This Week in ACC Football |
Conference Points Overall Points
Team W L T For Opp Pct W L T For Opp Pct
NOTING THE ACC:
Maryland and North Carolina pick up key non-conference wins as ACC improves to an NCAA-best 8-3 mark against BCS conference opponents ... NC State’s T.A. McLendon has scored seven touchdowns in his last two games ... Virginia QB Matt Schaub has 15 touchdown passes in last five games ... NC State’s Philip Rivers leads nation in passing efficiency; Schaub fourth ... North Carolina’s Darian Durant throws for 417 yards and five touchdowns against Arizona State and is eighth nationally in total offense (299.2) ... Georgia Tech’s Luke Manget extends consecutive PAT streak to 149 in a row ... Wake Forest leads the nation in turnover margin (+2.50) ... Virginia’s Billy McMullen moves into ninth on ACC career receiving yardage list (2,508) andtied for 12th in career receptions with 167.
By the numbers
4 - touchdowns scored this season by NC State defensive back Lamont Reid, including two on kickoff returns of 90 and 97 yards ... Reid is averaging 46.2 yards on five kickoff returns.
4 - touchdown receptions by North Carolina wide receiver Chesley Borders in the Tar Heels’ 38-35 win at Arizona State ... the four touchdowns equalled Borders’ career total in 31 games prior to Saturday night.
7 - rushing touchdowns in his last two games by NC State true freshman T.A. McLendon ... McLendon is second in the ACC and fifth nationally in scoring (12.0 pg).
9:34 - amount of time that NC State has trailed in six games this season.
11 - national ranking in this week’s Coaches poll by NC State.
14 - number of games decided by seven points or less in Wake Forest’s first 17 games under head coach Jim Grobe.
15 - touchdown passes thrown by Virginia QB Matt Schaub in his last five games.
21 - career wins as a starter by NC State quarterback Philip Rivers.
138 - consecutive passes thrown by Wake Forest quarterback James MacPherson without an interception ... MacPherson’s last interception came in the first quarter of last year’s season finale against Northern Illinois.
Non-offense TDs
ACC teams have scored 18 touchdowns this season by either defensive play or special teams returns ... NC State leads all ACC teams with seven touchdowns produced by their special teams or defense ... Georgia Tech holds the ACC record with 11 non-offensive unit touchdowns in 1998.
Non-Offensive Touchdowns by Team Team Def. Punt KO Total Clemson 1 0 0 1 Duke 1 0 0 1 Florida State 1 1 1 3 Georgia Tech 0 0 0 0 Maryland 0 2 0 2 N. Carolina 0 0 0 0 NC State 3 2 2 7 Virginia 2 1 0 3 Wake Forest 0 1 0 1 ACC Totals 8 7 3 18
GAME PREVIEWS:
Saturday, October 12
#9 Florida State (5-1, 4-0 ACC)
at #1 Miami (5-0, 2-0 Big East)
ABC; Noon
Orange Bowl (72,319)
THE GAME: A full house is expected for this one as the two long-time rivals clash for the 46th time ... Miami has won the last two meetings and leads the series 25-20 ... prior to the the Hurricanes’ current two-game win streak, FSU had won five in a row ... last year’s Miami win snapped Florida State’s 54-game home unbeaten streak.
LAST YEAR: Ken Dorsey threw three touch-down passes and No. 2 Miami pulled away with a 28-point third quarter en route to a 49-27 win in Tallahassee ... FSU outgained the Hurricanes 476-to-391 in total yardage.
THE COACHES: Bobby Bowden is 255-60-4 in 27 years at Florida State and 328-92-4 in 37 seasons overall ... Larry Coker is 17-0 in his second year at Miami.
Notes:
- Eight of the last nine series’ meetings have been decided by 10 or more points ... since 1993, the average win margin in the series has been 18.7 points per game.
- Larry Coker’s 17-game win streak to start his career at Miami is the best of any first-time head coach in the “modern era” of college football (since 1950) for wins without a tie. Coker’s start is the best since Walter Camp of Yale led the Bulldogs to 28 consecutive victories before a loss in the 1888-89 seasons.
- Florida State is 74-65-4 (.531) against AP-ranked teams while Miami is 70-98-1 (.417) ... the Seminoles are 1-3 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams.
- FSU and Miami have each been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll 57 times - tied for the fifth-best total among all Division I-A schools.
