ACC Football Week 9: Preview and Scoreboard
No. 17 Pittsburgh and No. 13 Wake Forest have emerged out of the pack as the frontrunners to make the ACC Championship Game. There is still a lot of football to be played, though.
There are eight ACC games this weekend, six of which are matchups between conference opponents. All fourteen ACC teams are in action this week.
Read on for a preview of each ACC football game taking place in week nine and make sure to come back to this page for updates on all the action from around the conference.
Saturday, 12pm: Miami (3-4, 1-2 ACC) at No. 17 Pittsburgh (6-1, 3-0 ACC), ACC Network
Result: Miami 38, Pittsburgh 34
Preview: The Panthers look to continue their hot start to ACC play and strengthen their hold on the ACC Coastal Division as they host the Hurricanes on Saturday. Pittsburgh is coming off of two straight huge wins over Virginia Tech and Clemson. Miami, on the other hand, had a rough start to ACC play with back-to-back losses to Virginia and North Carolina by a combined five points. The Hurricanes picked up a huge win at home against NC State last week and now they will look to knock off a second-straight ranked opponent.
Prediction: Miami 27, Pittsburgh 35
Saturday, 12pm: Virginia Tech (3-4, 1-2 ACC) at Georgia Tech (3-4, 2-3 ACC), ESPN3
Result: Virginia Tech 26, Georgia Tech 17
Preview: Georgia Tech has alternated wins and losses through each of its first seven games this season. If the pattern holds, the Yellow Jackets are scheduled to knock off the Hokies on Saturday. After a strong 3-1 start to the season, Virginia Tech has lost three straight games, the most recent being a very disappointing 41-36 loss at home to Syracuse last week. Both teams look to get back to .500 in both their overall records and their conference records.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 27, Georgia Tech 24
Saturday, 3:30pm: Florida State (3-4, 2-2 ACC) at Clemson (4-3, 3-2 ACC), ESPN
Result: Florida State 20, Clemson 30
Preview: In what used to be the showdown of the ACC Atlantic division, the Tigers and Seminoles are both in the midst of underwhelming seasons relative to the reputations of their respective programs. After losing four straight games to start the season, Florida State has begun to turn things around, winning three consecutive games, including a ten-point win at North Carolina. Clemson is still struggling to get its offense figured out and even if the Tigers do manage to make progress on that front, it will likely be too little, too late as they find themselves two games back in the race for the Atlantic.
Prediction: Florida State 17, Clemson 26
Saturday, 3:30pm: Boston College (4-3, 0-3 ACC) at Syracuse (4-4, 1-3 ACC), ESPN3
Result: Boston College 6, Syracuse 21
Preview: After winning their first four games of the season, the Eagles seemed one of the favorites to replace Clemson at the top of the ACC Atlantic. However, three straight ACC losses, each to Atlantic rivals, have destroyed BC’s hopes at a title berth. Boston College now heads to the Carrier Dome to face the Orange, who snapped a three-game losing streak of their own last week by picking up a huge win over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Prediction: Boston College 27, Syracuse 31
Saturday, 4pm: Duke (3-4, 0-3 ACC) at No. 13 Wake Forest (7-0, 4-0 ACC), ACC Network
Result: Duke 7, Wake Forest 45
Preview: While Wake Forest did score 70 points and took down Army on the road last week to remain undefeated, it was not exactly a sign of confidence that the Demon Deacons needed to score that many points on offense, as Wake’s defense gave up 56 points to the Black Knights. The Demon Deacons will need to perform much better in the eye test if they want to be considered a serious contender for the College Football Playoff. Wake ought to win by a sizable margin at home against a 3-4 Duke team on Saturday and take another step towards the ACC Championship.
Prediction: Duke 21, Wake Forest 45
Saturday, 7:30pm: North Carolina (4-3) at No. 11 Notre Dame (6-1), NBC
Result: North Carolina 34, Notre Dame 44
Preview: Coming into the season, this matchup between the Tar Heels and the Fighting Irish was one of the more highly-anticipated games of the college football season, given the fact that both teams were ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll to start the year. Notre Dame still has an outside chance at a College Football Playoff appearance, but North Carolina has had its season derailed by very disappointing losses to Georgia Tech and Florida State. The road does not get any easier for the Tar Heels as they make the trip to South Bend this week and then host No. 13 Wake Forest next week.
Prediction: North Carolina 27, Notre Dame 35
Saturday, 7:30pm: Louisville (4-3, 2-2 ACC) at NC State (5-2, 2-1 ACC), ACC Network
Result: Louisville 13, NC State 28
Preview: NC State had won four in a row before losing by just one point on the road at Miami last week. The Wolf Pack still have a chance to catch Wake Forest in the race for the ACC Atlantic title but the margin of error has shrunk considerably. The Wolf Pack cannot afford to look past Louisville, whose two ACC losses have come by a combined four points.
Prediction: Louisville 31, NC State 37
Saturday, 10:15pm: Virginia (6-2) at No. 25 BYU (6-2)
Result: Virginia 49, BYU 66
Preview: Bronco Mendenhall makes his long awaited-return to BYU when the Cougars and Cavaliers meet at a super-late start time of 10:15pm, Eastern time. BYU is back in the top 25 after defeating Washington State on the road last week for its fourth win against a Power Five opponent this season. Virginia has won four games in a row and Brennan Armstrong is one marquee victory away from inserting himself into the Heisman conversation. This one will be worth staying up for.
Prediction: Virginia 42, BYU 38
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