ACC Football: Miami Survives, Clemson and North Carolina Fall
Article cover photo of Miami's Brashard Smith being tackled by Virginia's Kamren Robinson; credit to Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports.
While Miami Hurricanes fans are happy to see their squad win 29-26 in overtime over the Virginia Cavaliers, not all the ACC favorites did so well.
Yes, the Canes survived despite Tyler Van Dyke’s two interceptions and Miami’s offense being lethargic for much of the contest. How about Drake Maye and the North Carolina Tar Heels?
Well, Maye went 17 of 25 for 310 yards, 2 touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Still, UNC fell to Georgia Tech in a thriller, 46-42. With quarterback Hanes King’s touchdown pass to Brett Seither for a touchdown, the Yellow Jackets went up 46-42 with only 4:28 remaining. UNC still had time to come back at that point but failed.
A deep ball to Devontez Walker was good initially, but the talented pass catcher fumbled and it was recovered by the GT defense. At that juncture of the contest, UNC’s defense could not get off the field and the game was over. Clemson could not even get the lead in the fourth quarter of their contest at North Carolina State.
Trailing 24-7 to enter the fourth quarter, Tigers running back Phil Mafah plunged into the end zone for a score that cut the lead to 24-14 with 14:57 in the game. Clemson’s defense did its job down the stretch which helped get the Tigers in a position to at least tie the game.
From the Wolfpack’s final three drives, they had a total of 13 plays for 14 yards. Yes, NC ST finished with only 14 yards down the stretch, yet defeated Clemson.
The Tigers accumulated 23 more offensive snaps, but a mere 94 yards themselves. Additionally, Clemson did not go for a touchdown with a 4th and goal from the one-yard line situation with seven minutes to play. Dabo Swinney kicked the field goal to make it a one-score game at 24-17, but his Tigers never got inside the 10-yard line again.
In other ACC action, it was Florida State hammering Wake Forest 41-16, Louisville blanking Duke 23-0, Boston College escaping UConn 21-14, Virginia Tech beating Syracuse 38-10 (Thursday), and Notre Dame dominating Pittsburgh 58-7.
