The “ACC Fab Five” looks at Saturday’s ACC outings and features the top five ACC matchups from the past weekend. There is no order, nor does the perspective ACC team have to win a non-conference game. If there is a loss in a non-conference affair, the team we mention must have threatened to win the game but took the ‘L.’
@NC State 19, Florida State 17 – The Seminoles used a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Travis to Mycah Pittman and a 12-yard touchdown run by Lawrence Toafili to score 17 points in the second quarter and take a 17-3 lead.
However, the Wolfpack used a 10-yard TD pass from Devin Leary to Darryl Jones and three Christopher Dunn field goals in the second half to subdue Florida State, 19-17.
Devan Boykin picked off Travis in the end zone late in the fourth quarter to preserve NC State’s win.
Leary left with an injured right shoulder in the third quarter.
“The defense was spectacular in the second half,” said NCSU head coach Dave Doreen. “We had four straight three-and-outs and two takeaways.”
North Carolina 27, @ Miami 24 – The Tar Heels took a 14-0 lead as Omarion Hampton scored on a two-yard run early in the second quarter and North Carolina never trailed.
Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke turned in an incredible performance as he completed 42-of-57 passes for 496 yards and three touchdowns. Miami lost the ball on downs, trailing 21-17 in the third quarter, and also suffered a fumble by Jaylan Knighton on 4th-and-1 midway through the third quarter.
The fumble occurred and later, Van Dyke was intercepted by DeAndre Boykins on the Carolina 26-yard-line with eight seconds remaining.
Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye threw for 309 yards as he completed 19-of-28 passes with two touchdown throws and two interceptions.
“I was really, really proud of our defense, proud of the goal line stand,” said Carolina head coach Mack Brown. “I think it was five plays because of a face-mask penalty.”
@Pitt 45, Virginia Tech 29 – Panthers running back Israel Abanikanda rushed for 320 yards and six touchdowns on 36 carries as he broke Tony Dorsett’s Pitt rushing record.
The Panthers led by only 31-29 early in the fourth quarter when Abanikanda scored on runs of 10 and 80 yards to put the game away.
Pitt rebounded from a 26-21 home loss to Georgia Tech last week as the Panthers received challenges from the out-manned Hokies, but each time Pittsburgh had answers.
Quarterback Grant Wells paced Virginia Tech through the passing game as he completed 25-of-47 passes for 277 yards while Kaleb Smith led the Virginia Tech rushing effort with 152 yards on nine catches.
“He’s got breakaway speed,” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi of Abanikanda. “If he pops through there, good luck to you. There are not many guys that can catch him.”
@Georgia Tech 23, Duke 20 (OT) – Georgia Tech has a multi-talented quarterback in Jeff Sims and he showed his talents by completing 23-of-34 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 95 yards on 17 carries.
Gavin Stewart hit his third field goal for 37 yards away in overtime to lift the Jackets to their second win in seven days.
Wide receiver Nate McCollum caught eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown before he left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury.
The Yellow Jackets’ defense was a key story in the game as it held Duke to 278 total yards. Duke QB Riley Leonard completed a 14-play drive with eight seconds remaining as he hit Nicky Dalmolin with a 2-yard touchdown pass to force overtime.
“I thought this program showed again that we will battle and play a full four quarters and into overtime to try to win,” Duke head coach Mike Elko.
Louisville 34, @Virginia 17 – The Cardinals were without talented quarterback Malik Cunningham and running back Tiyon Evans, but they still rushed for 198 yards. Backup quarterback Brock Domann built his effort as the game went on as he passed for 275 yards and rushed for 71 and a touchdown on nine carries.
Domann, Trevion Cooley and Jawhar Jordan each had a rushing touchdown for Louisville, who struck back after last weekend’s embarrassing 34-33 loss to Boston College.
Virginia took a quick 10-0 lead with 6:42 remaining in the first quarter when quarterback Brennan Armstrong hit Dontayvion Wicks on a 40-yard touchdown pass.
Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott is working on a rebuild at Virginia where a balanced offense will be a key. Armstrong is a passing machine who had his highest passing yardage total on Saturday with 313 yards through the air.
“Defensively, I thought we did a really nice job except for the one pass down the sideline (and) keeping everything in front and then rallying and tackling,” said Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield.
