Around the ACC: Week 7

Story posted October 14, 2021 in

It’s been a rough year for the ACC. At the halfway point of the season, the conference championship game is currently slated to be Wake Forest versus Pitt, something exactly zero pundits would have predicted before the season.

While Wake Forest deserves some credit for taking advantage of its surroundings, the main storyline so far is Clemson’s dismal start. They’ll be playing Syracuse on Friday to determine who takes the lead for a spot in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl this December.

Speaking of Duke, the Demon Deacons will play Virginia on Saturday.

Junior quarterback Brennan Armstrong has been a revelation for the Cavaliers. He leads all of college football with 2,460 passing yards, an average of over 400 per game. UVA can move into second place in the Coastal division with a win and also a Pitt win.

Virginia Tech will host Pitt in another game with implications for the Coastal division. The Hokies collapsed late against Notre Dame last week, but could regain their spot in first with a win. It will be a tall order, though, as Virginia Tech’s defense will be tasked to slow down a red-hot Pitt offense that has scored 41 or more points in each of their games.

A matchup farther down in the standings is North Carolina and Miami, two of the most disappointing teams in football this year. While Miami had the misfortune of playing Alabama in Week 1, North Carolina has lost to weak competition such as Georgia Tech and Florida State.

Trendy preseason Heisman pick Sam Howell has been a rare bright spot, but he has not been able to make up for the Tar Heels’ porous defense.

Boston College had a rare chance to crack the top-25 in its last game, but they were not able to seal the deal against Clemson. The Eagles will try to reverse their rough start in conference play against NC State, one of the only two ranked teams in the conference.

The Wolfpack may get into a New Years’ Six bowl based on process of elimination, but their schedule so far has been one of the weakest out there. NC State will be able to continue to close the gap on an idle Wake Forest with a win.

 

Adam Babetski is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email aqb6023@psu.edu.