Football

Week 13 In ACC Football

Saturday, Nov. 23, Time, TV, Sirius, XM, App/Web
Liberty (6-4) at Virginia (7-3), Noon, RSN, 135, 193, 955
Series: Virginia leads, 1-0; Last meeting: Virginia, 45-24 (2018)
RSN: Evan Lepler (play-by-play), Dave Archer (analyst), Abby Labar (sideline)
 
Boston College (5-5) at Notre Dame (8-2), 2:30 p.m., NBC, 129, 129, 129
Series: Notre Dame leads, 15-9; Last meeting: Notre Dame, 49-20 (2017)
NBC: Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Doug Flutie (analyst), Kathryn Tapper (sideline), Chris Simms (sideline)
 
Mercer (3-5) at North Carolina (4-6), 3:30 p.m., RSN, 136, 194, 956
Series: North Carolina leads, 1-0; Last meeting: North Carolina, 3-0 (1925)
RSN: Tom Werme (play-by-play), James Bates (analyst), Kelsey Wingert (sideline)
 
Pitt (7-3, 4-2) at Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2), 3:30 p.m., ESPN2, 119, 203, 966
Series: Virginia Tech leads, 10-8; Last meeting: Pitt, 52-22 (2018)
ESPN2: Mark Jones (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), Olivia Dekker (sideline)
 
Syracuse (4-6, 1-5) at Louisville (6-4, 4-3), 4 p.m., ACCN, 135, 193, 955
Series: Louisville leads, 10-7; Last meeting: Syracuse, 54-23 (2018)
ACCN: Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), Kelsey Riggs (sideline), Eric Wood (sideline)
 
Miami (6-4) at FIU (5-5), 7 p.m., CBSSN, 136, 194, 956
Series: Miami leads, 3-0; Last meeting: Miami, 31-17 (2018)
CBSSN: Rich Walz (play-by-play), Aaron Murray (analyst), Amanda Balionis (sideline)
 
Duke (4-6, 2-4) at Wake Forest (7-3, 3-3), 7:30 p.m., ACCN, 135, 193, 955
Series: Duke leads, 58-39-2; Last meeting: Wake Forest, 59-7 (2018)
ACCN: Dave O'Brien (play-by-play), Tim Hasselbeck (analyst), Katie George (sideline)

ACC COASTAL DIVISION: With two weeks remaining in the regular season, several possibilities still exist in the Coastal Division with Miami, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech all alive for a share of the division title; however, only Pitt, Virginia or Virginia Tech can play in the ACC Football Championship Game due to the divisional tiebreakers.

Advancing to the ACC FCG (alphabetical order):
Pitt (7-3, 4-2) represents the Coastal Division with wins over Virginia Tech & Boston College, AND Virginia Tech defeats Virginia on Nov. 29.

Virginia (7-3, 5-2) represents the Coastal Division with a win over Virginia Tech on Nov. 29. The Cavaliers can also win a three-team tiebreaker with Pitt and Virginia Tech depending on the order of finish among Miami, Duke and North Carolina.

Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2) represents the Coastal Division with wins over Pitt and Virginia.  The Hokies can also win a three-team tiebreaker with Pitt and Virginia depending on the order of finish among Miami, Duke and North Carolina.

Four-Way Tie at 5-3 - In the event of a four-way tie among Miami, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech, the Hokies will represent the Coastal Division in the ACC Football Championship Game due to the divisional tiebreakers.

* No. 3 Clemson has clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title and will play the Coastal Division champion in the ACC Football Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Tigers are the first ACC team to represent either division in five consecutive ACC Championships Games. Clemson earned a berth in the title game for the seventh time, passing Virginia Tech (six) for the most total appearances.

* The ACC leads the nation with 32 wins against teams with a .500 record-or-better.

* With Virginia Tech's win over Georgia Tech last Saturday, the Hokies are bowl eligible for the 27th consecutive season, the longest active bowl streak in the country.  With a 49-12 victory over Alabama State, Florida State qualified for a bowl for the 38th time in the last 40 seasons.

* Eight ACC teams have already qualified for a bowl game, including Clemson (11-0), Pitt (7-3), Virginia (7-3), Virginia Tech (7-3), Wake Forest (7-3), Louisville (6-4), Miami (6-4) and Florida State (6-4).  Boston College (5-5) needs to win one of its next two games at Notre Dame or at Pitt for bowl eligibility.  Duke (4-6), North Carolina (4-6), NC State (4-6) and Syracuse (4-6) need to win each of their next two games to qualify for the postseason.

