Around the ACC: Week 5

Week 5 only had four ACC matchups. Two teams played non-conference games, and four were on bye. Those on bye included UNC, Wake Forest, University of Miami and lastly Florida State. But even with those teams on bye, it was still an exciting week for the conference.

College Gameday headed to Durham, N.C., this week for the only ranked match-up in the ACC that didn't even involve two teams from the conference. Well technically. Notre Dame’s football team plays as an independent, while their other sports are still in the conference.

The game itself was offensively slow. Notre Dame was first to put points on the board in the first four minutes then scored a field goal early in the second, and with two missed field goals and an interception by Duke, The Fighting Irish were up 10-0 at the half.

Going into the second half the Irish put another field goal on the board being up 13-0; however, the Blue Devils offense finally woke up and put a touchdown on the board going into the fourth quarter in a tight game of 13-7.

The game was looking to go into Duke’s favor after an early fourth-quarter touchdown to make the score 14-13; nonetheless, a late touchdown combined with a two-point conversion by Notre Dame ultimately ended any chance that Duke had of winning the game.

With 30 seconds left on the clock and Duke getting back the ball in the hope of a hail mary, Riley Leonard was sacked, injured and the ball was fumbled, leading to a Notre Dame victory.

Louisville went into their game against NC State in hopes of keeping their undefeated season alive. Another offensively slow half for the ACC led to the Wolfpack being up only 10-0 at the half.

But Louisville bounced back in the second half completely shutting out NC State and winning 13-10. The Cardinals remained undefeated and jumped to the No. 25 spot on the AP Poll.

Going into the week with hope of finally put a win under their belt, Virginia went on the road to Boston College. After going into the second half having the lead for the first time their whole season the game was looking promising for Virginia.

But a dominant third quarter by the Eagles was ultimately Virginia’s downfall. The fourth quarter was tight after a field goal by Virginia tied the game.

But Virginia was unfortunately unable to pull out the win after a field goal by Boston College in the final minutes of the game. Boston College defeated Virginia 27-24 to have their first in-conference win for the season.

Clemson’s defense was their dominant force in their 31-14 victory over undefeated Syracuse. The Tigers’ defense not only forced three fumbles but also completed five sacks to completely destroy any chance Syracuse stood of remaining undefeated.

This was a huge victory for Clemson after tallying a second loss to their season after being defeated by Florida State in the previous week.

In another non-conference match-up, Georgia Tech took on Bowling Green at home. Being the underdog going into the game Bowling Green dominated the Yellow Jackets. After two early touchdowns in the first by Georgia Tech, the game seemed to be going in a good direction.

But the Falcons shut that down quickly, scoring 38 unanswered points to ultimately defeat the Yellow Jackets 38-27.

Lastly to conclude the week Virginia Tech took on Pittsburgh at home. With 25 first downs and 427 total yards, the Hokies overpowered the Panthers 38-21. Leading to Pittsburgh’s fourth consecutive loss and Virginia Tech's first win after a three-week losing streak.

Next week, we’ll see another four in-conference match-ups and four non-conference. Duke will be the only team on bye going into the weekend.

Ericka Apolskis is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email eja5676@psu.edu