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ACC Football Notebook: Early look at Week 4

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acc footballNews and notes from across the ACC Football landscape heading into Week 4.

  • Florida State and Miami return to action this weekend after a 21-day break due to Hurricane Irma. Neither team has played since the first week of the season, when Miami beat Bethune-Cookman and Florida State lost to Alabama. This Saturday, FSU hosts NC State at noon in an important early-season conference matchup, while Miami welcomes Toledo to Hard Rock Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
  • The game between the Wolfpack and Seminoles is one of four divisional conference contests in week four. Boston College plays at Clemson in the Atlantic Division, and in the Coastal, Duke plays at North Carolina and Pitt travels to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets return to action following the cancellation of their game last week at UCF.
  • Clemson improved to 3-0 with a 47-21 win at No. 14 Louisville last Saturday. It was the Tigers’ school record-setting 11th consecutive road victory. Clemson’s road winning streak is tied for second best in the nation with Alabama. Oklahoma has the nation’s longest road streak at 12.
  • Clemson has won seven straight against teams ranked in the Top 25. The Tigers are 9-1 in matchups of top 15 teams over the last three years and 12-1 in their last 13 games against teams ranked in the top 25 of at least one poll.
  • Carolina and Duke are facing each other in September for the first time in series history (103 games). The previous earliest meeting was Oct. 10, 1925. Duke is one of four teams Carolina has played 100 or more times.
  • Duke and Wake Forest are a combined 6-0, and both are ranked in the top 20 in the country in scoring offense. The Blue Devils are 17th nationally, averaging 45.0 points per game, while Wake is 18th at 43.7. The Demon Deacons, who also rank fourth nationally in scoring defense, play at Appalachian State this weekend. A win would move Wake to 4-0 for the second straight season.
  • Virginia Tech, which won convincingly last week at East Carolina, returns to Blacksburg to face in-state opponent Old Dominion. A win would give the Hokies a 4-0 start for the first time since 2011, when VT went to the Sugar Bowl.
  • Five ACC teams are ranked this week in both the AP and Amway Coaches polls. Clemson is second, Virginia Tech is 13th and Miami is 14th in both polls. Florida State is 12th in AP and 11th in the Coaches, while Louisville is now 19th in AP and 20th in the Amway Coaches poll. The ACC is the only conference with five teams ranked in the top 19 of the AP poll and one of two with five in the top 20.
  • Virginia linebacker Micah Kiser was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Cavaliers’ 38-18 win over Connecticut. Kiser recorded a game-high 15 tackles (seven solo) and had two quarterback sacks and one fumble recovery. Kiser is the third Virginia player to earn Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors since 2004, joining Marcus Hamilton (DB, Nov. 21, 2004) and Anthony Harris (SS, Sept. 2, 2013). This is the second straight week, an ACC player has earned the honor (Clemson DE Austin Bryant in week two).
  •  After three-straight home games to open the season, Syracuse goes on the road to face LSU of the Southeastern Conference. In its win last week over Central Michigan, the Orange ran for 300 yards and passed for 279. It was the first time under head coach Dino Babers that Syracuse had more rushing yards than passing yards.
  •  Virginia opens week four of the ACC slate with a Friday night game at Boise State. It’s the second time the Cavaliers have played on the blue turf of Bronco Stadium, but first time against Boise. UVA played in the facility at the 2004 MPC Computers Bowl.
  • Eight quarterbacks from ACC schools started for NFL teams in week two. Four of those signal callers were from NC State, including Philip Rivers (Chargers), Russell Wilson (Seahawks), Jacoby Brissett (Vikings) and Mike Glennon (Bears). They were joined by Clemson’s Deshaun Watson (Texans), Boston College’s Matt Ryan (Falcons), Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor (Bills) and Florida State’s Jameis Winston (Buccaneers). All eight played in the ACC.
  • Three offensive players and return specialists from the ACC earned Paul Hornung Award (most versatile) Honor Roll status in week three of the season – Sean Riley (Syracuse), Shaun Wilson (Duke) and Olamide Zacchaeus (UVA).

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