2023 SCHEDULE – WEEK 4
FRIDAY, SEPT. 22 TIME, TV SIRIUSXM APP/WEB
NC State at Virginia 7:30 p.m., ESPN 81 or 85 81 or 85
Series: NC State leads, 36-22-1; Last meeting: NC State, 38-21 (2020)
ESPN: Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), Paul Carcaterra (sideline)
SATURDAY, SEPT. 23 TIME, TV SIRIUSXM APP/WEB
No. 4 Florida State at Clemson Noon, ABC 82, 134, or 194 955
Series: Florida State leads series, 20-15; Last meeting: Clemson, 34-28 (2022)
ABC: Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (analyst), Molly McGrath (sideline)
Virginia Tech at Marshall Noon, ESPN2 113 or 201 964 or 985
Series: Virginia Tech leads series, 11-2; Last meeting: Virginia Tech, 41-20 (2018)
ESPN2: Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst), Taylor McGregor (sideline)
Army at Syracuse Noon, ACCN 81, 138, or 194 81 or 956
Series: Syracuse leads series, 11-10; Last meeting: Syracuse, 42-17 (1996)
ACCN: Chris Cotter (play-by-play), Mark Herzlich (analyst), Sherree Burruss (sideline)
No. 20 Miami at Temple 3:30 p.m., ESPN2 113, 201, or 380 964 or 970
Series: Miami leads series, 13-1; Last meeting: Miami, 34-3 (2005)
ESPN2: Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Kirk Morrison (analyst), Stormy Buonantony (sideline)
No. 18 Duke at UConn 3:30 p.m., CBSSN 138, 194, or 381 956 or 971
Series: UConn leads series, 2-0; Last meeting: UConn, 45-14 (2007)
CBSSN: Chris Lewis (play-by-play), Robert Turbin (analyst), Keiana Martin (sideline)
Boston College at Louisville 3:30 p.m., ACCN 134, 193, or 383 955 or 973
Series: Louisville leads series, 8-7; Last meeting: Boston College, 34-33 (2022)
ACCN: Jorge Sedano (play-by-play), Orlando Franklin (analyst), Marilyn Payne (sideline)
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest 6:30 p.m., The CW 113, 201, or 382 964 or 972
Series: Georgia Tech leads, 23-8; Last meeting: Georgia Tech, 38-24 (2017)
The CW Network: Tom Werme (play-by-play), James Bates (analyst), Treavor Scales (sideline)
No. 17 North Carolina at Pitt 8 p.m., ACCN 134, 138, 193, or 194 955 or 956
Series: North Carolina leads, 11-5; Last meeting: North Carolina, 42-24 (2022)
ACCN: Wes Durham (play-by-play), Tim Hasselbeck (analyst), Taylor Tannebaum (sideline)
ACC NOTES
ACC WELCOMES CAL, SMU AND STANFORD
The ACC Board of Directors voted on Sept. 1 to formally admit the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Stanford University to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Cal, SMU and Stanford will join the ACC as full members with full voting participation effective July 1, 2024 (SMU) and August 2, 2024 (Stanford and Cal). The decision followed the submission of letters of
application from all three institutions.
The additions of Cal, SMU and Stanford enhance and strengthen the ACC academically, athletically and financially as well as create a true national conference that spans coast to coast. The incoming universities enrich the league’s competitiveness in all sports and further demonstrate the ACC’s commitment to broad-based programs for both women and men. More than 2,200 student-athletes from Cal, SMU and Stanford will join the nearly 10,000 current ACC student-athletes competing at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics.
GREATNESS IS WHAT WE DO
The ACC announced its new creative campaign, “ACCOMPLISH GREATNESS,” a multi-part brand campaign highlighting the vast success of the ACC’s athletics and academics alike. The campaign launched ahead of the ACC’s official college football season on Week 1. The series will continue with multi-sport spots highlighting the ACC’s incredible accomplishments in all sports throughout the academic year.
ACC ON ABC/ESPN
During the first three weeks of the season, the ACC had a pair of games on ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” as well as 11 appearances on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2.
In addition to the games already played, the ACC will be featured in three ABC games over the next two weeks, as No. 4 Florida State and Clemson play in ABC’s Saturday noon game this Saturday, Sept. 23, while in Week 5, Clemson and Syracuse will kick-off at noon ET on ABC. ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” will feature Notre Dame at Duke on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Overall during the first five weeks of the season, the ACC will have three games on ABC’s “Saturday Night Football”, as well as a total of 19 appearances on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. In total to date, 13 ACC contests are scheduled for national ABC broadcasts, with 10 different league programs featured.
