Game of the week

No. 24 Boston College (2-0) at No. 6 Missouri (2-0), 12:45 p.m., Saturday (SEC Network). In a week without an Atlantic Coast Conference game on the schedule, many eyes will be on the Eagles and Tigers, and points could be hard to come by. Boston College has won its first two games under first-year coach Bill O’Brien and got into the AP Top 25 for the first time since the 2018 season. The Eagles have relied on a strong defense and quarterback Thomas Castellanos in their perfect start. Boston College is tied for second in the ACC in overall defense, allowing 214 yards per game. That included holding Florida State to just 21 yards rushing in a 28-13 victory two weeks ago. Castellanos has accounted for seven touchdowns in two games. Missouri, of the Southeastern Conference, has shut out its first two opponents.

Power 4 showdowns

West Virginia (1-1) and Pitt (2-0) renew the Backyard Brawl in the 107th meeting of a series that dates to 1895. The Panthers have won their first two games for the first time since they won the ACC championship in 2021. Alabama transfer quarterback Eli Holstein of Pitt is off to a fast start, averaging 319 passing yards a game with six touchdowns. Panthers tailback Desmond Reid leads the ACC with 146 yards a game rushing.

No. 5 Ole Miss (2-0) plays at Wake Forest (1-1), with the Rebels looking for their first win over the Demon Deacons. It’s the first time these teams have played since 2008. Mississippi, of the SEC, has won 16 of 18 nonconference games under coach Lane Kiffin. Wake Forest rusher Demond Claiborne, from King William High, has averaged 110 yards a game this season.

Impact player

Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord, an Ohio State transfer, has the Orange off to a 2-0 start, including a 31-28 win over then-No. 23 Georgia Tech last week. McCord threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns in beating the Yellow Jackets and was named the ACC’s Quarterback of the Week. McCord leads the country with eight TDs and is second nationally with nearly 30 completions per game.

Inside the numbers

The ACC has five of the top 10 quarterbacks in passing yards this season. Syracuse’s McCord is third nationally, with Miami’s Cam Ward fifth. Georgia Tech’s Haynes King is seventh, Wake Forest’s Hank Bachmaier is ninth and Virginia’s Anthony Colandrea is 10th. … Clemson passer Cade Klubnik accounted for seven touchdowns, five passing and two rushing, in a 66-20 win over Appalachian State. … Desmond Reid became the first player in Pitt history to rush for more than 100 yards and gain more than 100 receiving yards. … Miami defensive lineman Tyler Baron needed just 27 snaps to get three sacks, becoming just the eighth Hurricanes player to do that in the past 20 years.

Surprise starts

Nine of the 17 ACC teams are off to 2-0 starts, including Boston College and Virginia, who were both picked to struggle this season. The Eagles were chosen to finish 14th in the expanded conference, while the Cavaliers were 16th. The other perfect ACC teams are No. 11 Miami, No. 22 Louisville, Duke, Pitt, Syracuse, North Carolina and Cal. The only 0-2 team in the league is Florida State, the defending ACC champion and preseason favorite.

Saturday’s games

Louisiana Tech at N.C. State, noon, ACC Network

Memphis at Florida State, noon, ESPN

#24 Boston College at #6 Missouri, 12:45 p.m., SECN

West Virginia at Pittsburgh, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2

Ball State at #10 Miami, 3:30 p.m., ACCN

VMI at Georgia Tech, 3:30 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+

N.C. Central at North Carolina, 6 p.m., ACCNX

Connecticut at Duke, 6 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+

Virginia Tech at Old Dominion, 6 p.m., ESPN+

#5 Ole Miss at Wake Forest, 6:30 p.m., The CW

Maryland at Virginia, 8 p.m., ACCN

San Diego State at California, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

Briscoe pulled away on a final restart with 17 laps in the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway and held off Busch, who like Briscoe needed a victory to reach the postseason.

“We just won the Southern 500!” an emotional Briscoe said on the car radio.

Briscoe’s Stewart-Haas Team announced its closure earlier this season. Briscoe gave the proud program something to fight for over the final 10 weeks of the season.

