ACC Rooting Guide: Week 7

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It’s FSU week! Despite the Seminoles being a dumpster fire of a program lately, I am still fired up for the game on Saturday night. Looking at last week, the ACC went full ACC. Previously unbeaten Duke lost at Georgia Tech, while also previously unbeaten Pitt fell at home to UNC. To cap the conference upsets for the week, Virginia Tech fell to Cal and its backup quarterback. It’s barely October and Miami is the only team left without a conference loss. The Atlantic Coast Conference everybody.

Let’s do some rooting.

Virginia @ #24 SMU – 10/17 at 12:00 PM EST, TV – CW

What happened to the Cavaliers? They started the season off with an impressive home drubbing of NC State, 34-8. Tony Elliott’s squad lost their next two games against P4 teams West Virginia and FSU, then barely survived a down Syracuse squad. It’s not getting any easier for Virginia, with games against Duke and Wake Forest the next two weeks before a bye. SMU is coming off a bye after a nine-point home win over BC. The Mustangs haven’t looked especially sharp either. This winner of this game might just be the team that makes the fewest mistakes. Let’s go SMU.

Charleston Southern @ Clemson – 10/17 at 12:00 PM EST, TV – ACCN

The Tigers are coming off a bye after getting smoked by Miami in Death Valley Lite on October 3rd. It couldn’t have come at a better time before Clemson makes its stretch run. Looking at the schedule, there is reason for optimism. The Tigers play vs VT, at FSU, at Syracuse, vs GT, and at Duke before finishing with a home game against rival South Carolina. Will Clemson win out? Probably not, but it’s definitely feasible. Let’s go Clemson.

Pitt @ Boston College – 10/17 at 12:00 PM EST, TV – ESPN2

It has to bother Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi that Bill Belichick’s first win over a ranked team was against Narduzzi’s Panthers. I know they were playing with a backup quarterback, but still. Also, and completely unrelated, ESPN’s College GameDay was never coming to Miami for the Pitt game next Saturday. Some Canes fans were pulling hard for Pitt to remain undefeated in order for this unlikely scenario to occur. Dumb. Miami doesn’t have a home game this season worth a GameDay visit. The Notre Dame showdown is enough for me. Let’s go Boston College.

UNC @ Duke – 10/17 at 3:30 PM EST, TV – ESPN2

Here come the Tar Heels! Just kidding. UNC’s win last week over Pitt was not what I would describe as impressive. Belichick’s squad was losing to a backup QB until a long fourth quarter touchdown pass flipped the game. On the other side, the Blue Devils are looking for a rivalry win after losing on a last second missed field goal attempt at GT last week. I think Manny Diaz’s squad is going to be fired up and itching to take it to Belichick and Co. Let’s go Duke.

Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech – 10/17 at 3:30 PM EST, TV – ACCN

It seemed like these teams would be in opposite places going into this Saturday. The Hokies only had one conference loss just two weeks ago and looked like a real threat to get to Charlotte in James Franklin’s first year as head man. But as I mentioned in my open, Va Tech fell to Cal in Berkeley last week. Womp womp. Down in Atlanta, the Yellow Jackets started the season worse than just about anyone thought possible, with losses to Colorado, Tennessee, and lowly Stanford sandwiched around a win over juggernaut Mercer. Still, GT coach Brent Key had his guys play their best game of the year last week against Duke. Miami doesn’t play GT this season, but hosts the matchup in 2027. Canes fans will be eager for some revenge. Let’s go Virginia Tech.

Louisville @ Syracuse – 10/17 at 7:30 PM EST, TV – ACCN

I almost completely skipped this game. The Cardinals have to feel like they have their mojo back after the thumping they put on FSU last Friday night. Louisville has the two conference losses, but should be favored in every remaining ACC game this season. Syracuse is…bad. Not sure what else to say about Fran Brown’s squad right now. Let’s go Louisville.

Elon @ Stanford – 10/17 at 7:30 PM EST, TV – ACCN

Didn’t Shane Gillis play football at Elon? He did! I just looked it up. He played one season as a walk-on offensive lineman. I love his show Tires on Netflix. It’s so nice to have a funny show I can put on in the background when I’m doing stuff around the house. It is the definition of rewatchable. Yes, rewatchable is a word. Kind of. Anyway, Stanford got a nice home win over GT a few weeks ago, then proceeded to lose to Notre Dame and Wake Forest by a combined score of 115-10. Yikes. I have nothing against Stanford, or Cal to include them, but neither school has any business being in the ACC. It’s not that they are bad for the brand or anything dumb like that. It simply doesn’t make any sense on so many levels. And as for this season, Stanford is gawd awful (I don’t know how GT lost there) and Cal has been incredibly underwhelming. Elon pulling the upset would be worth it just to see Shane’s response. Let’s go Elon.

Matchup of the week

#21 Wake Forest @ Cal – 10/17 at 10:30 PM EST, TV – ESPN2

An argument could be made for Virginia at SMU, but I think this is the biggest ACC game of the week (excluding Miami FSU of course). The Demon Deacons are finally ranked; long overdue for second best team in the conference. They played a tight first half at NC State last week, then won the second half 28-0 on the way to a 38-14 win. Impressive stuff. The Golden Bears got back in the win column with a nice home victory over Va Tech last week. I usually don’t care about rooting for Miami’s opponents, but I want Wake to keep winning. Beyond being a nice resume builder for Miami, it’s a great story! Let’s go Wake Forest.

See you next week!

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