Football

ACC Football Continues with 12-Game Week 3 Slate

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – ACC Football enters Week 3 with 12 games across three consecutive days from Thursday, September 17, through Saturday, September 19. The conference will be featured across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ACC Network, The CW, FS1, SEC Network and ACCNX, beginning Thursday night with a conference matchup between Syracuse and Pitt at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
 
The Week 3 slate features five conference matchups and several marquee non-conference opportunities against Power Four opponents. Saturday’s action is highlighted by Florida State traveling to No. 10 Alabama for a 3:30 p.m. ET showdown on ABC, while NC State visits Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech travels to Maryland and No. 25 Virginia takes on West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina. Conference play is headlined by a ranked matchup between No. 16 SMU and No. 23 Louisville on ESPN2, while North Carolina visits Clemson and Stanford travels to Duke.
 
Week 3 begins with back-to-back primetime conference games on ESPN, as Syracuse visits Pitt on Thursday night before No. 5 Miami travels to Wake Forest on Friday. The ACC enters the week looking to build on a strong Week 2 in which conference teams went 12-1 in non-conference play.
 

Week 3 - ACC Football Schedule
(All Times Eastern Time)

Thursday, September 17
Syracuse at Pitt | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN

Friday, September 18
#5 Miami at Wake Forest | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
 
Saturday, September 19
Mercer at Georgia Tech | Noon | ACC Network
North Carolina at Clemson | Noon | ESPN
NC State at Vanderbilt | 12:45 p.m. | SEC Network
Maine at Boston College | 2 p.m. | ACCNX
Wagner at California | 3:30 p.m. | ACC Network
Florida State at #10 Alabama | 3:30 p.m. | ABC
#16 SMU at #23 Louisville | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN2
Stanford at Duke | 4 p.m. | The CW
West Virginia at #25 Virginia | 7:30 p.m. | ACC Network
Virginia Tech at Maryland | 7:30 p.m. | FS1



ACC Football Notes
 
ACC Gets an Early Start in League Play
  • The ACC has already played an FBS-high four conference games through Week 2 of the season — twice as many as any other conference.  
  • Conference play ramps up in Week 3 with five league matchups, highlighted by a ranked showdown between No. 16 SMU and No. 23 Louisville on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
 
ACC Offenses Lighting Up the Scoreboard
  • Eight different ACC teams have scored at least 56 points in a game this season, tied with the Big 12 for the most among all FBS conferences. The ACC has already surpassed its total from the entire 2025 season, when six teams reached the 56-point mark.
  • The fireworks continued in Week 2, when five ACC teams scored 50-plus points and three topped 70.
  • Four ACC teams rank among the FBS top 25 in scoring offense, led by No. 2 Miami (61.0 ppg) and No. 4 Virginia Tech (58.5).
 
ACC Playmakers Producing Big Numbers
  • No conference has produced more explosive individual offensive performances this season: the ACC leads the FBS with 10 300-yard passing games and 13 100-yard rushing performances.
  • The ACC is also the only FBS conference with multiple 400-yard passing performances, with Pitt’s Mason Heintschel (453), SMU’s Kevin Jennings (430) and Miami’s Darian Mensah (401) each eclipsing the mark.
  • The ACC is the only Power Four conference to produce both a 200-yard rushing performance and a 200-yard receiving performance this season.
 
ACC Standouts Setting the National Pace
  • ACC student-athletes rank among the top three nationally in 19 individual statistical categories, making an impact across offense, defense and special teams.
  • The league boasts FBS leaders in rushing yards per game, completion percentage, total offense, interceptions, tackles-for-loss, kickoff return average and all-purpose yards, among other categories.  
  • Duke’s Nate Sheppard leads the FBS in rushing (187.0 ypg) and all-purpose yards (217.0 ypg), while SMU’s Kevin Jennings leads in total offense (402.5 ypg).
 
ACC Teams Among the FBS Elite
  • ACC teams rank in the national top five across 11 major offensive and defensive categories, including total offense, passing offense, scoring offense, rushing defense, scoring defense, third-down defense and red-zone defense.
  • Miami leads the FBS in total offense at 702.5 yards per game, while SMU leads the nation in passing offense at 442.0 yards per game.
  • Defensively, five ACC teams rank among the FBS top 26 in total defense, including Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami and Syracuse in the top 12.
 
Numbers that Jump of the Page
  • Miami: Outgained Florida A&M by 749 yards (856-107), the largest single-game yardage differential in the FBS over the last 30 years.
  • Miami & SMU: First ACC teams since Philip Rivers-led NC State in 2003 to record 400 passing yards in each of their first two games of a season.
  • Duke RB Nate Sheppard: Only FBS player in the last 30 seasons with 350+ rushing yards and multiple receiving TDs through his team's first two games.
  • Pitt QB Mason Heintschel: Set the ACC single-game record with seven touchdown passes, throwing for 453 yards with seven different receivers catching a touchdown. 
 
