Cal & North Carolina Among 7 Byes in Light ACC Schedule

Cal and North Carolina, set to square off at Memorial Stadium a week from Friday, are two of seven ACC teams that draw byes this week.

But there likely won’t be much down time for either squad in the wake of disappointing performances last Saturday.

Cal, of course, sprinted to a 21-7 lead over Duke at Berkeley and then gave up 38 unanswered points.

UNC was never in the mix against Clemson, falling behind 35-3 by halftime in a 38-10 defeat.

For now, practice, practice, practice.

Here are the Week 7 matchups in the ACC:

(Point spreads provided by DraftKings)

SATURDAY

— Pittsburgh (plus-10.5) at No. 25 Florida State, 9 a.m., ESPN

The Seminoles (3-2, 0-2) are certainly far better than they were a year ago but maybe not quite as good as we envisioned after they opened with 14-point win over Alabama. That 28-22 loss to Clemson last week wasn’t close — FSU trailed 28-3 entering the fourth quarter. Against Pitt (3-2, 1-1), they will test 18-year-old freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel, who replaced struggling Eli Holstein last week and looked like quite a find when he passed for 341 yards with four touchdowns in a 48-7 rout of Boston College in his starting debut.

— Stanford (plus-19.5) at SMU, 9 a.m., The CW Network, 9 a.m.

Stanford QB Ben Gulbranson, the Oregon State transfer, has improved his production in five straight games, from 109 passing yards to 142 to 186 to 286 to 444 in last Saturday’s 30-29 win over San Jose State. We’re not expecting 550 yards when the Cardinal (2-3, 1-1) visits the Mustangs (3-2, 1-0).

— Virginia Tech (plus-14.5) at No. 13 Georgia Tech, ACC Network, 12:30 p.m.

The Yellow Jackets (5-0, 2-0) have their highest AP ranking since 2014, when they won 11 games including the Orange Bowl. VA Tech (2-4, 1-1) fired coach Brent Pry after an 0-3 start and is 2-1 since offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery was given the interim top post. Probably won’t help much in this one.

— NC State (plus-22.5) at No. 16 Notre Dame, Peacock, 12:30 p.m.

The Fighting Irish (3-2) represent the ACC in every other sport, but they are independent in football and they’re going to be a challenge for the Wolfpack. Since losing by a combined four points to Miami and Texas A&M, Notre Dame has scored 140 points while steamrolling three opponents. NC State (4-2) is going to need big performances from quarterback CJ Bailey and running back Hollywood Smothers just to stay close.

— Wake Forest (minus-2.5) at Oregon State, The CW Network, 12:30 p.m.

This is only the second road game for the Demon Deacons (3-2), who are coming off a 30-23 loss at Virginia Tech. But they ought to have enough juice to win at Corvallis against Oregon State (0-6), one of only three remaining winless FBS teams (along with Sam Houston State and UMass).

— Clemson (minus-14) at Boston College, ACC Network, 4:30 p.m.

The Tigers (2-3, 1-2) finally got their first ACC victory last week, running away from Bill Belichick’s North Carolina squad, 38-10. Boston College (1-4, 0-3) sits alone in last place in the ACC and likely is lamenting its last-second home defeat to Cal two weeks ago.

Byes: Cal, Duke, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia

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