Football

Five Straight Days of ACC Football Highlights Week 1

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Five days of Atlantic Coast Conference Football highlights Week 1 of the 2025 college football season, as 16 ACC programs take the field over Labor Day Weekend. Games begin Thursday, August 28, and run through Monday, September 1, offering fans a wall-to-wall showcase to kick off the season.
 
The ACC is the only conference playing across all five days of Week 1, underscoring the league’s national profile and exposure. Several marquee non-conference matchups headline the slate, including five contests against nationally ranked opponents.
 
Week 1 - ACC Football Schedule
(all times Eastern Time)
 
Thursday, August 28
East Carolina at NC State | 7 p.m. | ACC Network
Series: NC State leads, 19-14
Last meeting: East Carolina, 26-21 (2024)
 
Elon at Duke | 7:30 p.m. | ACCNX
Series: Duke leads, 8-0-1
Last meeting: Duke, 26-3 (2024)
 
Friday, August 29
Kennesaw State at Wake Forest | 7 p.m. | ACC Network
Series: First Meeting
 
Georgia Tech at Colorado | 8 p.m. | ESPN
Series: First Meeting
 
Saturday, August 30
Duquesne at Pitt | Noon | ACC Network
Series: Pitt leads, 5-2
Last meeting: Duquesne, 21-13 (1939)
 
Syracuse at #24 Tennessee | Noon | ABC
Series: Tennessee leads, 3-0
Last meeting: Tennessee, 33-9 (2001)
 
Fordham at Boston College | 2 p.m. | ACCNX
Series: Boston College leads, 14-11-2
Last meeting: Boston College, 21-7 (1954)
 
Eastern Kentucky at Louisville | 3 p.m. | ACC Network
Series: Louisville leads, 20-8-1
Last meeting: Louisville, 30-3 (2021)
 
#8 Alabama at Florida State | 3:30 p.m. | ABC
Series: Alabama leads, 3-1-1
Last meeting: Alabama, 24-7 (2017)
 
Coastal Carolina at Virginia | 6 p.m. | ACC Network
Series: Virginia leads, 1-0
Last meeting: Virginia, 43-24 (2024)
 
#9 LSU at #4 Clemson | 7:30 p.m. | ABC
Series: LSU leads, 3-1
Last meeting: LSU, 42-25 (2019)
 
East Texas A&M at #16 SMU | 9 p.m. | ACC Network
Series: First Meeting
 
California at Oregon State | 10:30 p.m. | ESPN
Series: California leads, 40-37
Last meeting: California, 44-7 (2024)
 
Sunday, August 31
Virginia Tech vs. #13 South Carolina | 3 p.m. | ESPN
Series: South Carolina leads, 11-7-2
Last meeting: South Carolina, 28-21 (1991)
 
#6 Notre Dame at #10 Miami | 7:30 p.m. | ABC
Series: Notre Dame leads, 17-8-1
Last meeting: Miami, 41-8 (2017)
 
Monday, September 1
TCU at North Carolina | 8 p.m. | ESPN
Series: North Carolina leads, 3-0
Last meeting: North Carolina, 31-10 (1997)
 
 
ACC Football Notes
 
An ACC First in Week 1
  • The ACC will have five different teams face a non-conference AP Top 25 opponent in Week 1 (Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Syracuse and Virginia Tech). That is the most in Week 1 in ACC history.
  • The previous high was four games against non-conference AP Top 25 opponents in Week 1 of both the 1982 and 1997 seasons.
 
ACC Owns Labor Day Once Again
  • The ACC is the only league to compete across five days - Thursday through Monday - during Week 1 of the college football season.
  • This will be the sixth time this has happened for the ACC in the regular season since 2017 (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023). No other FBS conference has done so even once over that same period. (Stats Perform)
  • Week 1 includes seven games against P4 opponents and Notre Dame – no other conference has more.
  • The ACC will once again anchor Labor Day Weekend on Monday night with North Carolina playing host to TCU, as Bill Belichick makes his collegiate coaching debut with the Tar Heels hosting TCU.
  • It marks the 16th consecutive Labor Day game for the ACC (excluding the 2020 COVID season), and the 19th time since the tradition began with Florida State vs. Miami in 2005.
  • ESPN will host a special one-hour College Football Countdown studio show live from Kenan Stadium on Monday, September 1. The Labor Day special will air live from 7-8 p.m. ET on ESPN from the sidelines before the Tar Heels take on the TCU Horned Frogs for their season opener.
 
