ACC PREVIEWS

Friday, Nov. 25

24 NC State (7-4, 3-4 ACC) at #13 North Carolina (9-2, 6-1 ACC)

3:30 p.m.; ABC
UNC leads series, 68-37-6
Last meeting: NCSU, 34-30 (2021)
Head Coaches:
NC State – Dave Doeren (70-52 in 10th season at NC State; 94-56 in 12th season overall)

North Carolina – Mack Brown (99-65-1 in 14th season at UNC; 274-141-1 in 34th season overall)

Notes: The Tar Heels seek to head into the Subway ACC Football Championship Game on a winning note, while the Pack goes after its second consecutive win in the long-standing rivalry • NC State stunned UNC in last year’s game in Raleigh, scoring two touchdowns in the final 2:12 to overcome a nine-point deficit and post a 34-30 win • The Wolfpack snapped a two-game losing skid versus the Tar Heels • Current NC State
head coach Dave Doeren is 5-4 versus the Tar Heels • Mack Brown is 7-6 versus NC State as head coach at UNC • Brown’s teams split 10 games versus the Wolfpack during his first tenure with the Tar Heels (1988-97), dropping the first five and winning the next five • NC State also defeated Brown’s second Texas team by a 23-20 score in the 1999 season opener in Austin • UNC holds a 37-32 edge in ACC games and is 36-20-2 all-time versus the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill.

Saturday, Nov. 26
Georgia Tech (5-6, 4-4 ACC) at #1 Georgia (11-0, 8-0 SEC)
Noon; ESPN
UGA leads series, 69-41-5
Last meeting: UGA, 45-0 (2021)
Head Coaches:
Georgia Tech – Brent Key, interim (4-3 in first season at Georgia Tech and overall)

Georgia – Kirby Smart (77-15 in seventh season at Georgia and overall)

Notes: Georgia Tech and Georgia resume their ‘Clean, Old Fashioned Hate” rivalry in Athens • This will be the 116th meeting in a series that was first played in Athens on Nov. 4, 1893 • The Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs own the 19th most-played rivalry in the FBS • The defending national champion Bulldogs own a four-game winning streak in the series, including a 45-0 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium in last year’s game • The winning team has scored at least 30 points in 11 of the last 13 meetings between the programs • Before the pandemic necessitated schedule re-arrangements in 2020, the teams had met on the gridiron every year since 1925 (95 consecutive years) • Georgia is 32-18-1 all-time versus the Yellow Jackets in Athens, including a 45-21 win in the most recent game there in 2018 • Georgia Tech’s last series win came on the road, a 28-27 decision in 2016.

Friday, Nov. 25
Florida (6-5, 3-5 SEC) at #19 Florida State (8-3, 5-3 ACC)
7:30; ABC
UF leads series, 37-26-2
Last meeting: UF, 24-21 (2021)
Head Coaches: Florida – Billy Napier (6-5 in first season at Florida; 46-17 in fifth season overall)

Florida State – Mike Norvell (16-15 in third season at FSU; 54-30 in seventh season overall)

Notes: FSU seeks to get back on the winning track in the Sunshine State rivalry • The Seminoles had won five straight and seven of the previous eight versus the Gators prior to 2018, but Florida has turned the tables with wins in each of the last three meetings • Gators QB Anthony Richardson came off the bench early in the third quarter of last year’s game in Gainesville and completed 5 of 7 passes for 55 yards,
including a 5-yard touchdown • The Seminoles scored late in the game to close within three, but the ensuing onsides kick went for naught and Florida ran out the clock • The series was first played in 1958 and has been played every year since with the exception of 2020 (COVID pandemic) • The teams met in both the 1994 and 1996 Sugar Bowls • The Gators hold a 14-13-1 edge in games played in Tallahassee, including a
41-14 win in the most recent meeting there in 2018.

Saturday, Nov. 26
Louisville (7-4, 4-4 ACC)
at Kentucky (6-5, 3-5 SEC)
3 p.m.; SECN
UK leads series,18-15
Last meeting: UK, 51-21 (2021)
Head Coaches:
Louisville – Scott Satterfield (25-23 in fourth season at Louisville; 76-47 in 10th season overall)

Kentucky – Mark Stoops (65-58 in 10th season at Kentucky and overall)

Notes: Kentucky has won the last three games in this in-state rivalry, including a 52-21 victory at Louisville in the most recent meeting that closed out the 2021 regular season • QB Will Levis recorded a career-high 113 rushing yards and a career-high four rushing touchdowns to lead the Wildcats • Levis also completed 14 of 18 passes for 149 yards •The Wildcats gained 511 total yards, Kentucky dominated the first six series meetings played between 1912 through 1924, posting shutout wins in each game, but Louisville has held a 15-12 edge since the rivalry resumed in 1994 following a 70-year hiatus • The schools will continue to meet on the football field through at least 2030 following an extension to their previous agreement (which was originally scheduled to run through 2022) • This will mark the eighth year the schools have met on Thanksgiving weekend.

