instead of touchdowns, and there might have been two turnovers and 12 penalties, but it was a shockingly easy win over a decent team. Considering the way the Noles played against Wake Forest, this was a shocking win that might turn around the team’s attitude. It ran the ball, played tough defense, and came up with several big plays. Now the passing game needs to be better. Christian Ponder needs to be better.
Georgia Tech… Didn’t Play This Week
Maryland … The team appears to be building confidence by the week and seemingly, by the play. Against Clemson, the Terps turned into a different team with Darrius Heyward-Bey tore off a 76-yard run to set up a touchdown. All of a sudden, the entire team seemed a half-step quicker, the offense was crisper, and Clemson didn't do anything to answer. If this team really is good enough to beat California and come back to beat Clemson at Clemson, then it's good enough to win any game left on the schedule.
Miami … Miami lost the battle to North Carolina, but it once again found its leader. Robert Marve came up with a great performance, and while his two interceptions aren't good, he can't be blamed for the second one as he hit Kayne Farquharson in the hands in the end zone. Marve played well, Graig Cooper ran for 110 yards, and the offense was moving, but it wasn't enough. The defense struggled way too much against a mediocre Tar Heel passing game, and now comes Florida State. Miami has to be just as strong against the run and it'll have to keep finding ways to score to prevent another collapse against the improving Seminoles.
North Carolina … The Tar Heels showed just how athletic they are by hanging talent for talent with a young, fast Miami team. The running game got stuffed and the secondary had a few problems on third downs, but Cam Sexton played extremely well in place of T.J. Yates by leading the way for the big road win. If there's a more consistent power running game, and if Sexton can continue to play mistake-free, this will be a real, live contender in the ACC title race. There isn't another conference game until October 18th at Virginia, so the next two weeks against Connecticut and Notre Dame have to be used as tune-ups.
NC State … 11 penalties, three turnovers, 26 yards rushing. Nothing quite worked out for NC State against South Florida. The biggest problem was the offensive line that didn’t allow Harrison Beck to get anything going in the passing game. Beck completed just 9-of-32 passes with three interceptions. The other side of the line wasn’t a prize with the defensive front failing to generate any consistent pressure. This was a disastrous offensive performance, and now comes the nasty Boston College defense to deal with.
Virginia … This is going to be a major work in progress. Marc Verica is going to need a while to get the passing game going, but he’s going to have to do a far better job of limiting his mistakes and taking the safer throws. He struggles against Duke, throwing four picks, but he didn’t get much help from the running game. Duke teed off on the Cavalier running game, and Verica couldn’t help the cause. The defense has been fine, the 31-3 final score is misleading. It’s not getting help from the offense.
Virginia Tech … Beating Nebraska in Nebraska just made the Hokies the favorites to win the ACC title. Tyrod Taylor ran well, made good decisions, and he didn’t buckle under the tough road pressure. The defense allowed Joe Ganz to complete passes, but it shut down the running game and didn’t allow any big plays. The special teams were another story allowing the late punt return for a score, and the offense struggled to close, but this was a big win. With Western Kentucky up next before getting a week off, the team should be rested for the road trips to Boston College and Florida State at the end of the month.
Wake Forest… Wake Forest showed what happens when it gets sloppy. On the plus side, the Demon Deacons turned it over six times and Riley Skinner had a nightmare of a game, but they still had a chance late to possibly pull out the win before the final Navy score. It’s going to be a tough off-week, but with Clemson coming up followed by trips to Maryland and Miami, the practices should be interesting.