“Yeah, this group, the day we found out that the team wasn’t going to exist anymore, we went over to the shop board, looked at each other and said, ‘We’re in this to the end,’” Briscoe said. “I was saying all week, `We’ve got one bullet left in the chamber.’ That bullet hit.”

Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. got the final two postseason spots on points, while Bubba Wallace and Chastain, both within 27 points of the cutoff line when the race began, came up short.

Briscoe’s dramatic move spoiled another dominant Darlington run by Kyle Larson, who led 263 laps but was not the same after getting passed by the winner. Larson was trying to overtake Tyler Reddick for the regular-season points title — and the 15 bonus points the leader receives — but came up a point short.

Christopher Bell was third, followed by Larson, Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie and Reddick.

Truex, racing his last season before retirement, just needed a solid, problem-free run at the track “Too Tough To Tame” to advance. Instead, he left his fate in others’ hands when he crashed out on Lap 3 as his car slid up and hit defending NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney’s.

But following Larson’s victory in the second stage — he also won the first stage — NASCAR announced that Truex had wrapped up a spot in the 16-driver playoff field.

Bubba Wallace entered the weekend as the first man out of the playoffs and got a boost when he won his first Darlington pole Saturday. But with 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan in his pit box to watch, Wallace got caught up in a six-car wreck 24 laps from the finish.

Jordan, wearing a headset and watching intently, threw his hands up and bowed his head when he saw Wallace involved in the wreck.

“Wasn’t good enough for 16th this year, hate that,” Wallace said. “Stinks saying that, but wasn’t for a lack of effort.”

Busch came up short a second straight week, losing to a fellow winless driver this season. He was beaten by Harrison Burton last week at Daytona.

“Hate it for our guys,” said Busch, who won titles in 2015 and 2019. “Something to build on and get better for. We just missed a lot early in the year, the middle part of the year, to be in this spot, on the outside looking in.”

Playoff field

Reddick won the regular-season title, with Larson in second. The rest of the playoff field is: Chase Elliott, followed by Christopher Bell, William Byron, Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, Briscoe, Gibbs and Truex.

The postseason starts at Atlanta, then goes to Watkins Glen and Bristol before the field is cut to 12.

Honoring Cale

Cale Yarborough, the Hall of Famer driver who died at age 84 on New Year’s Eve, was remembered at his hometown track as Dale Jarrett drove the 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass that Yarborough used to win his third straight Cup Series title in 1978 during pace laps.

Yarborough won five of the Labor Day weekend crown-jewel races, second to Jeff Gordon’s six, at Darlington after growing up there a few miles away.

Game of the week

No. 14 Clemson vs. No. 1 Georgia, noon Saturday in Atlanta (WVEC).

The Tigers open the season in the biggest way possible against a Georgia squad that won the national title in 2021 and 2022 and remains bitter about missing the College Football Playoff a year ago.

Clemson was the reigning ACC champion last year, but fell from contention with a 4-4 mark (all four defeats to league opponents) before November. The Tigers closed the season with five straight wins, and a win over the No. 1 team would suggest Clemson is back in playoff form.

Clemson will need improved play from quarterback Cade Klubnik and receivers like Antonio Williams, Tyler Brown and Adam Randall to stretch the field after a season where explosive plays were hard to find.

The undercard

No. 19 Miami plays at state rival Florida in a matchup of two teams eager to return to the national title mix.

The Hurricanes’ hopes are squarely based on ex-Washington State quarterback Cam Ward, who was picked as the ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year despite never taking a snap for Miami. The Hurricanes will also lean heavily on defensive transfers like safety Mishael Powers, who played in the CFP title game with Washington last January, and ex-N.C. State defensive tackle C.J. Clark.

Other games to watch include No. 10 Florida State opening its home schedule on Labor Day night against Boston College. The Seminoles, picked to win the conference again this season, had the year’s first major stumble with a 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech in Ireland last week.

Impact players

Haynes King, Georgia Tech: The former Texas A&M quarterback has steadily grown, and he led his team to that 24-21 Week Zero upset over ACC favorite Florida State. King finished with 200 yards combined (146 passing, 54 rushing) and directed the game-winning field-goal drive over the final 6:33 of the game. Georgia Tech is home against Georgia State this week.