Saturday, Nov. 26
South Carolina (7-4, 4-4 SEC) at #9 Clemson (10-1, 8-0 ACC)
Noon, ABC
CU leads series, 72-42-4
Last meeting: CU, 30-0 (2021)
Head Coaches:
South Carolina – Shane Beamer (13-10 in second year at South Carolina and overall)

Clemson – Dabo Swinney (160-37 in 15th season at Clemson and overall)

Notes: The Tigers and Gamecocks continue their long-standing rivalry that dates to 1896 • The Tigers are 19-10-1 all-time in games versus the Gamecocks in Clemson • The game was played in Columbia every year prior to 1960 • The teams will meet for the 113th time in 114 years on Saturday • Prior to the 2020 game’s cancelation due to scheduling issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Palmetto State rivalry stood as the FBS’s second-longest uninterrupted series • Clemson rolled to a 30-0 victory at South Carolina last season as RB Will Shipley ran for 128 yards and a touchdown and the Tigers’ defense limited the Gamecocks to 206 total yards • It was South Carolina’s fewest points against Clemson since a 45-0 shutout loss in 1989 • Clemson’s current seven-game winning streak in the series is its longest since also winning seven in a row from 1934-40.

Saturday, Nov. 26
Wake Forest (7-4, 3-4 ACC) at Duke (7-4, 4-3 ACC)
3:30 p.m.; TBD
Duke leads series, 58-41-2
Last meeting: WF, 45-7 (2021)
Head Coaches:
Wake Forest – Dave Clawson (59-51 in ninth season at Wake Forest; 148-132 in 23rd season overall)

Duke – Mike Elko (7-4 in first season at Duke and overall)

Notes: The Demon Deacons have won their last three games versus the Blue Devils, including a 45-7 victory last season in Winston-Salem • QB Sam Hartman threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns, including a 38-yarder to Jaquarii Roberson on the first possession • Hartman also ran for 61 yards and two scores for the Demon Deacons, who moved to 8-0 for the first time in the history of the school’s football program • Duke had won five of the previous six games between the in-state rivals prior to Wake’s current two-game series win streak • The Blue Devils hold
a 35-31-1 all-time lead in ACC games and is 29-23 all-time versus the Demon Deacons in Durham • Duke, however, will be seeking its first home win over Wake Forest since Nov. 29, 2014, a 41-21 victory in the final game before the beginning of a multi-million dollar face lift to Wallace Wade Stadium.

Saturday, Nov. 26
Syracuse (6-5, 3-4 ACC) at Boston College (3-8, 2-5 ACC)
7:30 p.m.; RSN
SU leads series, 33-22
Last meeting: SU, 21-6 (2021)
Head Coaches:
Syracuse – Dino Babers (35-48 in seventh season at Syracuse; 72-64 in 11th season overall)

Boston College – Jeff Hafley (15-19 in third season at BC and overall)

Notes: The Orange snapped a three-game losing streak versus the Eagles with a 21-6 victory in Syracuse last season • The Orange wiped out a 6-0 deficit by scoring three touchdowns in the span of five minutes in the third quarter, capped by Courtney Jackson’s 66-yard punt return • The teams are even at 5-5 in ACC games in the series, which was first played in 1924 and saw the teams meet every year from 1971 through 2004 • Syracuse is Boston College’s second-most played football opponent of all time, trailing only Holy Cross (82 meetings) • Boston College holds a
13-12 edge in home games versus the Orange and is 12-12 in Chestnut Hill (the Eagles’ 19-12 win in 1944 came in a game played at Boston’s Fenway Park) • The Eagles seek their first win over the Orange at home since 2014, when QB Tyler Murphy passed for 160 yards and a touchdown to lead a 28-7 BC victory at Alumni Stadium.

Saturday, Nov. 26
Pitt (7-4, 4-3 ACC) at Miami (5-6, 3-4 ACC)
8 p.m.; ACCN
Miami leads series, 28-11-1
Last meeting: UM, 38-34 (2021)
Head Coaches:
Pitt – Pat Narduzzi (60-41 in eighth season at Pitt and overall)

Miami – Mario Cristobal (5-6 in first season at Miami; 67-66 in 12th season overall)

Notes: Miami is 7-2 in ACC games versus the Panthers, including wins in each of the last four • QB Tyler Van Dyke threw for 428 yards and three touchdowns last season to lead the Hurricanes to a 38-34 win at No. 17 Pitt, which wound up being the Panthers’ only ACC blemish on their march to an eventual conference title • Pitt’s last win at Miami Gardens was a 35-23 decision in 2014 as RB James Conner scored twice and broke Tony Dorsett’s single-season school touchdown record • The schools first met on the football field in 1950 (a 28-0 Miami win) and have never gone more than eight years without playing in the nearly seven decades since • They met 11 seasons in a row as members of the Big East from 1993 through 2003 • The Hurricanes were Pitt’s first-ever opponent at Heinz Field on September 27, 2001, with Miami winning 43-21 en route to a 12-0 season and national title.