No. 17 Clemson visits Pittsburgh in a key matchup for ACC title chase
Clemson's Phil Mafah, front left, runs against Virginia Tech's Keonta Jenkins, front right, during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Blacksburg, Va. Credit: AP/Robert Simmons
Things to watch this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference:
Game of the week
No. 17 Clemson at Pittsburgh, Saturday at noon ET (ESPN)
The Tigers (7-2, 6-1 ACC) are part of the chase for a trip to the league title game and can't afford a slip-up with No. 14 SMU (8-1, 5-0) still unbeaten in league play and No. 12 Miami (9-1, 5-1) hovering nearby. Dabo Swinney's Tigers regrouped from a home loss to Louisville by winning at Virginia Tech, and now must win on the road again.
Pat Narduzzi's Panthers (7-2, 3-2) have fallen out of the AP Top 25 after a loss at SMU and a home loss to Virginia, a skid that have also dropped them back in the chase for a title-game berth.
The undercard
Boston College at No. 14 SMU, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
SMU must keep winning to control its own destiny in reaching the ACC title game in its first season in the league, though the Tigers, Hurricanes and Mustangs don't play one another in the expanded 17-team ACC.
SMU's lone loss this year came to now-No. 7 BYU (18-15) at home on Sept. 6.
SMU wide receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. (13) returns an onside kick past Pittsburgh wide receiver Che Nwabuko (21) during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Dallas, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. Credit: AP/Gareth Patterson
BC (5-4, 2-3) is a win from bowl eligibility in its first season under Bill O'Brien.
Impact player
North Carolina DL Beau Atkinson. The Tar Heels went on a sudden run of bringing down quarterbacks before last week's open date, racking up 17 sacks in road routs of Virginia and Florida State. Atkinson had two against the Cavaliers and 3.5 against the Seminoles, putting him in the top 20 nationally entering Saturday's visit from Wake Forest as UNC goes for bowl eligibility.
Louisville RB Isaac Brown. The freshman has been productive all season and is coming off a 151-yard day in the Clemson win. Brown enters Saturday's trip to Stanford having rushed for 800 yards and seven touchdowns on the season.
Inside the numbers
North Carolina ranks fourth in the Bowl Subdivision ranks at 3.56 sacks per game. ... California leads the ACC in scoring defense (19.3) and is ranked 23rd in FBS, while the Bears have the league's No. 2-ranked total defense (327.9 yards). ... The league has four players averaging at least 100 yards rushing in UNC's Omarion Hampton (130.9), Clemson's Phil Mafah (109.0), Virginia Tech's Bhayshul Tuten (105.7) and SMU's Brashard Smith (100.7). ... The ACC has three of the five players in FBS who have thrown for at least 23 touchdown passes in Cam Ward (No. 1 with 32), Clemson's Cade Klubnik (tied for third with 24) and Syracuse's Kyle McCord (23 entering a trip to Cal).
Sliding Seminoles
Florida State opened the year as the preseason league favorite and carrying at No. 10 ranking in the AP Top 25. But the Seminoles (1-9, 1-7) head into an open date after a 52-3 loss to No. 8 Notre Dame and must beat either Charleston Southern next weekend or visiting rival Florida on Nov. 30 to avoid the program's first 10-loss season since 1974, which was two seasons before coaching great Bobby Bowden's arrival.
Before now, Florida State had never lost more than six ACC games since joining the league for the 1992 season.