ACC TEAMS RANKED NATIONALLY IN WEEK 4
For the third consecutive week, the ACC had four teams ranked in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll (Sept. 17). Florida State came in at No. 4, while North Carolina (No. 17), Duke (No. 18) and Miami (No. 20) all moved up in the poll. Clemson came in the next highest with 76 votes, putting them just outside of the top 25, while Syracuse and Louisville also received at least one vote this week.
The ACC had five teams place in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll (Sept. 17), led by Florida State remaining at No. 3 overall. North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 17, while both Duke (No. 18) and Miami (No. 21) climbed two spots. Clemson was the fifth ACC school ranked in the coaches top 25 poll, coming in at No. 23. Syracuse, Wake Forest and Louisville also received votes
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The ACC is off to a great start to the 2023 season, going 26-10 (.722) overall in non-conference play over the first three weeks of the season.
Eight of the ACC’s 26 non-conference wins have come against the Big Ten and the SEC, with the ACC recording four wins over each of the two conferences. The rest of the nation is 9-32 overall versus the two Power 5 conferences.
In fact, the ACC has seven undefeated teams remaining in non-conference play, the second-most among any conference in all of FBS.
TALKING OFFENSE
Through Week 3 of the 2023 season, the ACC has been lighting up the scoreboards offensively. The 14 ACC Football teams have combined to score 1,456 points over 42 games thus far this season, the second-most by a conference in all of the NCAA behind only the SEC with 1,563 points in 43 contests.
Three ACC teams in Syracuse, Florida State and Miami rank in the top 15 in scoring this season. Syracuse ranks fifth nationally with an average of 49.3 points per game this season, just ahead of Florida State in seventh at 47.3 points per contest. Miami is 11th at 44.7 points per game.
DISCUSSING DEFENSE
On the other side of the field, the ACC has two teams ranked in the top five in the fewest points allowed this season in Syracuse and Duke. The Orange have allowed only 27 points over the first three weeks of the season, an average of 9.0 points per game, which ranks fourth nationally. Duke’s defense has surrendered just 28 points thus far this season, an average of 9.3 points per game allowed, which is tied for the fifth-best in all of FBS.
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS
Entering the fourth week of the season, the ACC has two standout student-athletes who are active career leaders in all of FBS football in Will Shipley of Clemson and Jared Verse of Florida State.
The Tigers’ Shipley leads all active players in the FBS in career all-purpose yards per game at 122.22. He has totaled 3,300 all-purpose yards in his career – 2,145 rushing, 416 receiving and 739 kick return yards – over 27 games played.
Florida State’s Verse leads all active players in FBS in career tackles-fo-loss per game at 1.27 and is second in total sacks per game at 0.63.
North Carolina defensive back Antavious Lane is second among all active players with 11 interceptions and fourth in interceptions per game at 0.29 for his career, while quarterback Drake Maye is fourth among all active players in total offense per game at 294.1 yards per contest.
Virginia’s Kam Butler is second among active FBS players in sacks with 21.5 for his career, while Duke’s DeWayne Carter ranks third with seven career forced fumbles among all active FBS players.
Miami’s Kamren Kitchens is also in the top five of active career leaders, as he is fifth in interceptions per game with an average of 0.27.
NC State kicker Brayden Narveson ranks fifth among active players with a career average of 7.7 points per game.
PREVIEWING WEEK 4
Week 4 of the 2023 season will feature five ACC matchups in league play, highlighted by the highly-anticipated contest between No. 4 Florida State and Clemson at noon ET on ABC.
The conference action will begin on Friday, Sept. 22, as the NC State Wolfpack will head north to take on the Virginia Cavaliers (7 p.m./ESPN) in the two teams’ conference opener.
On Saturday, Sept. 23, No. 4 Florida State and Clemson (Noon/ABC) will kick off at noon in Clemson, S.C., with the Seminoles looking to start the conference season off at 2-0 and the Tigers looking to avoid an 0-2 start to conference play.
Virginia Tech will hit the road for the second time this season with a non-conference contest at Marshall (Noon/ ESPN2), while Syracuse looks to remain unbeaten in nonconference play with a home game versus Army (Noon/ ACCN).
