This Week in the ACC: When Was the Last Time Cal Started 2-0 in Conference?

Ten ACC football teams enter this weekend with unblemished conference records, although three of them will play their first league game on Saturday.

There are four ACC matchups on the calendar that will begin to sort things out, beginning with Clemson’s visit to Cal on Friday night. Both squads are 1-0 in conference play.

In Saturday games, No. 16 Louisville (1-0) hosts Wake Forest (0-1), Virginia Tech (0-0) visits Boston College (0-0) and Georgia Tech (0-0) plays under the lights at Stanford (0-2).

With a victory, Cal can climb into a tie for first place in the conference standings alongside No. 6 Miami (2-0) and, potentially, Louisville.

With a loss, Stanford would drop into sole possession of last place.

Hey, but it’s still September. Certainly no do-or-die games yet.

THIS WEEK IN THE ACC

Point spreads by DraftKings

Friday

Clemson (minus-1.5) at Cal, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Various betting sites have waffled most of the week on this one, but Clemson seems to be settling in as a slight favorite. Not only has Cal not finished with a winning conference record since 2009, the Bears haven’t even started league play 2-0 since Jared Goff’s farewell season of 2015. They can do that here. Cal won the only previous meeting, crushing the Tigers 37-13 in the Florida Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 1992. Said Russell White, minutes after becoming the first Cal back to top 100 yards against Clemson, “I’m used to raining on people’s parades.”

Saturday

Wake Forest (plus-13.5) at No. 16 Louisville, 9 a.m., ESPN

Wake and Louisville are both surrendering 28.3 points per game — tied for 14th in the ACC. The difference here is the Cardinals are third in the conference scoring 46.0 points per game and the Demon Deacons are 14 points behind. And now, Wake QB Gio Lopez is listed as questionable.

Bucknell (plus-52.5) at Pittsburgh, 9 a.m., ACC-X

Bucknell actually owns two victories over Pitt in nine meetings between the schools. The most recent one — a 9-0 win in 1913. The teams are meeting for the first time since 1945.

Virginia Tech (minus-14) at Boston College, 9 a.m., ACC Network

The 3-0 Hokies, among four ACC teams that are still unbeaten, will take on the Eagles (2-1) in both teams’ conference opener. Tech’s Ethan Grunkemeyer is averaging 282 passing yards and has 101 attempts without an interception. BC’s dual-threat QB Mason McKenzie has thrown for 648 yards and run for 225 more.

Central Arkansas (plus-44.5) at Florida State, noon, ACC Network

The Seminoles are 16th in the ACC in scoring defense after allowing 50 to Alabama. There should be no repeat of that in this one.

William & Mary (plus-43.5) at Duke, 12:30 p.m., ACC-X

The Tribe has scored at least 20 points in 13 consecutive games — the program’s longest streak since 2009. Duke, which is allowing just 12.3 points per game, will have something to say about that.

Delaware (plus-19.5) at Virginia, 3 p.m., ACC Network

Virginia dropped out of the AP Top-25 after a 38-27 home defeat to West Virginia. The Fightin’ Blue Hens of Conference USA are 9-7 in their second year as an FBS program.

Central Michigan (plus-41.5) at No. 6 Miami, 3:30 p.m., CW Network

Miami's Darian Mensah continues to complete passes at an unprecedented rate. He’s at 89.9 percent, still having thrown more touchdown passes (11) than incompletions (8). By comparison, three Central Michigan QBs have combined to complete just 47.7 percent of their attempts with three interceptions and no touchdowns.

Appalachian State (plus-14) at North Carolina State, 4:30 p.m., ESPNU

Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey would like to do something — anything — that can turn fans’ attention away from his all-time gaffe last week, when he fumbled in the end zone while trying to run the clock out and Vanderbilt recovered to win 35-31. Keep a good thought for him.

Missouri State (plus-34.5) at No. 22 SMU, 6 p.m., ACC Network

Missouri State, which opened its season with a 50-zip loss to Texas A&M, faces a Mustangs squad that averages 38 points and will be smarting after a 10-point defeat at Louisville.

Georgia Tech (minus-3.5) at Stanford, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Stanford has been outscored 80-13 and outgained 1,019 yards to 536 in two ACC defeats. They will face quarterback Alberto Mendoza, younger brother of 2026 No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza, who led Cal to victories in the 2023 and ’24 Big Games.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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