Grayson McCall, N.C. State: McCall was a three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year at Coastal Carolina who helped lead the Chanticleers into the Top 25 the past four seasons. Now, he’s joined the 24th-ranked Wolfpack for his last college season and hopes to show the same efficiency that led him to set a then-NCAA record for pass efficiency rating (207.6) in 2021.

Inside the numbers

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castallanos ran for 1,113 yards last season, second most among all QBs in the Bowl Subdivision. … SMU passer Preston Stone was 11th nationally a season ago with 3,197 yards and 28 TDs last season. He kept that up with 254 yards and led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive for a 29-24 win over Nevada last week. … Virginia Tech running back and return specialist Bhayshul Tuten is second among active FBS players in all-purpose yards with a career average of 127.08 per game.

Chasing Bowden

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney starts his 17th season with 170 victories. That’s just three behind the late Bobby Bowden of Florida State for most overall wins by a head coach at an ACC school. Swinney is the Tigers’ all-time leader in coaching wins. Unless Clemson has a full-blown collapse, Swinney should surpass the mark by late September or early October.

This week’s schedule

Thursday

Western Carolina at #24 N.C. State 7 p.m., ACC Network

North Carolina A&T at Wake Forest 7 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+

North Carolina at Minnesota 8 p.m., WVBT

Friday

Elon at Duke 7:30 p.m., ACCN

TCU at Stanford 10:30 p.m., ESPN

Saturday

#14 Clemson vs. #1 Georgia Noon, WVEC/ESPN+

Virginia Tech at Vanderbilt Noon, ESPN

Kent State at Pitt, noon, ESPNU

Austin Peay at Louisville, noon, ACCN

Ohio at Syracuse 3:30 p.m., ACCN

#19 Miami at Florida 3:30 p.m., WVEC/ESPN+

UC Davis at California 5 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+

Richmond at Virginia 6 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+

Georgia State at Georgia Tech 8 p.m., ACCN

Houston Christian at SMU 8 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+

Monday

Boston College at #10 Florida State 7:30 p.m., ESPN

“It sets the stage and opportunity for us to continue to push and continue to elevate this program to ultimately where it deserves to be,” Norvell said after leading Florida State to its first Atlantic Coast Conference title in nine years last season. “That’s among the nation’s elite, when you look across the course of college football.”

That wasn’t everyone’s opinion with the undefeated ACC champions getting snubbed by the College Football Playoff due in large part to an injury to starting quarterback Jordan Travis. The season ended with a 63-3 bashing by equally passed over Georgia in the Orange Bowl with the Seminoles hurting from injuries and opt-outs.

No matter, Norvell said. His 10th-ranked team, picked to defend its ACC title this season, wants to leave no doubt they belong with the game’s very best.

“At the end of the day, a lot of people from the outside might have a perspective of who is great, who is the greatest,” said the fifth-year coach. “For us, let’s control the things that we can control. Let’s go out there and be the best that we can be.”

It won’t be easy with the talent Florida State lost on offense, including Travis, receivers Keon Coleman and Johnny Davis, tight end Jaheim Bell and tailback Trey Benson.

But Norvell believes he’s got plenty of skilled players, led by former Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who had plenty of big moments in three seasons with the Tigers and spent last year leading Oregon State. Offensive lineman Darius Washington has seen a humble, friendly Uiagalelei bond with teammates since arriving.

“He can still make an impact to everybody on the team just by the way he is,” Washington said, “how he comes in every day and works with us.”

If not Florida State, then …

No. 14 Clemson, which won seven ACC titles in eight seasons between 2015-2022, was picked second behind the Seminoles. The Tigers, the favorites a year ago entering the season, were out of contention before November with a 4-4 record. Five straight wins to close the season has Clemson thinking it can go after fresh championship goals.

No. 19 Miami, led by Washington State transfer Cam Ward, should be right behind in coach Mario Cristobal’s third season. Ward is the preseason ACC Player of the Year after throwing for 6,963 yards and 48 touchdowns with the Cougars.

No. 24 North Carolina State, selected fourth in the preseason poll, comes off a season where it went 9-4 and adds three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year in ex-Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall.