* In the NCAA strength of schedule ranking, Louisville has played the nation's second-most difficult schedule based on past opposition. Louisville's opponents are a combined 62-31 (.667). That is the most difficult schedule to date of any Power 5 team. North Carolina's schedule ranks 12th (58-34, .630) and Florida State's is 13th (63-37, .630). 

* North Carolina has played nine games decided by one possession (eight points or fewer), which is the most in the country. Miami and Pitt rank second with seven one-possession games. Florida State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have played five. North Carolina's six losses have come against teams that are a combined 48-13 (.787).

Most Games Decided by One Possession in 2019
1. North Carolina    9
2. Miami    7
    Pitt    7

* Clemson has won 26 consecutive games. That is the second-longest streak in ACC history and the longest active streak in the country. The league record is 29 straight by Florida State from 2012-14. 

ACC Win Streaks (all games)
29 - Florida State, 2012-14
26 - Clemson, 2018-present
17 - Florida State, 1999-2000
17 - Clemson, 2014-15

* Clemson has won a nation's best 29 consecutive regular season games. The last time the Tigers lost a regular season game was at Syracuse on Oct. 13, 2017. Clemson has won 60 of its last 62 regular season games.

* Clemson has scored at least 45 points in six consecutive games, which matches the 2013 Florida State Seminoles for the longest streak in ACC history. The Tigers have also won six in a row by 30-or-more points, which is the most in ACC history. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Clemson joined 1944 Army and 1972 Nebraska as the only teams in the AP Poll era to win four consecutive games by 45-or-more points. 

* Clemson registered its 750th all-time victory with a 45-14 win over Florida State on Oct. 12. Clemson, which now has 755 wins, leads all ACC teams and ranks 14th among all FBS schools.  Virginia Tech is 16th with 750. Georgia Tech (19th, 737) and Syracuse (22nd, 723) also rank among the top 25 in wins.

* Eleven ACC head coaches have won at least 50 career games, including five with more than 100 victories.  The five 100-win coaches are UNC's Mack Brown (248), Clemson's Dabo Swinney (127), Wake Forest's Dave Clawson (125), Virginia's Bronco Mendenhall (122) and Duke's David Cutcliffe (115). No other conference has as many coaches with 100 career wins.  

* Two of the five active coaches to win a national title reside in the ACC. Dabo Swinney led Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018. UNC's Mack Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005.

* Led by Pitt, six ACC teams rank among the top 20 nationally in sacks per game. The Panthers rank first in the nation with 45 sacks in 10 games (4.5/gm) and are followed by No. 4 Miami (3.70), No. 8 Virginia (3.40), No. 11 Virginia Tech (3.30), No. 15 NC State (3.20), and No. 19 Clemson (3.0).

* Wake Forest place-kicker Nick Sciba set the ACC record for most consecutive made field goals with his 28th in a row on a 30-yarder vs. Clemson on Saturday. Sciba (last 11 of 2018; all 17 in 2019) surpassed the mark set previously by Marc Primanti of NC State (last seven of 1995; all 20 in 1996). The NCAA record of 30 is held by Chuck Nelson of Washington from 1981-82.

* Clemson running back Travis Etienne has 51 career rushing touchdowns, which ranks second in ACC history. Pitt's James Conner (2013-14, 2016) holds the ACC career mark with 52. Etienne has 55 career touchdowns (51 rushing, 4 receiving), which also ranks second in league history.

* Virginia kick returner Joe Reed (2016-present) is close to becoming the second player in ACC history with 3,000 kickoff return yards.  Reed has 2,989 kickoff return yards and currently ranks second behind ACC record-holder T.J. Graham of NC State (2008-11), who had 3,195.  Syracuse's Sean Riley ranks sixth with 2,433 kickoff return yards.

* Boston College running back AJ Dillon rushed for 165 yards against FSU to become just the eighth ACC player to reach 4,000 career rushing yards. He now has 4,148 yards and joins Dalvin Cook (FSU) and Lamar Jackson (UL) as the only ACC players to post 4,000 rushing yards in three seasons. He is 317 yards shy of passing Cook for second in ACC history and the most by a player in three seasons.

* Dillon is on pace to set the ACC record for rushing yards per game.  He is currently averaging 125.7 rushing yards per game, which is just ahead of the record set by FSU's Dalvin Cook set from 2014-16 (117.5 ypg). 

* North Carolina freshman quarterback Sam Howell has thrown 29 touchdown passes this season, which is the third-highest freshman total in ACC history and just one shy of Clemson's Trevor Lawrence's true freshman mark of 30 set last year. Howell leads the ACC and ranks sixth in the country with 29 TD passes, while throwing just six interceptions.  Lawrence has tossed 27 touchdown passes, which is 11th in the country.