ACC Football Week 7: Preview and Scoreboard

Previews and score updates for every ACC football game this week

Week six of the college football season was full of exhilarating games and the ACC was no exception, as each of the five games featuring ACC teams was decided by 10 points or less. Amazingly, each of those games was won by the away team. Wake Forest remained undefeated with an overtime win in the Carrier Dome and Virginia escaped Louisville on another victory on a last-second missed field goal. Virginia Tech came up just short against Notre Dame, while Duke and North Carolina suffered home losses to Georgia Tech and Florida State, respectively.

There are five ACC games this weekend, each of which are matchups between conference opponents. Georgia Tech, Louisville, Wake Forest, and Florida State are idle this week.

Read on for a preview of each ACC football game taking place in week seven and make sure to come back to this page for updates on all the action from around the conference.

Friday, 7pm: Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC) at Syracuse (3-3, 0-2 ACC), ESPN

Result: Clemson 17, Syracuse 14

Preview: Two weeks ago, Clemson defeated Boston College in a hard-fought 19-13 victory, but the Tigers are still struggling to figure out their offense identity midway through the season. Coming off of a bye week, Clemson plays at Syracuse, who came up just short against Wake Forest in a 40-37 overtime loss at the Carrier Dome last week. The Orange look to pull the upset over the Tigers and get their first ACC win of the season.

Prediction: Clemson 24, Syracuse 17

Saturday, 12:30pm: Duke (3-3, 0-2 ACC) at Virginia (4-2, 2-2 ACC), ESPN3

Result: Duke 0, Virginia 48

Preview: Virginia returns home after getting back-to-back road victories on last-second missed field goals by their opponents. The Cavaliers look to improve to 3-2 in the ACC and win their seventh straight against the Blue Devils, who are still searching for their first ACC win of the year. Expect a lot of points in this one, especially with the NCAA’s leading passer, Brennan Armstrong, going up against the second-worst passing defense in the ACC.

Prediction: Duke 28, Virginia 45

Saturday, 3:30pm: Miami (2-3, 0-1 ACC) at North Carolina (3-3, 2-3 ACC), ACC Network

Result: Miami 42, North Carolina 45

Preview: The two favorites to win the ACC Coastal come into this pivotal matchup with losing records in ACC play. Both the Hurricanes and the Tar Heels suffered upset losses at home in their previous games and both teams are looking to get themselves back into the race for the Coastal title. Miami has played only one ACC game and have plenty of season left to right the ship, but with D’Eriq King out for the season, it could be rough sledding for the Canes. North Carolina, on the other hand, has played five conference games with a record of 2-3 and have three games against ranked opponents left on the schedule. 

Prediction: Miami 27, North Carolina 35

Saturday, 3:30pm: Pittsburgh (4-1, 1-0 ACC) at Virginia Tech (3-2, 1-0 ACC), ESPN2

Result: Pittsburgh 28, Virginia Tech 7

Preview: The Panthers and Hokies meet in Blacksburg on Saturday to battle it out for first place in the ACC Coastal. Pittsburgh sports the ACC’s best offense at 52.4 points per game and Kenny Pickett leads the league with 19 passing touchdowns. The Panthers have yet to score less than 41 points in a game, but they will face their toughest test yet at Lane Stadium against a solid Virginia Tech defense. The Hokies held UNC to just 10 points in week one and were a field goal away from pulling the upset over Notre Dame last week.

Prediction: Pittsburgh 38, Virginia Tech 34

Saturday, 7:30pm: No. 22 NC State (4-1, 1-0 ACC) at Boston College (4-1, 0-1 ACC), ACC Network

Result: NC State 33, Boston College 7

Preview: With Wake Forest running out to a 4-0 start in ACC play, NC State and Boston College will each badly want to win this one as they make a play for the ACC Atlantic title, which is wide open for the first time in several years. After starting off the year 4-0, Boston College dropped its first ACC contest as the Eagles narrowly lost at Clemson. NC State, on the other hand, was able to pull off the victory over Clemson in double overtime in week four. Both teams have a decent shot at the Atlantic championship, especially given that each team still has a game against Wake Forest remaining on their schedule, and a win in this game is the crucial first step towards achieving that goal. 

Prediction: NC State 35, Boston College 31

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