New teams to play

The ACC, like the other Power Four leagues, are welcoming new members in former Pac-12 teams Cal and Stanford and ex-American Athletic Conference team SMU.

The additions give the ACC a super-sized 17 teams competing for spots in the league title game in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cal and coach Justin Wilcox have a pair of long trips early, playing at Auburn on Sept. 7 and Florida State on Sept. 21 — a couple of round trips at some 9,900 miles combined.

“Well, I guess if you would have asked me two or three years ago, I probably wouldn’t have thought of that,” Wilcox said. “I’ll tell you this, we’re glad to be doing it. We’re excited to play, to be in the ACC.”

Conference of quarterbacks?

Several ACC teams got high-profile passers from some big programs. Maliik Murphy joined Duke after playing at Texas while Louisville added Tyler Slough, who was previously at Oregon and Texas Tech.

Add those to Washington State’s Ward at Miami, Oregon State’s Uiagalelei at Florida State and Coastal Carolina’s McCall at North Carolina State and the league could have a strong showing at the game’s most important position.

Ongoing legislation

The ACC will continue defending itself from disgruntled members Clemson and Florida State, which have both sued to end the league’s grant-of-rights obligation that goes through 2036. The schools must let the league know by Aug. 15 if they plan to leave before the 2025-26 season. Count on the off-the-field fight to garner attention as the Tigers and Seminoles contend for the league title.

Tony Schumacher has a ready answer when fans wonder how much longer the 54-year-old, three-time world champion will keep climbing drag racing’s ladder in the National Hot Rod Association.

“About 10 years,” Schumacher said. “That’s what I’ve told them for the past 20 years.”

Age is just a number in drag racing, where cars hurtle down the track for a quarter-mile at more than 300 mph (483 kph), a blur of speed and roaring noise that is over in a few seconds before a parachute helps bring the vehicles to a stop.

Such terrifying speeds are far above those seen in Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar, but those races last far longer. That is part of the reason drivers in their 70s and even 80s can rely on their talent and experience to safely pilot a Top Fuel or Funny Car for a few moments and keep on winning long after traditional drivers on ovals and road courses call it a career.

“In our sport, unlike many of them, it’s mental,” Schumacher explained. “I feel like I got better with age.”

He is not alone. Ron Capps, 59, has won at least one Funny Car event for 15 straight years starting in 2009. Antron Brown, 48, has 75 career Top Fuel victories, winning titles in 2012, 2015 and 2016. Matt Hagan, 41, picked up his 50th Funny Car victory in April and the reigning champ was nominated as “Best Driver” for an ESPY.

Of course, all-time great John Force, 75, has won 157 times in a career that began in 1978 — 46 years ago.

Force was involved in a fiery crash last week at an event in Virginia. He was talkative with rescue works before going to a hospital, where he remains under observation. Force is now in a neurological intensive care unit to focus on a head injury, a switch viewed as a “welcome positive” in a recovery his team will take a long time.

As in all racing series, safety improvements have been made over the years in drag racing, from the roll cages and padding within the chassis to the firesuits, helmets and restraints for the drivers. Deaths in the NHRA are rare but not unheard of.

Brown, competing this week in Norwalk, Ohio, said accidents like Force’s are in the back of every racer’s mind. The successful ones know how to block out the worries while focusing on their driving skills. A Top Fuel or Funny Car has somewhere around 11,000 horsepower — more than 10 times that seen in an F1 car, for example.

The love of the sport, Brown believes, is the fuel to keep going in a sport where engines can burst into flames or a tiny wobble can send a car airborne or hurtling into a wall.

“I think this drag racing, the people that are in the sport, they’re consumed by it, I think,” he said.

That had to be the case for Chris Karamesines, the “Golden Greek,” who advanced in a Top Fuel event at age 86 with a then-record run of 305 mph (491 kph). Karamesines retired in 2020 with granddaughter Krista Baldwin taking over his ride.

“It’s been 63 years of fun, and I have loved every minute of it,” Karamesines said at his retirement.

Irvin Johns made history at age 79 last year when he won the Super Stock title at the Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Illinois, to become the NHRA’s oldest national event winner.

“Seriously, I feel like you can do this for as long as you like,” said Johns, who stepped away from racing for more than 30 years as he built a towing business in Louisville, Kentucky.

