Around the Conference Table: ACC College Football Week 12

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Stanford 38, No. 19 Louisville 35

Christopher H: An absolutely embarrassing collapse here by Louisville. Giving up a game-tying touchdown on a desperation 4th down throw is one thing, but the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and offsides to push Stanford into long FG range (52 yard game-winning FG) mean that Louisville absolutely deserved to lose. Louisville's offensive line looked great, everyone else looked terrible, evidenced by the fact Stanford was even in the game in the 4th quarter.

Callie Wake: *a lot of annoyed screaming at Louisville* Anyway, what can ya do? Sometimes teams just get lucky. I’m sure the Cardinals are getting their butts chewed out on Monday for losing to the Cardinal and flushing away any hope of a CFP at large bid.

Nick Kranz: Just FURIOUS with Louisville on so many levels. Tyler Shough threw a ball right at a Stanford DE to hand them one free field goal. A Louisville CB whiffed on a pass breakup with no safety help behind him for an easy long TD. They blew a 14 point 4th quarter lead . . . and that doesn't even get into the farce that was the final sequence in this game.

Bk97: LSJU wins the battle of Cardinal vs. Cardinals after winning the battle of Cardinal vs. Orange earlier this year. In the ACC, apparently there can only be one Cardinal(s) team and only one color, and LSJU has staked its claim as the champion of both. That would be oddly poetic if those end up being LSJU's only ACC wins this season.

Piotr Le: Louisville gifting Stanford 20 yards on the last drive to win the game is a art and peak "wtf you doing" energy. Stanford comes into the Big Game with high of a win against a despondent Cal. Let's see this shakes up.

TD_24: Louisville fans can consult Oregon fans, Stanford voodoo still exists. But I cannot get over how dumb the Cardinals were down the stretch, they effectively ended their conference title hopes with the two penalties with one second on the clock.

No. 14 SMU 38, Boston College 28

Callie Wake: This game was surprisingly even. Southern Methodist seemed to be in control the whole way, but it was never truly out of reach for Boston College. SMU was able to jump out to 10 point lead in the first, and scored a touchdown and a field goal in every quarter except the 4th where they hit just a touchdown. BC otherwise played pretty evenly with SMU, and even held onto the ball for 10 minutes more than the mustangs. Despite that, the Eagles couldn’t catch up after the first quarter deficit, and SMU continues with their conference topping season.

Christopher H: Grayson James did well in his starting debut, but SMU looked sharp all game, and the defensive line came in clutch when they needed it. SMU didn't leave BC much room for error. BC is legit.

TD_24: Something really makes you crack a smile when you realize SMU can clinch an ACC title berth in year one if they can beat Virginia.

Piotr Le: SMU continues to show how to enter a new conference (spending a ton of money on players). See y'all at the ACC Championship Game.

No. 20 Clemson 24, Pitt 20

Nick Kranz: Cade Klubnik won this game with a 50 yard touchdown on a QB draw, and one of Pitt's safeties takes one of the worst angles you'll ever see in one of the most heartbreaking failed tackling attempts I can ever recall. Gutting for the poor Panthers.

Christopher H: This game convinced me that whoever the ACC's representative is in the playoff, they'll probably be making an early exit. Clemson once again relied on individual talent to break the game open on Klubnik's 50 yard rush TD late in the 4th quarter, which probably won't happen again against playoff-caliber teams.

Piotr Le: Clemson nearly Clemsoned their game against Pitt. While Pitt is staring the fact that despite starting the season 7-0 they might finish it 7-5. What a fall.

Bk97: Pitt rallies from 10 down in the 4th only to surrender the lead 20 seconds later. Every additional game this season is evidence that Pitt==Cal.

TD_24: Cade Klubnik just saved Clemson's season from the pit man. Losing to a backup quarterback would not have gone well especially since they are in the ACC title fight.

No. 8 Notre Dame 35, Virginia 14

Callie Wake: It was all Notre Dame in this one. Virginia’s one bright spot was ND being absolutely abysmal at 3rd down conversions, going 1/12. However getting ND to 3rd down seems to have been about a 50-50 shot (they had 21 first downs). Additionally, even with the 3rd down stops UVA gave up the ball 5 times, and punted 7 times. The Cavalier’s offense couldn’t put anything together in the first half, and though they got some production in the second half, it was too little too late. Not a “Flawless Victory” for the #8 team in the country, but definitely a solid enough showing for the Fighting Irish.

Christopher H: This one wasn't close. The ND defense was too much for Virginia, whose turnovers left them in an insurmountable hole by halftime.

TD_24: Well it seems as if Notre Dame got over their usual "wtf loss" of the year and looks destined for the CFP.

North Carolina 31, Wake Forest 24

Christopher H: UNC RB Omarion Hampton is on another level. An absolute workhorse, and WF was powerless to stop him.

Bk97: Remember how Cal's RBs were mostly ineffective against Wake Forest? Well, they just let UNC's RB run for a career high 244 yards on 35 attempts.

TD_24: I feel as if UNC's demise was somewhat overstated considering what they went through the first few weeks of the season.

Callie Wake: Didn’t watch, went clubbing after getting back from the Cal game to get my mind off the two NorCal UC’s losing (didn’t help) and I neglected to watch a recap on Sunday due to being so disinterested in watching these two teams play. I expected more from UNC if I’m being frank, but a win is a win.

Any other thoughts on the games of the week?

Christopher H: It would be one thing if Clemson or Miami was absolutely dominating the conference this year, or there was a team like 2023 FSU smashing everyone, etc. But the fact that this conference is so wide open--where all the top contenders are very beatable--hurts. Cal absolutely had the talent to compete for the conference title and an actual playoff spot this year (which sounds crazy to say), but Cal has absolutely squandered the opportunity, and who is to say there will ever be another? Cal was up 35-10 to Miami, the ACC's most likely playoff representative and a likely #4 playoff seed (per Vegas odds). There's no team in the ACC where you'd look at the matchup on paper and think that Cal didn't at least have a reasonable chance at winning. Instead, it didn't matter how good or bad the ACC opponent was, Cal found a way to lose a close game to them. It hurts.

Nick Kranz: Is it possible to live in a world where UCLA beats USC, then USC loses to Notre Dame and UCLA loses to Fresno State, putting both LA schools at 5-7? I don't ask for much, God, throw me a freakin' bone here.

Bk97: At least Florida State didn't lose this weekend to provide another reminder of how utterly baffling it is that Cal lost to them.

Callie Wake: This may be my own bitterness from Saturday speaking but, it’s not to say that any of these games were boring, but they certainly weren’t very interesting.

TD_24: Locked in for this Charleston Southern vs Florida State game.