Around the Conference Table: ACC College Football Week 13

Presented by Saucy Asian

Wake Forest at 8 Miami (Miami wins 42-14)

TD_24 - Twas close.......then it was all of a sudden not very close. Miami vs SMU would definitely be a salivating ACC title game.

Christopher H - Miami's defense is still giving up huge plays on coverage busts and such, but they eventually pulled away in this one.

13 SMU at Virginia (SMU wins Virginia)

TD_24 - Good for SMU to clinch that title game berth. Way to announce yourself to the college football world in your first year as a member of the ACC. Happy for them.

Christopher H - The SMU defensive line dominated in this one, and Virginia's offense had no answer as QB Anthony Colandrea tried to do it all himself.

The Citadel at 17 Clemson (Clemson wins 51-14)

TD_24 - Clemson vs South Carolina is going to be CINEMA.

Christopher H - The Citadel refused to shortening the game at halftime while down 35-0. That's some Dan Campbell stuff right there. Clemson might be playing for a playoff spot next week against South Carolina.

UConn at Syracuse (Syracuse wins 31-24)

TD_24 - If you had told Syracuse fans that they would have a chance to go 9-3 with Miami coming up before the season started, they probably would have called you crazy. Fran Brown has the Orange in a GREAT spot, especially with a hellacious road schedule next year.

Christopher H - Same story as every other Syracuse game: QB Kyle McCord had the time and protection to pick apart the defense, while Syracuse's secondary again struggled in both pass coverage and run support.

UNC at Boston College (Boston College wins 41-21)

TD_24 - No Thomas Castellanos anymore? Seemingly no problem.

Christopher H - BC's defensive line won this won, keeping RB Omarion Hampton bottled up, and harassing QB Jacolby Criswell all game. BC has had a tough schedule and are better than their record.

Charleston Southern at Florida State (Florida State wins 41-7)

TD_24 - Charleston Southern welcome to the club! (I'm coping)

Christopher H - We had to know this was coming, but Cal will probably remain FSU's only win. However, this weekend cemented FSU's last place finish in the ACC--below both Cal and Stanford--who FSU argued in lawsuits made the conference even weaker than it already was. FSU was correct though, in their argument that other ACC teams were holding them back from the playoffs.

Pitt at Louisville (Louisville wins 37-9)

TD_24 - This was......bad. Getting Eli Holstein back just for him to get hurt again is brutal and the shine of Pitt has lost a bit of its luster.

Christopher H - This is pretty much exactly what I predicted a few weeks ago, as they are now 0-4 in their last 4 games with another tough opponent in Boston College next week.

Virginia Tech at Duke (Duke wins 31-28)

TD_24 - Damn I missed a good game didn't I.

Christopher H -Didn't see this one, but Duke is now 5-1 in one possession games (the lone loss to SMU in OT). The ACC's other 8-3 team, Syracuse, is 6-2 in one possession games. The margin between "good" and "bad" in the ACC is razor thin.

Any other thoughts on the games of the week?

TD_24 - Rhett Lashlee is that guy. New expectations with the jump in competition and has met it at every turn this year.

Christopher H - I have no idea who will win the ACC. I feel like SMU is consistently the better team, while Miami is prone to boom-or-bust play. My head says SMU but my gut says Miami for some reason. It's like Miami has a higher ceiling while SMU has a higher floor. Could really go either way.