ACC Football Notebook: Week 8

Unbeatens

Two of the remaining eight undefeated FBS teams are from the ACC – No. 3 Clemson and No. 16 NC State. In fact, Clemson and NC State are two of just four undefeated Power 5 teams left in the country. Alabama and Ohio State are the others.

Clemson and NC State will face each other this weekend in Clemson at 3:30 p.m. in a nationally-televised game on ESPN. Each of the last two meetings have been decided by a touchdown in the Tigers’ favor.

The Clemson-NC State game is the fifth all-time ACC matchup between undefeated teams with at least five wins. It is the first since No. 5 Florida State won at No. 3 Clemson in 2013, 51-14.

• 1990 (11/3) – Virginia (7-0) vs. Georgia Tech (6-0-1)
• 1993 (10/16) – Florida State (6-0) vs. Virginia (5-0)
• 1997 (11/8) – North Carolina (8-0) vs. FSU (8-0)
• 2013 (10/19) – Clemson (6-0) vs. Florida State (5-0)
• 2018 (10/20) – Clemson (6-0) vs. NC State (5-0)

The Tigers are the only team in ACC history to start 6-0 in four consecutive seasons. Clemson has started 6-0 in six of the last eight seasons and has won 28 of its last 30 games against conference opponents. In Clemson’s most recent outing, the Tigers beat Wake Forest by a 63-3 score. The Tiger’s 60-point margin of victory was the program’s largest in conference play in school history.

NC State is 5-0 for the first time since 2002 and is ranked 16th in the AP Top 25 poll and 15th in the Coaches Poll. The Wolfpack’s seven-game win streak is the fourth-longest active streak in the nation. Only UCF (18 games), Ohio State (11) and Alabama (8) have a longer streak than the Pack. Clemson has won six in a row and Miami has won five straight.

Bye, bye, bye

Four teams in the Coastal Division – Georgia Tech, Miami, Pitt and Virginia Tech – and two in the Atlantic Division – Boston College and Louisville – have the weekend off. Virginia, fresh off a 16-13 win over No.16 Miami, plays at Duke at 12:30 p.m. on RSN, and North Carolina visits Syracuse at 12:20 p.m. on Raycom. In addition to the NC State at Clemson game, the Atlantic also features Wake Forest at Florida State at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

Tidbits

• The ACC’s seven road non-conference wins are the most of any conference.
• The ACC’s three road Power 5 non-conference wins are tied for the most of any conference.
• The ACC has the second-most non-conference wins of any conference.
• There are four Power 5 conference teams with three true road wins and three of those are from the ACC – Clemson, Duke, and Virginia Tech. Florida is the other.
• Clemson road wins – at Texas A&M, at Georgia Tech, at Wake Forest
• Duke road wins – at Northwestern, at Baylor, at Georgia Tech
• Virginia Tech road wins – at Florida State, at Duke, at North Carolina