SMU’s trip to Wake Forest, No. 7 Georgia Tech’s league-leading march headline ACC slate
Things to watch this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference:
Game of the week
SMU (5-2, 3-0 ACC) at Wake Forest (4-2, 1-2), Saturday, noon ET (The CW)
The Mustangs are coming off a win at Clemson and have yet to lose a regular-season league game going back to last year’s 8-0 debut run. That has them sitting alongside No. 7 Georgia Tech and No. 16 Virginia as unbeaten teams in ACC play.
This game didn’t look as interesting before the season, when the Demon Deacons were picked 16th in the league in their first season under Jake Dickert. But they’ve shown steady gains since their opener and had a chance to beat the Yellow Jackets with a final-play 2-point conversion in overtime. Since that loss, Wake Forest has scored 69 points in wins at Virginia Tech and Oregon State.
The undercard
Syracuse (3-4, 1-3) at No. 7 Georgia Tech (7-0, 4-0), Saturday, noon ET (ESPN)
The Yellow Jackets are 7-0 for the first time since 1966 and 4-0 in ACC play for the first time since 1998 after winning at Duke. They are heavily favored so this game is mostly about Brent Key’s squad continuing its march toward a spot in the ACC title game. Syracuse hasn’t won since its high point of winning at Clemson on Sept. 20, when quarterback Steve Angeli suffered a season-ending injury.
Stanford (3-4, 2-2) at No. 9 Miami (5-1, 1-1), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
The Hurricanes fell in a turnover-filled showing against Louisville, and now must regroup and stay in the race for the ACC title game. The Cardinal, meanwhile, just beat reeling Florida State at home.
Impact players
— Virginia RB J’Mari Taylor. He’s the rushing leader on a team ranked ninth in the Bowl Subdivision ranks in scoring offense (40.0). He has also run for eight touchdowns entering Saturday’s game at North Carolina, though he managed just 47 yards on the ground in a tough win against Washington State last week.
— Louisville QB Miller Moss. The 19th-ranked Cardinals host Boston College on Saturday with Moss accounting having run for a score in three straight games.
Inside the numbers
The league has four ranked teams in the AP Top 25 poll with the Yellow Jackets, Hurricanes, Cavaliers and Cardinals. … N.C. State visits Pittsburgh on Saturday having won three straight meetings going back to 2009, though the programs had met only twice since Pitt joined the league (2013) due to the league’s former two-division scheduling model. The Panthers’ last series win came in the Tangerine Bowl in the 2001 season. … California visits Virginia Tech on Friday night with a chance to secure bowl eligibility for the third straight year. … Clemson, Duke and Florida State are on byes this week.
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