Boston College. 3-4. 5-5. 0-3. Louisville. 3-4. 6-4. 0-1. Florida State. 3-5. 3-6. 0-3. Syracuse. 2-4. 4-6. 1-1. COASTAL
THIS wEEk IN THE INSIDE ONE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S PREMIER CONFERENCES | COmPILED BY PaTRICk STEVENS, SPECIaL TO GaTEHOUSE mEDIa
GamE OF THE wEEk NO. 25 N.C. STATE (7-3, 5-1 ACC) AT WAKE FOREST (6-4, 3-3)
BY THE NUmBERS STANDINGS (Through Nov. 11)
POwER RaNkINGS Breaking down the ACC
When: 7:30 p.m. EST Where: BB&T Field, Winston-Salem, N.C. TV: ESPNU
ATLANTIC Team Clemson NC State Wake Forest Boston College Louisville Florida State Syracuse
Conf. 7-1 5-1 3-3 3-4 3-4 3-5 2-4
All 9-1 7-3 6-4 5-5 6-4 3-6 4-6
T25 2-0 0-2 0-2 0-3 0-1 0-3 1-1
COASTAL Team Miami Georgia Tech Virginia Tech Virginia Pittsburgh Duke North Carolina
Conf. 6-0 4-3 3-3 3-3 2-4 1-5 1-6
All 9-0 5-4 7-3 6-4 4-6 4-6 2-8
T25 2-0 1-2 1-2 0-0 0-2 0-2 0-3
North Carolina State quarterback Ryan Finley (15) drops back to pass against Boston College Nov. 11 in Boston. [MARY SCHWALM/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Through Nov. 11) PASSING YARDS Player 1. Lamar Jackson, LOU 2. Ryan Finley, NCST 3. Eric Dungey, SYR 4. Kurt Benkert, UVA 5. Malik Rosier, MIAMI
Yds. 3,003 2,665 2,495 2,492 2,410
PASSING TOUCHDOWNS Player 1. Kurt Benkert, UVA 1. Lamar Jackson, LOU 3. Malik Rosier, MIAMI 3. John Wolford, WAKE 5. Josh Jackson, VT
No. 21 21 20 20 17
RUSHING YARDS Player 1. Lamar Jackson, LOU 2. AJ Dillon, BC 3. TaQuon Marshall, GT 4. KirVonte Benson, GT 5. Nyheim Hines, NCST
Yds. 1,176 1,039 934 930 798
RECEIVING YARDS Player 1. Steve Ishmael, SYR 2. Kelvin Harmon, NCST 3. Ervin Philips, SYR 4. Cam Phillips, VT 5. Olamide Zaccheaus, UVA
Yds. 1,131 867 826 801 727
SCORING Player 1. TaQuon Marshall, QB, GT 2. Lamar Jackson, QB, LOU 3. Cole Murphy, PK, SYR 4. Mike Weaver, PK, WAKE 5. Joey Slye, PK, VT
Pts. 98 90 88 85 79
TEAM STATISTICS (Through Nov. 11) TOTAL OFFENSE Team Louisville Wake Forest Syracuse NC State Clemson Virginia Tech Miami Georgia Tech Pittsburgh Boston College Virginia Duke North Carolina Florida State
Yds./G 544 474 472 439 436 413 452 414 368 368 364 359 346 325
Pts./G 36.8 35.1 30.5 31.0 32.7 31.5 32.6 31.3 24.9 23.3 25.8 23.5 22.6 18.1
PASSING OFFENSE LEADERS Team Yds. Louisville 3,195 Syracuse 3,120 Wake Forest 2,761 NC State 2,727 Virginia 2,518
Yds./G 319.5 312.0 276.1 272.7 251.8
RUSHING OFFENSE LEADERS Team Yds. Georgia Tech 2,916 Louisville 2,242 Clemson 2,209 Boston College 2,027 Wake Forest 1,978
Yds./G 324.0 224.2 220.9 202.7 197.8
STaRS OF THE wEEk • DE Bradley Chubb, N.C. State: Dominated BC, collecting nine tackles (five for loss), 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. • QB Lamar Jackson, Louisville: Threw for three TDs and rushed for another score to lead the Cards past Virginia. • WR/KR Anthony Ratliff-Williams, North Carolina: Caught a TD pass, threw another and returned the opening kickoff for a score in win over Pitt.
STaT OF THE wEEk
5
Current ACC schools with no trips to the league championship game after Miami clinched its first berth last weekend. Louisville, N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia have yet to earn their way to the ACC title game, which began in 2005.
LEADERS OF THE PACK kEYS FOR wAkE FOREST Wonderful Wolford. Durable senior QB John Wolford has been through a lengthy rebuilding process while starting for much of the last four years. Now, he finds himself playing his best football as the Demon Deacons look to lock up a second consecutive winning season. Over the last three games, he is 81 of 117 for 1,155 yards, 10 TDs and one INT while also rushing for 209 yards and five TDs. Wake needs another big day from him. Win the turnover battle. Both teams have done a fine job in this area — N.C. State is plus-6 for the season, while Wake Forest is plus-5. However, given the strength of the
N.C. State defense and the vulnerability of the Demon Deacons’ rush defense, it’s probably more important for Dave Clawson’s team to flip the field (or avoid giving up favorable field position) this week. PREDICTION N.C. State 34-24. The home team has won nine of the last 10 games in the series, with the exception two years ago when the Wolfpack won at Wake Forest. N.C. State bounced back from its back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and Clemson to handle Boston College on the road, and it will have its hands full with Wolford and a Wake offense that dropped 64 points on Syracuse last week.