Enhanced Replay Access Expands in Year Two
  • The ACC continues to expand its Enhanced Replay Access initiative in 2026, providing audiences greater access to real-time replay discussions during broadcasts.
  • With three games added in Week 2 and one in Week 3 since the original announcement ahead of Week 0 in August, enhanced access is now scheduled for 22 games across Weeks 0-3, up from five games during the same span in 2025.
  • Including Friday night games already scheduled for Weeks 4-14 and the 2026 ACC Football Championship Game, at least 31 games will feature enhanced access in 2026, surpassing the 27 games included during the entire 2025 season.
  • The initiative provides live audio and video among the referee, stadium replay official and ACC Collaborative Instant Replay Official in Charlotte during reviews.
  • The ACC has also added four cameras inside the Game Day Operations Center for ESPN and ACCN broadcasts, providing another look inside the conference’s replay operations.
  • Currently, ACC Enhanced Replay Access broadcasts are limited to games that are both officiated by ACC crews and carried on ACC-controlled linear television platforms.
 
ACC Football Fridays
  • ACC Football Fridays continue this week with a conference matchup between two unbeaten teams in No. 5 Miami and Wake Forest at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • During the 2026 season, the ACC is playing a record 15 games on Fridays.
  • Over the first six weeks of the season, ACC teams will appear in nine Friday games, which included four Friday contests in Week 2.
  • The league will continue to take center stage in October and November:
    • At least one Friday night game will be played in each of Weeks 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
    • Thanksgiving week concludes with Florida at Florida State on Black Friday.
 
Strongest Non-Conference Schedule Once Again in 2026
  • ACC teams are scheduled to play 25 non-conference games against Power Four plus Notre Dame — the most of any conference.
    • Includes nine games vs. SEC, five vs. B1G, five vs. Big 12 and six vs. Notre Dame.
  • Two-thirds of the ACC’s non-conference games are against Power Four or bowl-eligible teams.
  • All 17 ACC teams will play at least 10 games vs. Power Four and Notre Dame.
  • Three of the five FBS teams playing 11 or more games vs. Power Four and Notre Dame hail from the ACC.
  • ACC teams have a total of 12 non-conference games against teams ranked in ESPN’s 2026 Way-Too-Early Top 25.
  • ACC will play 12 games against teams ranked in the final 2025 College Football Playoff rankings and AP Top 25.
  • ACC teams have a combined 29 games against 23 teams that received a 2025 bowl invitation.
 
Strength and Depth of ACC Football
  • Over the last three seasons, the ACC has had 11 or more bowl-eligible teams — the longest streak of any conference.
  • Last year, the ACC had seven teams with nine or more wins on the season — the most in a single season in ACC history.
  • Nine ACC teams had eight or more wins in 2025 — tied for the most in FBS and the most in a single season in ACC history.
  • In 2024, four teams finished the season with 10 or more wins — the first time in ACC history.
 
ACC’s Growing Global Footprint
  • The ACC opened the 2026 season internationally, as North Carolina defeated TCU 15-10 in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, on August 29.
  • The matchup marked the ACC’s third appearance in Dublin since 2016. Georgia Tech faced Boston College on September 3, 2016, before playing Florida State in the 2024 season opener on August 24, 2024.
  • The ACC’s international presence will expand in 2027 with multiple games outside the United States.
  • Pitt will face Wisconsin in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin on August 28, while Syracuse and Wake Forest will play the first ACC matchup in Canada in Toronto on August 28 or 29.
 
ACC Again Owned Labor Day Weekend with “Five Straight Days of ACC Football”
  • 14 ACC teams played over 12 games across five straight days (Thursday, September 3 – Monday, September 7).
  • SMU at Florida State on Labor Day Monday marked the ACC’s 17th consecutive year playing on Labor Day (excluding 2020) and 20th since 2005.
  • The ACC led all conferences in Week 1 Power Four non-conference games with five.
  • Of the nine Week 1 games that featured Power Four vs. Power Four — or Notre Dame — seven included at least one ACC team.

2026 ACC Football Championship Game
  • The Championship Game will kick off on Saturday, December 5, at noon ET on ABC, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
  • 2026 marks the 14th consecutive year, and the 18th time overall, that the ACC Football Championship Game will air on ABC.
  • ACC Championship games have been televised on either ABC or ESPN every year since their inaugural season in 2005.
  • The ACC’s top two teams will be showcased in the only Power Four conference championship game in the noon television time slot.