CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Who’s No. 2? It’s the biggest question as the ACC’s regular season winds down. Who will get a shot at prohibitive favorite Miami on Dec. 5 in Charlotte in the conference title game?
A list that only two weeks ago had as many as six names on it is, now, realistically down to two contenders to be No. 2 – Wake Forest and SMU.
And, as luck would have it, unbalanced schedule be damned, those teams will meet on Nov. 14 in Dallas. The game being at SMU is a major check in the “pro” column for the No. 19 Mustangs (6-1, 4-1 ACC). Rhett Lashlee’s team doesn’t lose conference games at Gerald Ford Stadium. That’s not hyperbole. The Mustangs are 11-0 in ACC contests at home.
Also working in SMU’s favor? It plays a Friday night home game against Virginia Tech the week before, giving it an extra day of rest and preparation for the showdown with No. 14 Wake Forest (6-1, 4-1).
But overall, the Mustangs have a tougher remaining schedule. SMU plays at Syracuse, hosts the Hokies and Demon Deacons, before making a non-conference trip to No. 5 Notre Dame. Then, it finishes at Stanford. Those league teams are a combined 10-10 in ACC play. Wake and Tech are in the top five of the league standings, and traveling across the country to play the Cardinal can be a challenge. Just ask North Carolina State.
Wake has a slightly easier road home. It hosts slumping Virginia and plays a non-conference cupcake in Merrimack before finishing at SMU, at Georgia Tech and hosting Duke. Those ACC teams are 9-9 in league play. And the Nov. 7 home game against Merrimack isn’t a week off – but it should be close to one. An FCS independent program, the Warriors lost 42-7 to Delaware earlier this season.
That should give Jake Dickert’s club the chance to rest its starters in the second half, and go into the SMU game fresh. Maybe even fresh enough to do something no ACC has done yet – beat the Mustangs in Dallas.
Who else is up and down in the ACC this week?
Tavita Pritchard, Stanford coach: The Cardinal were picked to finish last in the 17-team ACC in the league’s preseason poll (although one voter did laughably give Stanford a first-place vote). No, Pritchard won’t be leading his team to a surprise ACC title game appearance in his first season coaching the Cardinal. But with wins over Georgia Tech and North Carolina State, he’s got Stanford closer to the middle of the pack, and bowl eligibility, than most people predicted.
Miami’s Malachi Toney and Darian Mensah: The ACC’s biggest offensive stars continue to deliver every week. In a 52-23 blowout of Pittsburgh, Mensah was brilliant, going 31 for 37 for 387 yards and four touchdowns. Toney looked award-worthy in his own right, catching 16 passes for 194 yards and three scores. On the season, Mensah leads the ACC with 2,151 passing yards, 22 touchdown passes and an 81.4% completion rate. Toney leads with 66 receptions, 952 receiving yards and 11 touchdown catches. Both are lurking in the Heisman Trophy race. Vegas has Mensah as the second pick behind Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, getting +300 odds. Toney is third at +350.
Virginia Tech: That final stretch of the season that was supposed to eat up the Hokies in James Franklin’s first season? Tech got it going with a dramatic 20-16 road win at Clemson. That’s the third road win of the year, for the Hokies, who are now bowl eligible. Road games at SMU and Miami still remain, but so do winnable home games against Stanford and rival Virginia. An eight-win season is very much within Tech’s reach.
Dave Doeren, former N.C. State coach: Doeren’s 14-year run leading the Wolfpack ended Sunday, a day after his team’s disappointing 31-28 loss at Stanford. The heat under Doeren’s seat got turned way up Week 0, when State dropped the season opener 34-8 at Virginia. The Wolfpack looked unprepared to play that day – and UVA turning out to be a middling-at-best ACC team this year didn’t help that perception. State blew a shot at a road win at Vanderbilt when quarterback CJ Bailey fumbled in the end zone while trying to take a safety. Doeren went 98-73 with the Wolfpack and finishes as the winningest coach in program history.
Clemson: Clemson-ing used to mean spoiling a great season with an unexpected loss. Now? With a putrid offense that seems stuck in the last decade, no loss by the Tigers seems all that surprising. Saturday, they suffered their second home loss in league play, falling to Virginia Tech by giving up 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Still, Clemson has four winnable ACC games before facing mercurial rival South Carolina on Nov. 28. Florida State, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Duke are a combined 5-12 in league play, meaning eight wins is still possible for the once-elite Tigers.
Georgia Tech: Clemson and North Carolina State have some stiff competition from Georgia Tech for the mantle of most disappointing team in the ACC. Saturday’s home loss to Boston College was just brutal. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish fifth in the ACC in the preseason poll. Instead, at 1-3 in league play, they’re a half-game out of last place.