Brown, a relative youngster, said those who last learn that fitness and health is a key component to drag racing longevity. When you start out, the speed rush and thrill of racing carries you, he said.

“How many older people do you see racing the mile? It’s not older people winning the Boston Marathon,” Brown said. “You can see older (runners) winning the 100 meters. That’s what we are, we’re a sprint.”

That may be what attracted NASCAR Hall of Famer and three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, 53, to drag racing.

“I’m too old to race in IndyCar, I’m retired from NASCAR, sprint car racing’s getting tougher and tougher,” Stewart said in February 2023. “But drag racing, the reaction times and the aspects of it that are way different than anything else I’ve done is what’s drawing me to it.”

Schumacher, the son of drag racing great Don Schumacher whose company has won more than 350 events and 19 championships, knows what Stewart means. The younger Schumacher has kept a strong fitness regimen and believes his mind is as sharp as ever, no matter how much younger his rivals may be.

“I do believe there’s a point where I’m not catching” the right timing during a run, Schumacher said. “But as of right now, I’m dead straight every time.”

—-

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Game of the week

No. 4 Florida State at Pittsburgh, 3:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN): The Seminoles (8-0, 6-0) play their last league road game against the struggling Panthers (2-6, 1-3). Florida State looks to move a step closer to its first conference title-game appearance since it won the crown in 2014. The Seminoles have used a dynamic offense — they lead the ACC and are 11th nationally in red-zone offense — and a defense that’s forced more incompletions than pass catches. Florida State is looking for its 15th straight win.

Pitt, the ACC champion two seasons ago, has lost its past two games, including a 58-7 blowout at Notre Dame last week. Coach Pat Narduzzi apologized for comments made after the loss that were critical of his players. Narduzzi said he apologized to the team at its Sunday meeting and everyone was ready to move on.

Best matchup

Virginia Tech, picked 11th out of 14 teams in the ACC preseason rankings this year, has a two-game winning streak as it heads to No. 15 Louisville. Both teams have ACC title-game hopes.

The Hokies (4-4, 3-1) have consecutive wins over Wake Forest and Syracuse, while Louisville (7-1, 4-1) has been perhaps the biggest surprise in the league. The Cardinals are coming off a 23-0 victory over then-20th-ranked Duke.

Inside the numbers

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is stuck on 165, his number of career wins with Clemson. He tied the late Frank Howard, who coached the Tigers from 1940 to 1969, with a 17-12 win over Wake Forest on Oct. 7. Losses to Miami and North Carolina State followed.

Things won’t get easier this week as Clemson (4-4) hosts No. 12 Notre Dame (7-2) on Saturday.
The frustrations are building for Swinney, who criticized a radio caller who questioned his coaching this season and his status as one of college football’s highest-paid coaches.

Impact player

Virginia has found some of its footing the past few weeks, and receiver Malik Washington is a big reason.

Washington, a 6-foot-2 graduate student who previously played for Northwestern, leads the ACC in receptions and receiving yards per game and is second with six touchdown catches.

Washington tied a career-high with 12 receptions for 152 yards in a 29-26 overtime loss at Miami last week, his sixth game with at least 100 receiving yards this season. That ties the Virginia record for most 100-yard receiving games in a season.

Washington has been named the ACC Receiver of the Week after the past two games and three times overall this season.

Virginia (2-6, 1-3) looks to bounce back against Georgia Tech (4-4, 3-2) on Saturday.

This week’s games

Thursday

Wake Forest at Duke, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Friday

Boston College at Syracuse, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday

Campbell at No. 25 North Carolina, noon, ACC Network

No. 12 Notre Dame at Clemson, noon, ABC (WVEC in Hampton Roads)

Georgia Tech at Virginia, 2 p.m., CW (WGNT in Hampton Roads)

No. 4 Florida State at Pittsburgh, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Virginia Tech at No. 15 Louisville, 3:30 p.m., ACCN

Miami at N.C. State, 8 p.m., ACCN

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, a fan of rewarding success, is unsure everyone in his super-sized league next season should make the cut for the 2024-2025 conference tournament.