Saturday, October 12
Clemson (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
at Virginia (4-2, 2-1 ACC)
ESPN2; Noon
Scott Stadium (61,500)
THE GAME: The Cavaliers return home to the friendly confines of Scott Stadium to take on a Clemson team looking to rebound from its loss to Florida State last Thursday ... the Tigers won the first 29 games of the series and lead the rivalry 34-6-1, including a 15-3 mark in Charlottesville ... since Virginia’s first win in the series in 1990, the Cavaliers own a 6-5-1 edge over the Tigers.
LAST YEAR: Billy McMullen’s one-yard touchdown catch with one second left to play gave the Cavaliers a 26-24 win over the 19th-ranked Tigers in Death Valley ... Clemson’s Derrick Hamilton had nine catches for 90 yards.
THE COACHES: Tommy Bowden is 25-16 in four years at Clemson and 43-20 in six seasons overall ... Al Groh is 9-9 in his second year at UVa and 35-49 in seven seasons overall.
Notes:
- Tommy Bowden’s first win at Clemson came against a ranked Virginia team in 1999 ... under Bowden, the Tigers are 8-5 in Memorial Stadium against ACC foes.
- In the last five meetings between the two teams, Virginia is +2.00 in turnover margin versus Clemson ... the Cavaliers have turned the ball over only six times since 1996 while the Tigers have 16 turnovers.
- Saturday’s game with Clemson marks Virginia’s first ACC home game after starting with three straight league contests on the road.
- The Cavaliers have the nation’s fifth-toughest remaining schedule with their seven opponents a combined 28-10 (.737)
- Virginia’s Matt Schaub leads the ACC with 16 TD passes while Clemson has allowed only five TD passes all season.
Saturday, October 12
#11 NC State (6-0, 1-0 ACC)
at North Carolina (2-3, 0-1 ACC)
JP-TV; Noon
Kenan Stadium (60,000)
THE GAME: The 92nd meeting between these two arch rivals will be televised regionally by Jefferson-Pilot Sports ... North Carolina has won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams and leads the series 60-25-6, including a 25-15-1 mark in Kenan Stadium.
LAST YEAR: Darian Durant completed 10 of 14 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns as UNC topped the homestanding Wolfpack 17-9 ... NC State’s Philip Rivers threw for 306 yards and one touchdown.
THE COACHES: Chuck Amato is 21-9 in his third season at NC State ... John Bunting is 10-8 in two years at North Carolina and 48-22-2 in six seasons overall.
Notes:
- Both head coaches are alums of their resepective schools .. Amato is 1968 graduate of NC State while Bunting graduated from UNC in 1972.
- The Tar Heels have out-rushed State in eight of last nine series meetings ... since 1993, UNC has averaged 208.0 yards rushing per game while limiting the Wolfpack to 92.0 yards per game on the ground.
- NC State’s Philip Rivers has thrown for 508 yards and two touchdowns in two career games against North Carolina.
- The Wolfpack has won three of its last four ACC road games while the Tar Heels are 4-2 in their last six ACC games in Kenan Stadium.
- For the second-straight week North Carolina will go up against the nation’s passing efficiency leader ... last week UNC faced Arizona State’s Andrew Walter, this week the Tar Heels will face NC State’s Philip Rivers.
Saturday, October 12
Duke (2-4, 0-2 ACC)
at Wake Forest (3-3, 1-2 ACC)
3:30 p.m.
Groves Stadium (31,500)
THE GAME: Duke has held the upper hand in this series between these two long-time rivals since they first met on the gridiron in 1889 ... Wake Forest has won two in a row and four of the last six but still trails in the series 53-27-2 ... this is the sixth most-played series in the ACC ... over the last three meetings, the two teams have combined to average 71.3 points and 746.7 yards per game ... the Blue Devils are 21-9-1 in games played in Winston-Salem.
LAST YEAR: Tarence Williams ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns as Wake Forest scored 28 straight points in the first half and then held off a furious second-half Duke rally to post a 42-35 win in Durham.
THE COACHES: Carl Franks is 5-34 in four years at Duke ... Jim Grobe is 9-8 in his second season at Wake Forest and 42-41-1 in seven years overall.
Team Notes:
- Duke limited Wake to 69.8 yards per game rushing and forced 5.7 turnovers in the Blue Devils’ last four wins against the Deacs.