BEST OF THE REST THIS wEEk’S OTHER TOP GAMES
VIRGINIA (6-4, 3-3) at No. 2 MIAMI (9-0, 6-0)
PITTSBURGH (4-6, 2-4) at VIRGINIA TECH (7-3, 3-3)
SYRACUSE (4-6, 2-4) at LOUISVILLE (6-4, 3-4)
When: Noon EST Saturday Where: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla. TV: ABC Notes: Miami leads series 8-6 and has won three of the last four meetings. The Hurricanes sealed their first trip to the ACC title game Rosier (where they will meet Clemson) about an hour before they took the field to face Notre Dame. QB Malik Rosier and Miami demolished the Fighting Irish 41-8 and are very much in the national title picture.
When: 12:20 p.m. EST Saturday Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Va. TV: ACC Network Notes: Virginia Tech leads series 9-7 and won last year’s meeting 39-36. The Hokies play their home finale after dropping consecutive Fuente road games to Miami and Georgia Tech. It is the first time Virginia Tech has dropped back-to-back contests under second-year coach Justin Fuente, but a visit from the struggling Panthers could be just the ticket to get QB Josh Jackson and the offense back on track.
When: 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday Where: Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky. TV: ESPNU Notes: Louisville leads series 9-6 and won last year’s meeting 62-28. Rarely is it so easy to identify an opportunity for any player to Jackson put up ridiculous numbers as it is with this game. A year ago, Louisville QB Lamar Jackson threw for 411 yards, rushed for 199 yards and accounted five TDs in a rout of the Orange. This is about as perfect a matchup as Jackson and the Cardinals could hope for.
ROUNDING IT OUT THE REST OF THE MATCHUPS
Time (EST) SATURDAY Noon
Matchup
TV
12:20 p.m. 3 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 7 p.m.
2. Miami (9-0): Hurricanes smashed any concerns about their credibility with a 41-8 drubbing of Notre Dame. (LW: 2) 3. N.C. State (7-3): Second 10-win season in school history is within reach if Wolfpack can win out. (LW: 4) 4. Georgia Tech (5-4): Yellow Jackets closed in on bowl eligibility with surprising win over Virginia Tech. (LW: 6)
N.C. STATE CAN IMPROVE BOWL STANDING WITH WIN OVER DEACONS kEYS FOR N.C. STATE Dominant Chubb. While N.C. State isn’t going to win the ACC for the first time since 1979 — Clemson’s clinching of the Atlantic Division last week sealed that — it is in line to have the conference’s defensive player of the year for the first time since Levar Fisher won it in 2000. Nyheim the Nightmare. Wake Forest is giving up 202.8 rushing yards per game, and that doesn’t bode well against a Wolfpack team that’s done well on the ground against the Demon Deacons in recent year. While TB Nyheim Hines has dealt with an ankle injury in recent weeks, it was his long TD run that sealed a triumph at Boston College last week. The speedster could be in for a big day.
1. Clemson (9-1): The Tigers are headed back to the ACC title game for the third year in a row. (Last week: 1)
The Citadel at No. 4 ClemsonACC W. Carolina at N. Carolina ACCE Georgia Tech at Duke RSN Boston College vs. UConn CBSSN
Delaware State at Florida St. RSN
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5. Virginia Tech (7-3): Losses to Miami and Georgia Tech in an eightday span show work still to be done. (LW: 3) 6. Wake Forest (6-4): It’s back-toback bowl bids for Wake Forest, which has figured things out on offense. (LW: 7) 7. Boston College (5-5): The Eagles are off to Fenway Park to lock up postseason eligibility against woeful Connecticut. (LW: 8) 8. Louisville (6-4): It took longer than it should have, but the Cardinals are assured of going somewhere for the holidays. (LW: 9) 9. Virginia (6-4): Meetings with Miami and Virginia Tech have the potential to get out of hand in a hurry. (LW: 5) 10. Florida State (3-6): Need a sweep of Delaware State, Florida and Louisiana-Monroe to continue a 35-year bowl streak. (LW: 10) 11. Syracuse (4-6): Lamar Jackson put up silly numbers on Syracuse last year, and the Orange just gave up 64 points to Wake. (LW: 11) 12. Pittsburgh (4-6): Inability to tackle, play with discipline the reason they lost to North Carolina. (LW: 12) 13. Duke (4-6): A season that began with four wins in a row could arrive at bowl ineligibility prior to the final game. (LW: 13) 14. North Carolina (2-8): For the injury-addled Tar Heels’ many shortcomings, their effort has remained strong. (LW: 14)