“I don’t know that we would invite 18 teams to an ACC men’s or women’s basketball championship,” Phillips said Wednesday at the league’s annual tip-off gathering.

The league adds Cal, SMU and Stanford next season.

There is a postseason flow that currently works for teams, fans and venues as the tournament runs from Tuesday through Saturday or perhaps Wednesday through Sunday, Phillips explained. He didn’t want to disrupt that with an additional day to accommodate all teams.

“I don’t feel like that’s something that we should do,” Phillips continued. “I’ve told them that. I’m not speaking out of turn.

“I think you’ve got to earn your way to play in, I think, the most prestigious basketball tournaments in the country, and if you don’t get to a certain threshold, then you just don’t make it that year.”

Phillips took Virginia Tech coach Mike Young by surprise. “The thought of all teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference not being in the ACC tournament is troubling,” he said.

His Hokies were a seventh seed for the 2022 ACC Tournament and won four games in four days, including an 82-67 win over top-seeded Duke, to clinch an unexpected automatic bid to the NCAAs.

“Now, our league’s going to get it right,” Young said. “But I didn’t like that thought from the commissioner this morning.”

Game of the week

No. 16 Duke at No. 4 Florida State. The Seminoles (6-0, 4-0 ACC) are off to their best start since 2015 and look to add another marquee win when they face the Blue Devils (5-1, 2-0), among four league teams in the AP Top 25 this week.

The Seminoles are favored by more than two touchdowns, but Duke’s prospects in a sold-out stadium could improve if QB Riley Leonard returns from a high-ankle sprain. Coach Mike Elko said Leonard remains day-to-day, but teased on his weekly call-in show that “there is a chance we’re able to get him back healthy on Saturday.”

Duke will need all it’s got — it’s 0-21 against Florida State — with the Seminoles leading the ACC in scoring and giving up the second-fewest points in the league. Veteran quarterback Jordan Travis is humming along with receivers Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson.

Best matchup

Clemson at Miami. The Tigers (4-2, 2-2) have won their past two games after falling in OT to Florida State. Clemson has a stout defense (fifth nationally at 261.8 yards allowed per game), and sophomore quarterback Cade Klubnik appears to be growing with each sequence he plays.

The Hurricanes (4-2, 0-2) were in the rankings much of the first month of the season until their stunning loss to Georgia Tech, when kneeling after a snap late in the game might have saved things for the home team. Miami followed that with a 41-31 loss at North Carolina last week.

Neither Clemson nor Miami wants a third ACC defeat midway through the schedule.

Long shot

Virginia will be hard-pressed to get its first ACC victory this season when it heads to No. 10 North Carolina (6-0, 3-0).

The Cavaliers (1-5, 0-2) ended their five-game losing streak with a 27-13 win over FCS opponent William & Mary on Oct. 6. But the Tar Heels are off to their best start since 1997, when coach Mack Brown was in his first stint with them, and rolling behind the 2022 ACC Player of the Year, quarterback Drake Maye.

Maye leads the league in total offense and has 12 touchdown passes and four interceptions. Virginia is next-to-last in scoring defense.

Impact player

Miami receiver Xavier Restrepo has been a factor in the first half of the season. He leads the ACC with almost eight catches a game for 574 yards and four touchdowns The fourth-year junior’s 47 catches this year have surpassed his total of 46 in the previous three seasons.

Inside the numbers

This is first time since 1914 that North Carolina has scored at least 30 points in the first six games of the season. … Clemson tailback Will Shipley leads all active FBS players with 120.4 all-purpose yards per game. … The ACC has five teams among the top 26 nationally in total defense. Clemson is fifth, followed by Duke (16th), Miami (18th), Louisville (22nd) and Pittsburgh (26th). That’s tied with the Big Ten and SEC for most among Power Five leagues. … Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is a win from setting the school record. He has 165 victories since taking over midway through the 2008 season, tied with the late Frank Howard. …No. 21 Louisville, North Carolina State, Syracuse and Virginia Tech have bye weeks.