- The team with the most rushing yardage has won four of the last five meetings in the series.
- Wake’s Tarence Williams has rushed for 275 yards and five touchdowns in two career games against the Blue Devils.
- Duke allowed Virginia only two yards rushing Saturday and are yielding only 126.2 yards per game on the ground - their lowest per game average since a 124.0 mark in 1962.
- Wake Forest leads the ACC and is eighth nationally in rushing (246.7) but has not had a 100-yard rusher in its first six games.
TEAM by TEAM NOTES:
Clemson: After having only seven catches for 80 yards in his first three games this season senior WR J.J. McKelvey has totaled 15 receptions for 240 yards in his last two games; is sixth in the ACC in receptions (4.4) and receiving yardage (64.0) ... the Tigers have increased their total offense yardage in each of the five games this season (233-336-371-412-441) ... sophomore Derrick Hamilton had 248 all-purpose yards against Florida State ... Hamilton leads the ACC and is ninth nationally in all-purpose yardage (168.4) ... QB Willie Simmons threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns on only 17 completions against FSU ... Simmons is fourth in the ACC in total offense (218.0) ... the Tigers lead the ACC and are 12th in the nation in total defense allowing 281.0 yards per game as compared to 395.0 yards allowed per contest last year.
Duke: Junior Chris Douglas picked up his first 100-yard game rushing of the year Saturday and the fourth of his career when he ran for 126 yards on 23 carries against Virginia ... Douglas is fifth on the school’s career all-purpose yardage list with 3,772 yards ... quarterback Adam Smith completed 25 of 42 passes for a career-high 256 yards and two touchdowns against the Cavaliers ... Smith has completed 58 percent of his passes for 904 yards and five TDs on the year ... Smith has thrown only one interception in 135 attempts ... junior Alex Wade leads the team in rushing with 549 yards; is averaging 90.5 yards rushing per outing ... the Blue Devils have 16 takeaways in their first six games and are fourth in the ACC in turnover margin (+0.83); a year ago Duke forced only 16 turnovers and finished 111th in turnover margin (-1.27) ... under new coordinator Ted Roof, Duke’s defense is allowing only 370.0 yards per game as compared to a 492.0 per game yield a year ago ... over its last four games Duke is averaging 426.8 yards per game.
Florida State: Head coach Bobby Bowden is second all-time among Division I-A coaches with 328 career victories ... the Seminoles are averaging over 200 yards both rushing (219.8) and passing (226.2) and lead the ACC in total offense (446.0) ...junior tailback Greg Jones ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Clemson and leads the league in rushing (105.5) ... QB Chris Rix is 5th in the ACC in total offense (201.2) and is fourth in passing efficiency (140.3) ... Rix has thrown a TD pass in 16 of his 17 career games and over 200 yards in 11 of his last 14 ... freshman Leon Washington is averaging 15.3 yards on nine punt returns and 41.5 yards on four kickoff returns ... Washington leads the ACC and is 18th in the nation in punt returns ... WR Talman Gardner has at least one TD reception in four straight games ...Anquan Boldin is third in the ACC in receptions (4.5) and receiving yards (71.9).
Georgia Tech: Placekicker Luke Manget extended his ACC-record consecutive PAT streak to 149 in a row and is 11th on the all-time ACC scoring list with 281 career points ... Kelley Rhino is tied for seventh on the ACC’s career punt return list with 899 yards ... WR Kerry Watkins is third on Tech’s career reception list (130), third in receiving yards (2,158) and second in TD receptions (20) ... Watkins leads the ACC in receptions (5.0) and receiving yards (88.0) the Yellow Jackets are a perfect 16-for-16 in red zone scoring this season ... senior DE Greg Gathers, Tech’s all-time career leader in sacks (31) and tackles for loss (57) will miss the remainder of the 2002 season with a kidney ailment ... Tech leads the ACC in net punting (37.4) and kickoff coverage (19.3) ... the Yellow Jackets remaining opponents are a combined 26-9 (.743)
Maryland: Maryland had scoring plays of 1, 21, 45, 70, 72 and 80 yards in Saturday’s 48-17 win at West Virginia ... Josh Allen ran 16 times for 116 yards and two touchdowns and became the first freshman since 1998 to top 100 yards ... keyed by Allen and senior Chris Downs, the team’s leading rusher with 388 yards and six TDs, the Terps have averaged 234.3 yards per game rushing over the last three games ... both Allen (6.6) and Downs (6.0) are averaging six yards or better per rushing attempt ... sophomore Steve Suter is 16th nationally in kickoff returns (27.1) and 27th in punt returns (13.9) ... Suter is third in the ACC in all-purpose yardage (131.7) and is averaging 17.6 yards per play ... the Terps have two or less turnovers in four of their six games this season ... placekicker Nick Novak has made 10 of 13 field goal attempts this season, including five from 43 yards or more ... Maryland has outscored its opponents 58-16 in the first quarter this year.
