As November Approaches, The ACC Race is Still Wide Open.

The month of October will be a tough act to follow for all of college football. We saw upset after upset after upset in one of the wildest seasons in the history of NCAA football. The ACC has had its fair share of drama including an 8-0 team, a team that wins every game in the last minute, and two former national powers struggle to earn a spot in the middle of the pack. In the month of November, teams get sorted out between contenders and pretenders, and bowl teams or non bowl teams. Boston College and Virginia have secured their spot in a bowl game. Virginia Tech, Wake Forest , and Clemson are Bowl eligible. Miami , Florida State, and Georgia Tech are one win away from Bowl eligibility. And Maryland , NC State, and North Carolina still have a shot at making it to the post season. With that in mind, let’s take a look and see how all these teams did this past week.

#2 Boston College 14- #8 Virginia Tech 10. If you ever needed proof that football is a sixty minute game, this game provided it. Virginia Tech dominated the first 57 minutes of the game. Heisman candidate Matt Ryan completed only 25 of 52 passes, but went 9 of 15 on BC’s final two drives. The Eagles were down 10-0 late in the 4^th quarter, before Matt Ryan drove the ball 91 yards down the field. The drive was capped off with a 16 yard strike to Rich Gunnel to cut the Hokie lead to 3. After recovering the ensuing onside kick, Matt Ryan threw his second touchdown pass of the game, this time a 24 yard hook up to Andre Callender with 11 seconds left. What is ironic about this loss for the Hokies is they pride themselves on good special teams play, and failing to recover an onside kick was a major factor. This was arguably the first “real team” that Boston College has beaten all year. The Eagles are starting to gain more and more national attention. The Hokies on the other hand, still control their own destiny for a Coastal Division Championship and a possible rematch with the Eagles in the ACC title game. Tech sits at 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the ACC. VT was without the services of starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, and was forced to go with back up Sean Glennon who has now lost 3 of his last 4 as a starter. Glennon went 15-for-25, for 149 yards. Brandon Ore rushed for 97 yards, the most rushing yards given up by BC’s defense all year. Virginia Tech has a tough November ahead of them, beginning this Thursday at Georgia Tech.

Clemson 30 Maryland 17. I’ve always been firmly against college players guaranteeing victory, but hey, whatever works. James Davis guaranteed victory early last week and his actions spoke louder than his words. The junior rushed for 129 yards, including 40 on one drive. Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper threw two touchdown passes to tie the single-season school record of 21, set by Charlie Whitehurst in 2003. The Tigers are now 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the ACC. Clemson is 3^rd place in the Atlantic division behind Wake Forest and Boston College, both of whom will travel to Death Valley this month The Maryland Terrapins were in great shape several weeks ago, sitting at 4-2 and coming off two straight big wins. The tide has turned for the worse if you are a fan of the Terps. Maryland has lost two straight home games and is in danger of missing out on the post season for the 3^rd time in 4 years.

NC State 29, #15 Virginia 24. Daniel Evans has looked like a different player these past few weeks. The senior threw for a career-high 347 yards and three touchdowns, two to Donald Bowens to lead the Wolf Pack to a 5 point win, and Tom O’Brien’s first ACC victory at NC State. The Pack converted two early Jameel Sewell interceptions into 10 points to set the tone for the game. With the win, NC State snapped a 9 game ACC losing streak dating back to last season. The Wolf Pack are 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the ACC. They have looked great the last two weeks, but this success is coming a lot later than Wolf Pack fans had hoped for. State must win 3 of their last four games to qualify for a bowl game. For Virginia , all good things must come to an end. The Cavaliers entered this game riding a 7 game winning streak, tied for the longest in school history. Two costly turnovers and bad coverage in the secondary played a large roll in Virginia suffering their first loss since that Wyoming disaster back on September 1^st. The Cavs had become experts at wining close games this year, with 5 of their wins by 5 points or less. Virginia had a 1 point lead in the 4^th quarter but could not hang on for the win. Despite the loss, the Cavilers are still in good shape. They are still atop of the Coastal Division and have two of their last three games at home. Virginia will open the stretch run of their season this Saturday at home against Wake Forest .

Wake Forest 37 North Carolina 10. This year Wake Forest is on mission to prove that last year’s title run was no fluke, and they are still a force to be reckoned with. The Demon Deacons certainly made a statement on Saturday with a dominating win over North Carolina . The Deacs scored on offense, defense, and special teams. Josh Adams rushed for two touchdowns, Aaron Curry returned one of his two interceptions 77 yards for a touchdown. The highlight of the game was when Kevin Marion returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score. Also for Wake, kicker Sam Swank became the school’s all-time leading scorer. The senior connected on two field goals, and three extra points to set the record. After dropping their first two games of the season, Wake Forest has now won six in a row, and is a game behind Boston College in the Atlantic division. For North Carolina , freshmen quarterback, T.J Yates continues to show progress. Yates completed 26 of 33 passes for 236 yards. Once again, despite losing the game, UNC managed to get more yards than their opponents. Carolina out gained Wake 313-269. The Tar Heels are now in a real tight spot. UNC must win out to become bowl eligible.

Florida State 25 Duke 6. After being contained the last few weeks, the Seminole offense exploded racking up a season high 534 yards en route to a victory on blackout night. Junior Drew Weatherford came off the bench to start for the first time in four games. Weatherford went 35 of 47 for 339 yards, despite not having the services of his top target, Greg Carr. Preston Parker scored two timely touchdowns, one through the air and 1 on the ground. The Seminole defense stepped up in a big way as well, holding Duke to 222 yards and 9 first downs. The Noles might be celebrating now, but one look at their November schedule would quickly put out that fire. Their November is somewhat suicidal to say the least. Their month from hell includes trips to undefeated Boston College , 11^th ranked Virginia Tech, and defending national champion, Florida . Duke has now lost their 22^nd straight conference game. Their last ACC win was back on November 13^th 2004 against Clemson. Duke’s lone touchdown of the game came when Thaddeus Lewis connected with Brandon King from three yards out. One bright spot for Duke, is they did force two FSU turnovers. The Blue Devils are now 1-8 and are eliminated from bowl contention.