Ranking Best ACC Football Matchups of Week 5
A clear picture of the ACC is beginning to materialize after four weeks of the regular season, and the one certainty thus far is that Clemson and Louisville are side by side at the top.
It just so happens the Tigers and Cardinals play one another this weekend, too, which should give us a good idea of league supremacy.
On a Saturday where three Top 10 matchups will take place across the country, the one between Bobby Petrino's upstart Louisville team with early Heisman Trophy leader Lamar Jackson and Dabo Swinney's Clemson team with preseason Heisman favorite Deshaun Watson is the best.
All eyes will be on that one, but it isn't the only showdown worth a watch.
Five games should pique the interest of conference watchers, including one in Tallahassee, Florida, that has plenty of intriguing qualities. We will find out further if Miami and Wake Forest can keep their spotless records going and if new Syracuse head coach Dino Babers can pull an upset against a national name.
Let's take a look at the top ACC games of the weekend.
5. Wake Forest at North Carolina State
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Somebody break up the Demon Deacons!
Wake Forest improved to 4-0 last weekend with a five-interception performance in a 33-28 win over Indiana. Head coach Dave Clawson's team also blocked a field goal as it continued to defy odds with a sterling start to the season.
The Deacons are the Atlantic Division co-leaders with Clemson and Louisville, and that's something they'll relish in the early season.
''Any group that is winning for the first time, they don't take it for granted," Clawson told the Associated Press (via the Daily Herald). "Their work ethic has been excellent, their preparation has been good, that attention to detail has never been better in our program, and I think our players have bought into the fact that those things do carry over to Saturday.''
While Wake hasn't been overly impressive in any area so far, it has won football games, which is the most important thing.
On the other hand, quarterback Ryan Finley has lit up the sky for the Wolfpack since transferring from Boise State, and QB Jalan McClendon is putting the ball across the goal line a lot for head coach Dave Doeren's team.
Clawson's squad in Winston-Salem is veteran, and that's how he's winning football games, but this NC State team has owned the Deacs the past two seasons, rolling them for 77 offensive points. Though the Wolfpack already have lost this year, they may be the better team.
This one has all the trappings to be a good game, and if Clawson's Wake team pulls it out, it could wind up being an excellent season.
4. Notre Dame vs. Syracuse (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.)
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One characteristic of a Dino Babers-coached team that hasn't changed in his move from Bowling Green to Syracuse is this: It'll score a bunch of points.
There have been ups and downs thus far as Babers tries to rebuild the program. The Orange have looked strong offensively, but they've also been torched for 62 and 45 points in losses to Louisville and South Florida, respectively.
Now, they'll play a 1-3 Notre Dame team at MetLife Stadium that is seemingly in shambles. Babers doesn't see it that way, as he told Syracuse.com's Nate Mink:
"What normally happens in those situations is, just like in the cowboy movies. You circle the wagons and find out who wants to fight and who doesn't want to fight. We're going to get an angry momma bear that's been wounded, that's going to be fighting, clawing and coming out with all they have, and I really wish they wouldn't have done anything and wish they had won the game last week. We're going to get their best shot. There's no doubt.
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The Irish are reeling following a loss to Duke where they ultimately ended up firing defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. If things don't turn in a hurry, it could be a disastrous season for head coach Brian Kelly's team, which was expected to have a strong 2016.
This neutral-site contest is pivotal to take a move toward the right direction.
The Orange, on the other hand, are about to face a gauntlet beginning with this game, moving on to Wake Forest, then Virginia Tech, Boston College and Clemson. Babers' team needs a win in a bad way.
3. Miami at Georgia Tech
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You know what they say about one man's trash.
New Miami head coach Mark Richt was left on the rubbish heap by Georgia, but he's wound up being a treasure so far at his alma mater, leading the No. 14-ranked Hurricanes to a 3-0 start in which they've routed their way into the minds of analysts everywhere.
Following an early bye week, they'll travel to Bobby Dodd Stadium where the Yellow Jackets await. Head coach Paul Johnson's team started out without a blemish in its first three games before crashing back to earth in a home loss to Clemson last Thursday night.
So far, Richt appears much more relaxed in his old stomping grounds, even being candid with media. After three blowout wins, Miami and quarterback Brad Kaaya are darlings.
"College football is still a little bit of a beauty contest," Richt told the Miami Herald's Linda Robertson. "It's good for recruiting. The ESPN ticker is going to show what's going on with the Top 15 over and over. Right now, it's not a bad place to be."
But as Kaaya told the Sun Sentinel's Christy Cabrera Chirinos, "the season pretty much starts now."
Tech looked like it had regained some of its form under Johnson prior to last week's setback to Clemson where it only gained 124 total yards. In that game, the Yellow Jackets regressed to some of the offensive woes that plagued them in a forgettable 2015.
Now, they must face old nemesis Richt, who is 21-2 against them dating back to his time as an assistant. He's never lost a game as coach inside Bobby Dodd.
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2. North Carolina at Florida State
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A week after getting embarrassed on national television by Louisville, Florida State just turned and handed the ball to star Dalvin Cook and let him carry the Seminoles back to the win column against South Florida.
Now, they'll try to keep the positive vibes going against North Carolina, as they try to rebuild a once-promising season that was decimated by quarterback Lamar Jackson and Louisville.
Getting a win this week against North Carolina would go a long way in regaining some of that swagger.
The Tar Heels aren't getting a ton of national attention despite winning 14 of their last 15 regular-season games. A season-starting loss to Georgia quieted the talk for head coach Larry Fedora's team for now, but it hasn't been bad, beating Pittsburgh last weekend.
But as ESPN.com's David M. Hale writes when it comes to the nation sleeping on the Heels: "There simply isn't a single signature win on Larry Fedora's resume."
The Heels aren't expected to win this one, either, opening as double-digit underdogs.
Even so, FSU is vulnerable, especially on defense. The beaten-up Seminoles could have a difficult time against UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
"I like him, but he's going to be a pain in the tail," FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher told the Tallahassee Democrat's Wayne E. McGahee III.
Fedora no doubt feels the same about Cook and redshirt freshman Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois, who are either superstars or will be. There's no question a win in this game would be that elusive signature victory in Fedora's tenure.
Now, UNC needs to go out and get it.
1. Louisville at Clemson
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With Clemson and Louisville both being in the Atlantic Division, there's only an outside chance that Saturday's showdown can be a College Football Playoff preview.
But Alabama and LSU have proved in the past it's possible to emerge from the same division, so don't count it out.
Thus far in the early going, there's no question the Cardinals have been one of the nation's most impressive teams. Though Clemson has found sledding a little tougher, Swinney's team also has an unblemished record.
That's why everybody is excited about this matchup: We'll get to see which team is for real—the No. 3 Cardinals or fifth-ranked Tigers.
Clemson safety Jadar Johnson told TigerNet.com that Heisman favorite Jackson won't "be much of a challenge," and that he will "slam" him if he tries to hurdle him. He also didn't know him by name, asking if that was No. 8.
Regardless of any confidence or trash talk or all the star power involved or how this is being billed as an early Heisman hype battle between Jackson and Watson, the most important thing remains: This is an opportunity for both teams to take a huge step toward a championship.
That isn't lost on the coaching staffs.
''I think we're excited for it,'' Petrino told the Associated Press (via FoxSports.com). ''We feel like it's a great opportunity for us. Our guys have worked extremely hard for it, put a lot of effort and dedication into getting here. Let's go play it.''
The Cardinals get the chance to on a national stage.
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