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Several key divisional matchups highlight Week 11 of the ACC football schedule, including a battle of top 25 teams in Winston-Salem between No. 21 NC State and No. 13 Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. on ACC Network.
The 115th meeting in a rivalry that dates back to 1895 and has been played consecutively every year since 1910 could have huge ramifications on the final Atlantic Division standings and a possible Subway ACC Football Championship Game berth. Wake Forest enters the game undefeated in ACC play, while the Wolfpack is 4-1 against conference opponents.
Neither team can clinch the Atlantic Division this weekend, but a win would help in all tiebreaker scenarios.
ACC News and Notes
- Miami, North Carolina and Syracuse can become bowl eligible with a win this weekend. The ACC already has five bowl eligible teams – Clemson, NC State, Pitt, Virginia and Wake Forest.
- According to ESPN Stats & Info, there are just seven Power 5 QBs with 20 touchdowns, 2,000 yards passing and 200 rushing yards and five are from the ACC – Louisville’s Malik Cunningham, North Carolina’s Sam Howell, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong and Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman.
- Pitt’s Pickett ranks third in ACC history with 11,155 passing yards. He is 749 yards shy of Clemson’s Tajh Boyd for second place. Pickett is also fifth in ACC history with 11,965 total yards of offense.
- UNC’s Howell has 88 career TD passes and is two touchdowns shy of Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence’s ACC record for touchdown passes (90) through three seasons.
- Syracuse RB Sean Tucker ranks second in the nation with 1,267 rushing yards and second with 1,505 all-purpose yards.
- The ACC has five of the top 20 players in the country in total touchdowns – UVA’s Armstrong (T3rd, 35), Wake Forest’s Hartman (T3rd, 35), Pitt’s Pickett (5th, 33), North Carolina’s Howell (8th, 28), NC State’s Devin Leary (T10th, 27) and Louisville’s Cunningham (17th, 24).
- Since taking over at quarterback in Week 3, Syracuse’s Garrett Shrader has accounted for 20 touchdowns, including 13 rushing scores.
- Louisville’s Cunningham has 15 rushing TDs. The ACC single-season record for most rushing touchdowns by a QB is Lamar Jackson with 21 in 2016.
- The Wake Forest-NC State game matches one of the nation’s most prolific offenses vs. a top 10 defense. The Demon Deacons are averaging 44.7 points per game to rank third nationally. NC State is sixth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 16.0 points per game and has allowed just two rushing touchdowns this season.
- Pitt, which leads the Coastal Division at 4-1, hosts North Carolina on Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. The last nine games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less. This is another battle of top ACC quarterbacks between Pitt’s Kenny Pickett and North Carolina’s Sam Howell. Pickett has thrown 29 touchdown passes and ranks fifth nationally with 352.3 yards passing per game, while Howell has tossed 20 touchdowns, rushed for eight more and is 21st in passing yards per game (267.6). North Carolina is seeking its first road win of the season at Heinz Field where it has won three of the last four.
- Syracuse plays at Louisville Saturday at noon on RSN and would become bowl eligible for the first time since 2018 with a win over the Cardinals. Louisville is also fighting for a postseason berth and needs wins in two of its last three games to secure a spot. The Cardinals have won six of seven meetings versus the Orange since joining the ACC, including last season’s 30-0 win in Louisville. UofL QB Malik Cunningham has 15 rushing TDs this season, just six shy of Lamar Jackson’s ACC single-season record. Syracuse running back Sean Tucker has posted 100-yard rushing games in all but one contest this season.
- Duke travels to Blacksburg for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on ACC Network against the Hokies. Virginia Tech has won four of the last five meetings versus the Blue Devils, including last season’s 38-31 win in Durham.
- Georgia Tech looks to end its current three-game skid when the Yellow Jackets host Boston College at 3:30 p.m. on RSN. BC is coming off a 17-3 win over Virginia Tech, which featured the return of QB Phil Jurkovec from a wrist injury. In the Eagles’ win last year against Georgia Tech, Jurkovec led the team with 94 rushing yards.
- Riding a three-game win streak, resurgent Miami travels to Tallahassee to face Florida State at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. Miami is still in contention for the Coastal Division and has been buoyed by the breakout campaigns of redshirt freshman QB Tyler Van Dyke (11th nationally in pass efficiency) and RB Jaylan Knighton. Prior to the Hurricanes’ decisive wins in 2019 and 2020, the previous five games in the rivalry had all been decided by five points or less.
- In non-conference action, Clemson hosts UConn at noon on ACC Network in the first meeting of the two programs, and Notre Dame travels to Virginia for a 7:30 p.m. matchup on ABC. This is just Notre Dame’s second visit to Scott Stadium.
- Twenty of the league’s 41 games this season have been decided by one possession (8 points or fewer), which is the most of any conference.
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Chris Graham