ACC Football Fridays
  • ACC Football is set to dominate Fridays this fall, with a league-record 12 games scheduled for Fridays in 2025, the most of any conference.
  • 12 of the ACC’s 17 football programs will participate in at least one primetime Friday night game.
  • Georgia Tech’s season-opening contest at Colorado on August 29 is one of two ACC games set for this Friday.
 
Strongest Non-Conference Schedule
  • ACC teams are scheduled to play 26 games against peer Power 4 Conference opponents and Notre Dame in 2025, the most of any conference by at least eight games – ACC – 26; SEC – 18; Big 12 – 14; Big Ten – 12.
  • ACC teams are scheduled to play 15 non-conference games against opponents that were ranked in the 2025 Preseason AP Poll, five more than any other conference. Nine of those contests will come versus foes ranked in the top 10, also the most of any conference.
  • ACC teams will play 35 non-conference games against opponents that appeared in a bowl game last year, including eight against teams that made the 12-team College Football Playoff.
  • Based on team records from last season, the ACC is slated to play the toughest strength of schedule (.591) in non-conference play this season (considers FBS opponents only). (Stats Perform)
 
ACC is Again the Conference of Quarterbacks
  • The ACC is the Conference of Quarterbacks, with the return of full-time starters Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Haynes King at Georgia Tech, Kevin Jennings at SMU, Eli Holstein at Pitt, Kyron Drones at Virginia Tech, CJ Bailey at NC State and Tommy Castellanos at Florida State.
  • Five ACC quarterbacks were ranked in ESPN’s Top 15 QBs in College Football in 2025 – Cade Klubnik of Clemson, Carson Beck of Miami, Haynes King of Georgia Tech, Kevin Jennings of SMU and Darian Mensah of Duke.
  • The ACC features nine of the top 30 quarterback transfers heading into the 2025 season and has seen a strong influx of talent at the position, including notable names like Carson Beck (Miami), Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (California), Darian Mensah (Duke), Miller Moss (Louisville), Steve Angeli and Rickie Collins (Syracuse), Dylan Lonergan (Boston College), Chandler Morris (Virginia), Gio Lopez (North Carolina), Devin Brown (California), Daniel Kaelin (Virginia), and Deshawn Purdie (Wake Forest).
  • The ACC had 13 quarterbacks named to the 2025 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List – no other conference had more.
  • The ACC also had seven quarterbacks named to the 2025 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List.
 
ACC is Loaded with Preeminent Players
  • The ACC is stacked with preeminent players again heading into the 2025 season, including:
    • Five ACC players are ranked on ESPN’s list of 25 non-QB playmakers to watch.
    • ACC has 10 of the top 50 best players in college football (PFF College 50).
    • ACC has 1 of the 3 top returning players across six different positions (Pro Football Focus).
    • ACC has 3 of the top 10 teams in the 247Sports 2025 Transfer Football Team Rankings.
    • ACC has 22 of the top 100 transfers in the 247Sports 2025 College Football Transfer Portal Top Prospects.
 
ACC x NFL
  • No conference blends college football and NFL experience quite like the ACC in 2025, with three former NFL head coaches now leading programs: Bill O’Brien (Boston College), Bill Belichick (North Carolina), and Frank Reich (Stanford), the most of any conference.
  • Belichick (six Super Bowl wins) and Reich (one) are the only two college football head coaches who have also won a Super Bowl as either head coach or coordinator in the NFL.
  • Several ACC programs also feature General Managers with deep NFL ties, including Ron Rivera (Cal), John Garrett (Duke), Michael Lombardi (North Carolina) and Andrew Luck (Stanford), along with a growing number of former NFL stars contributing across coaching staffs and player development roles.
 
2025 ACC Football Championship Game in Primetime Once Again
  • The 2025 ACC Football Championship Game will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 6, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on ABC. The league’s football championship game will showcase the top two teams based on regular-season conference winning percentage.
  • The 8 p.m. ET kickoff marks the 16th time in the last 17 years that the game will be held in primetime. Since its inception in 2005, a total of 14 different teams have competed in the championship game.
  • Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, has hosted 14 of the last 15 ACC Football Championship Games. The ACC, Carolina Panthers, and the Charlotte Sports Foundation have an agreement to keep the championship game in Charlotte through the 2030 season.
  • The winner of the conference championship game has advanced to the National Championship Game or competed in the College Football Playoff in nine of the last 12 seasons, including both of the two participating teams last year, with the ACC being one of only three multi-bid leagues.