Saturday

Boston College at Georgia Tech, noon, ACCN

Pittsburgh at Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m., ACCN

Virginia at No. 10 North Carolina, 6:30 p.m., The CW, (WGNT in Hampton Roads)

No. 16 Duke at No. 4 Florida State, 7:30 p.m., ABC (WVEC in Hampton Roads)

Clemson at Miami, 8 p.m., ACCN

A common thread is easy to find: Check behind center.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, not always known for its strong cadre of quarterbacks, has 10 of the top 60 passers in yards per game this season. That’s tied with the Southeastern Conference for the most among the Power Five leagues, though the SEC and Pac-12 each have three ranked in the top 10 in that category.

As far as the ACC, “there’s definitely a lot of talented guys in this league,” said linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson’s leading tackler this season.

And the talent is almost everywhere you look, from North Carolina’s Drake Maye to Florida State’s Jordan Travis and from Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke to Duke’s Riley Leonard.

“They’re playing the position at a very high level,” Trotter said.

None more than Maye, the reigning ACC Player of the Year who’s picked up where he left off a season ago. Maye, considered a high NFL first-round pick next spring should he go pro, has hit on 72% of his throws for 1,187 yards and five touchdowns for the 14th-ranked Tar Heels, who are 4-0 for the first time since 1997.

Not far behind is Travis, the sixth-year passer who’s fueled No. 5 Florida State to an undefeated start and two of the biggest victories in recent school memory: a 45-24 win over then-No. 4 LSU and a 31-24 overtime win two weeks ago at Clemson.

Travis accounted for five touchdowns in topping LSU. He lofted a perfect game-winning TD pass in extra time at Clemson to end a frustrating seven-game losing streak to the Tigers.
Travis entered the game with a sore, non-throwing shoulder after a hard hit in a win at Boston College on Sept. 16. But he hung in through Clemson’s fierce pass rush and will be ready to face Virginia Tech on Saturday.

“I thought he showed great toughness,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “He’s definitely feeling good. The bye week hit at a good time for him.”

Van Dyke, at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, has started 21 games for the 17th-ranked Hurricanes the past three seasons. This year, he’s connected on nearly 75% of his throws with 11 touchdowns and just one pick to lead the program to its first 4-0 start since 2017.

He said the team spent its off week working to keep its edge when it starts league play Saturday against Georgia Tech.

“It’s not a cakewalk,” Van Dyke said of the ACC. “You play good teams every week. You’ve got to be ready to play your game. If you don’t, you’re going to lose.”

ACC Network analyst EJ Manuel believes the conference has an undeserved reputation for not being a league that features top-notch quarterbacks even with Heisman Trophy winners like Jameis Winson and Lamar Jackson and stars like Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence — all in the past decade.

“I think it’s wild that every year the ACC has to fight, scratch and claw to get any type of national respect” for quarterbacks, he said. “Unless an ACC team makes it to the College Football Playoff, it’s unlikely to gain attention for its passers.

“It’s pretty annoying, if I’m being honest,” said Manuel, who starred at Bayside High in Virginia Beach, won a league title at Florida State in 2012 and was a first-round NFL pick the following spring. “These guys know how to play football in the ACC and this year, I think it’s gotten way better.”

It doesn’t hurt when programs fighting to be relevant find a good fit through the transfer portal.
That happened this season at Georgia Tech with ex-Texas A&M passer Haynes King and at Louisville with former Purdue and Cal quarterback Jack Plummer.

King leads the ACC with 15 touchdown passes while Plummer, with 11 touchdowns and 1,406 yards, has helped the 25th-ranked Cardinals to their first 5-0 start since 2013, a year before the program joined the ACC.

North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, who won a national title as Auburn head coach in 2010, said he has his hands full each week preparing to limit an opponent’s effective QB play.

“It’s the sixth sense of a quarterback to me, and all the great ones that I’ve been around, that sixth sense of, ‘Yes, I can throw it on this timing and get it in this window right now’ and it happens,” he explained. “Or, ‘You know what? That’s not open. Let me take the ball, take it down and run with it.'”

Expect that to continue, said Manuel.

“You look at the top five (ACC quarterbacks),” he said. “I’d put that up against any other conference in the country.”

