Around the ACC: Week 2
After a rather underwhelming week one, the ACC had a much better outing in week two, barring a few outliers. Let’s take a deeper look into some of the matchups that took place this past weekend.
Starting in the Coastal Division, the reigning ACC champion No. 17 Pittsburgh Panthers were stunned in an overtime loss to No. 24 Tennessee. The Panthers struggled after USC transfer and starting quarterback Kedon Slovic went down with injury and did not return. The loss pushed the Panthers back to No. 23 in the AP poll while the Vols moved up to No. 15.
With Slovis’ status still unclear and second string quarterback Nick Patti struggling with an ankle injury, the yellow and blue will need to think of a contingency plan fast before they take on Western Michigan on the road this coming weekend.
No. 15 Miami is looking to claim the Coastal Division for their own as they handled Southern Miss with relative ease. Potential Heisman candidate Tyler Van Dyke threw for 261 yards and a touchdown with just nine incompletions.
The Hurricanes have a lot of hype surrounding them this season, and they have their first true test coming up when they travel to College Station to take on the number one recruiting class in the nation and No. 24 Texas A&M.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are a sneaky pick for the Coastal this season, with quarterback Drake Maye putting on an absolute show through their first three games.
His 930 yards and 11 touchdowns to just one pick leads all of college football and has put himself into the Heisman conversation as well.
Despite Maye’s masterful performances, the Tar Heels defense continues to raise concern, as the blue and white narrowly escaped an upset bid from Georgia State this past week with a 35-28 win.
Moving on to the Atlantic Division, the current favorites in the No. 5 Clemson Tigers had yet another unconvincing win. The Tigers defeated the Furman Paladins by a score of just 35-12 and the outcry for Cade Klubnik to become the starter continued to grow.
Dabo Swinney’s squad is one of the best in college football, but if Swinney wants to earn that hefty new paycheck he received, he needs to make a decision on his starting quarterback. Preferably before their matchups with No. 19 Wake Forest and No. 16 North Carolina State.
Speaking of the Wolfpack, they came away with a much less stressful win than in Week One. Dark horse Heisman candidate Devin Leary became the first North Carolina State quarterback to throw for four touchdowns and rush for a pair in one game along with setting a program record with six total touchdowns.
The Wolfpack will look to build on their dominant win as Texas Tech comes into town this weekend. The Red Raiders are coming off a confidence boosting win themselves, upsetting the No. 25 Houston Cougars in overtime this past Saturday.
Wake Forest fans can breathe a heavy sigh of relief, Sam Hartman is officially back. The senior quarterback only missed one game and it looked like he didn’t miss a beat.
Hartman torched the Vanderbilt defense for four touchdowns and 300 yards, as the Demon Deacons and Hartman will look to build confidence before their crucial conference matchup with Clemson in a couple of weeks.
Just one more week of football left before the ACC starts to roll into conference play, and there will be a lot at stake when the season kicks into full swing.
Josh Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.