North Carolina: Darian Durant passed for career highs of 417 yards and five touchdowns - including a record-setting four to Chesley Borders - as the Tar Heels rallied to beat Arizona State 38-35 ... Durant set UNC single-game records for passing yardage and total offense (426) and tied the school record with the five TD passes ... although he started just seven games, Durant is already ranked fifth in UNC history with 27 touchdown passes, ninth in passing yards (3,212) and 11th in total offense (3,471) ... Durant leads the ACC in total offense (300.0) and is bidding to become the first Tar Heel since Paul Miller in 1971 to lead the ACC in total offense ... WR Chesley Borders set a school record with four touchdown receptions against ASU ... the Tar Heels have scored 40 percent of their points (49-of-123) in the fourth quarter ... Dan Orner has made six of his seven FG attempts.
NC State: The Wolfpack is 6-0 for the first time since 1991 and ranked 11th in this week’s Coaches’ Poll ... first-year tailback T.A. McLendon ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns against UMass (S28) and over the last two games has rushed for 267 yards and seven touchdowns ... QB Philip Rivers is the nation’s top-ranked passer and has thrown at least one TD pass in 24 of his 30 career starts ... Rivers is 12th on the ACC’s career passing list (7,121) and 13th in total offense (7,050) ... wide receivers Jericho Cotchery (20-for-441) and Bryan Peterson (16-for-372) have combined to catch 36 passes for 813 yards and eight touchdowns and a 22.6 yards per catch average ... Lamont Reid has tied an ACC single season record with two kickoff returns for touchdowns ... Terrance Holt has blocked an ACC-record 12 kicks for his career, including seven field goal attempts ... the Pack has blocked 37 kicks since the start of the 1998 season.
Virginia: Virginia’s Matt Schaub threw for 315 yards and one touchdown and the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to four-in-a-row with a 27-22 victory over Duke ... Schaub has passed for over 300 yards in each of his past two games and is second in the ACC and 4th nationally in passing; has thrown 15 TD passes over his last five games ... Schaub has thrown a TD pass every 10.5 pass attempts - the third-best figure in Division I-A among quarterbacks with 10 or more TD passes ... UVa has out-scored their opponents 124-to-63 in the second half this season ... true freshman Wali Lundy leads the team in rushing (277 yards) and receptions (27) ... Lundy is second in the ACC in kickoff returns (26.5) and is fourth in all-purpose yardage (125.2) ... Billy McMullen moved into ninth on ACC career receiving yardage list (2,508) and is tied for 12th in career receptions with 167 ... the Cavaliers have allowed only six quarterback sacks on the season, tied for the second-best mark in the ACC ... LB Darryl Blackstock had nine tackles against Duke and leads all ACC freshmen with five quarterback sacks.
Wake Forest: Tarence Williams rushed for 99 yards and scored on a 10-yard run with 5:29 remaining as Wake Forest topped Georgia Tech 24-21 ... the win was the first for the Deacs in Atlanta since 1994 ... Wake Forest leads the ACC and ranking eighth nationally in rushing offense (246.7), the Deacs are one of three ACC teams to not have had a 100-yard rusher this season ... led by Nick Burney’s team-high 321 yards, the Deacons have six players with 145 or more yards rushing ... WR Fabian Davis is fifth in the ACC in punt returns (10.1) and second in all-purpose yardage (156.8) ... Wake hasn’t turned the ball over in two straight games leads the nation in turnover margin (+2.50) ... QB James MacPherson has attempted 138 straight passes without an interception ... with 196 yards passing against GaT, MacPherson moved into ninth place among school passing yardage leaders with 3,768 yards ... Tarence Williams is eighth on Wake’s all-time rushing list with 1,944 yards.
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