ACC passing leaders

Yards per game (listed by national ranking)

11. Drake Maye, North Carolina: 296.7

12. Haynes King, Georgia Tech: 296.0

21. Jack Plummer, Louisville: 281.2

32. Tyler Van Dyke, Miami: 260.5

35. Jordan Travis, Florida State: 257.0

38. Mitch Griffis, Wake Forest: 249.7

41. Cade Klubnik, Clemson: 247.8

52. Anthony Colandrea, Virginia: 230.7

53. Garrett Shrader, Syracuse: 230.6

59. Thomas Castellanos, Boston College: 218.4

Source: NCAA.com

Game of the week

No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 25 Louisville. The Fighting Irish (4-1) ended the surprising unbeaten start of one ACC opponent at No. 19 Duke a week ago. They get another chance when they visit the Cardinals, who are 5-0 for the first time in 10 years. The game highlights a weekend when two other ranked, ACC unbeatens in No. 5 Florida State and No. 17 Miami get back on the field after a week off. The Seminoles (4-0) start a three-game homestand against Virginia Tech, while the Hurricanes (4-0) host Georgia Tech.

Notre Dame, a football independent, has won its past 30 games against ACC opponents. That streak includes victories over Louisville in 2019 and the COVID-19 year of 2020. A week ago, Notre Dame rallied for the winning touchdown on Audric Estime’s 30-yard scoring run with 35 seconds left at Duke. The Irish converted a two-point play for the final margin.

Louisville is undefeated behind first-year coach Jeff Brohm and transfer quarterback Jack Plummer, who played for Brohm at Purdue before going to California. The Cardinals moved into the rankings after last week’s 13-10 win at North Carolina State.

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman was 2-3 against Louisville when he was Wake Forest’s quarterback from 2018-22.

Best matchup

Syracuse at No. 14 North Carolina. The game features two of the ACC’s best quarterbacks in the Tar Heels’ Drake Maye and Syracuse’s Garrett Shrader. North Carolina (4-0, 1-0 is hoping to keep its undefeated season going, while the Orange (4-1, 0-1) are hoping to bounce back after their undefeated start was undone by Clemson 31-14 a week ago.

The Tar Heels want to stay amid the four ACC unbeatens and remain in the mix for the league championship, which will now be determined by the two programs with the top winning percentages.

Syracuse can’t afford a second straight loss if it hopes to be in contention should chaos ensue.

Long shot

Wake Forest is a 20 ½-point underdog at Clemson, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Demon Deacons (3-1, 0-1) have lost 14 straight in the series dating to 2008, a Clemson loss that led to the dismissal of Tommy Bowden and the promotion of receivers coach Dabo Swinney.

Wake Forest will also face a loud, frenzied crowd ready to cheer Swinney’s attempt to tie the late Frank Howard — the one the rock at Memorial Stadium is named for — for the all-time program wins record at 165.

The Tigers (3-2, 1-2) are looking to win consecutive games against Power Five opponents for the first time since beating Louisville and Miami last November. They’ve gone 2-4 against such programs since.

Inside the numbers

Clemson tailback Will Shipley and Florida State defensive end Jared Verse are both active career leaders.

Shipley, a junior, tops all current players with 121.1 all-purpose yards per game. He’s got 3,512 such yards in total: 2,273 rushing, 454 receiving and 785 in kick returns in 29 games.

Verse leads active FBS players in career tackles-for-loss per game at 1.22.

Impact player(s)

Wake Forest linebacker Jacob Roberts and defensive lineman Jasheen Davis are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in ACC sacks per game. Roberts has averaged 1.25 sacks per game, while Davis sits right behind at 1.13. They’re Nos. 2 and 3 in tackles for loss per game in the ACC and big reasons the Demon Deacons are tied for the league lead with 16 sacks on the year.

This week’s schedule

Saturday

• Boston College at Army, noon, CBS Sports Network
• William & Mary at Virginia, noon, ACC Network
• Marshall at N.C. State, 2 p.m., The CW (WGNT)
• Virginia Tech at No. 5 Florida State, 3:30 p.m., ABC (WVEC)
• Syracuse at No. 14 North Carolina, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
• Wake Forest at Clemson, 3:30 p.m., ACCN
• No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 25 Louisville, 7:30 p.m., ABC (WVEC)
• Georgia Tech at No. 17 Miami, 8 p.m., ACCN