ACC Week 4 Takeaways: Does anybody in the Atlantic Coast Conference want to challenge Miami?

Once again, it’s hard to emphasize how not boring ACC football is. As much flak as the conference takes, it’s nothing if not entertaining and unpredictable. Week 4 of the college football season saw surprising results, wacky weather and even a few Atlantic Coast Conference teams that played well. If you missed any of the action over the weekend, we have a full recap of what you missed and what we learned.

Shake up at the top

Just when it appeared that Louisville was a serious contender, the Cardinals lost at home. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons went into Louisville and knocked off the Cardinals, 30-27. It was a back-and-forth game, but in the end, Wake made a few more plays late in the game.

The Cardinals have a favorable schedule moving forward, so they aren’t out of the ACC title race yet, although they didn’t do themselves any favors with the home loss. Meanwhile, one week after a competitive loss to Miami, it’s Wake Forest that looks like it could be the league’s second-best team behind the Hurricanes.

Too close for comfort

The SMU Mustangs also fancy themselves as a contender in the ACC, but you might not know it by the way they’ve played. The Mustangs fell behind Missouri State, 10-0, on Saturday night, struggling to put the Bears away in a 34-24 win. Even with SMU outgaining Missouri State 592 to 239, turnovers continued to hinder the Mustangs, who have not looked the part of a contender so far.

ACC after dark

The weekend began with Dabo Swinney taking Clemson to the West Coast to take on Cal. The Bears struck first with a defensive touchdown, but the Cal offense managed just three points the rest of the game. The Clemson offense wasn’t much better. But a 65-yard punt return by Bryant Wesco and a 75-yard run by Gideon Davidson made up for an otherwise paltry showing by both offenses, allowing Clemson to win, 24-10.

After a couple of ugly wins, the Tigers are now 2-0 in ACC play ahead of next week’s showdown at home against Miami in a game between the only two ACC teams that are currently 2-0 in league play.

West Coast win

There was more late-night action on Saturday, with Georgia Tech visiting Stanford. The Yellow Jackets held what looked like a comfortable 20-10 lead at halftime, only for things to fall apart in the second half. Stanford scored the first 24 points of the second half, getting three touchdown passes from Davis Warren, who finished with 396 yards.

A late Georgia Tech touchdown gave the Jackets a chance, but it was the Cardinal who prevailed, 34-27, for the team’s first ACC win of the season, dropping Georgia Tech to 1-3 in what has been a disastrous season.

In the rain

The Nor'easter chased the Red Sox to Tampa for the final game of their season, but the Boston College Eagles stuck around to play a rain-soaked game against James Franklin and the Virginia Tech Hokies. The weather slowed things down in the first half, with the Hokies leading 3-0 at halftime.

In the second half, it was Boston College that scored the first two touchdowns of the game to take a 14-6 lead. However, the Hokies responded with a game-tying score, following it up with a 76-yard touchdown run from Jeffrey Overton that ended up being the difference in Tech’s 21-14 win.

FCS fun

Unfortunately, ACC teams aren’t yet done playing FCS opponents this season. Even in the fourth week of the season, there were three teams facing opponents from the lower level. Naturally, all three games were blowouts. Pitt crushed Bucknell, 59-0. Duke was all over William & Mary in a 62-7 win. Finally, Florida State wasn’t quite as convincing, beating Central Arkansas, 34-7.

Blowout brigade

A couple of ACC teams not playing FCS opponents also enjoyed blowout wins this weekend. As you might expect, Miami didn’t have much trouble with Central Michigan. The Hurricanes led 35-3 at halftime on their way to a 52-3 win. Virginia also bounced back nicely from last week’s loss to West Virginia by overpowering Delaware, 42-3.

Wolfpack is back

One week after a comically tragic loss to Vanderbilt, NC State managed to bounce back with a 41-31 win over Appalachian State. The Mountaineers gave Dave Doeren’s team a run for their money, as NC State’s 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter eventually turned into a 31-31 tie midway through the fourth quarter.

But NC State responded to the blown lead to earn a 10-point win. Of course, the Wolfpack now has to host Louisville next week, so it doesn’t get any easier for what has been an inauspicious start to their season.

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