Louisville will host Boston College in league action at 3:30 p.m. on the ACC Network, while both No. 18 Duke and No. 20 Miami will hit the road for the first time this season. Duke will take on UConn (3:30 p.m./CBSSN), while Miami will face off with Temple (3:30 p.m./ESPN2) in non-conference play.
Wake Forest will look to go 4-0 on the season and start its conference slate at 1-0 as the Demon Deacons host Georgia Tech at 6:30 p.m. on The CW Network, while No. 17 North Carolina and Pitt (8 p.m./ACCN) will open up conference play on Saturday night.
WEEK 3 RECAP
The ACC continued its strong non-conference play with eight more wins last week, including going 4-2 versus the Big Ten.
Miami (3-0), Louisville (3-0), Florida State (3-0), Duke (3- 0), North Carolina (3-0), Syracuse (3-0) and Wake Forest (3-0) all remained unbeaten with wins on Saturday, giving the ACC seven undefeated teams heading into Week 4.
With the 8-4 non-conference record over Week 3 of play, the ACC has moved to 26-10 (.722) in non-conference play thus far this year.
STREAKING
The ACC has four teams that are riding winning streaks of four games or more entering Week 4 of the season, highlighted by Florida State’s nine-game winning streak, which is the fourth-longest current winning streak in all of FBS.
School ……………………………………..Winning Streak
Florida State……………………………………………………9
Duke………………………………………………………………5
Wake Forest……………………………………………………4
Louisville ………………………………………………………..4
Wake Forest, who opens up ACC play this week, has won 12 straight non-conference games, the second-longest streak behind only Georgia and the Bulldogs’ 19-straight non-conference wins.
THE CONFERENCE OF QUARTERBACKS
Eight of the 14 ACC teams returned a quarterback with at least 14 career FBS starts, led by Virginia Tech’s Grant Wells with 38 prior to the 2023 season. NC State’s Brennan Armstrong started 30 games at Virginia before transferring and joining the Wolfpack. A Second-Team AllACC pick last season, Florida State’s Jordan Travis started 27 games coming into the 2023 season.
Name, School …………………………….. Career Starts
Grant Wells, Virginia Tech……………………………..36 Brennan Armstrong, NC State……………………….33 Jordan Travis, Florida State…………………………….30 Garrett Shrader, Syracuse ………………………………28 Tyler Van Dyke, Miami……………………………………21 Phil Jurkovec, Pitt ………………………………………21
Riley Leonard, Duke ………………………………………17
Drake Maye, North Carolina…………………………….17
*23 starts at Marshall before transferring to VT **30 starts at Virginia before transferring to NC State ***18 starts at Boston College before transferring to Pitt
Five ACC quarterbacks rank in the top 15 nationally in passing touchdowns through the first three weeks of the season, led by Georgia Tech’s Haynes King, who is tied for eighth overall with nine touchdown throws. Wake Forest’s Mitch Griffis, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, Florida State’s
Jordan Travis, and Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke have all thrown eight touchdown passes this season, tied for 14th overall.
A total of seven quarterbacks in the ACC have already thrown for over 700 passing yards this season.
Name, School ……………………………Passing Yards
Haynes King, Georgia Tech…………………………..910
Drake Maye, North Carolina…………………………..891
Mitch Griffis, Wake Forest……………………………..837
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami………………………………….822
Jack Plummer, Louisville ………………………………732
Jordan Travis, Florida State…………………………..729
Garrett Shrader, Syracuse …………………………….727
ESPN’S BEST LABOR DAY SUNDAY
ESPN’s Labor Day Showdown Between No. 5 LSU and No. 8 FSU registered 9.1 million viewers on ABC during the Seminoles win.
The game was the most-watched Labor Day Sunday game since Notre Dame and Texas in 2016 and the second-most watched on record, having peaked at 10.3 million viewers.
ALL EYES ON THE ACC IN WEEK 1
In Week 1 of the 2023 season, the ACC captivated the national audience, averaging an astounding 5.1 million viewers over their 12 contests, per ESPN.
The 5.1 million average viewers were more than double all other conferences in the highest average per game viewership for the week of college football games.
Overall, the ACC was part of three of the top seven most-watched games for Week 1.
Through Week 2, the ACC had three home broadcasts with 4M+ viewers – no other conference had more than one.
AROUND THE ACC
Boston College: Quarterback Thomas Castellanos shined in the air and on the ground for the Eagles, completing 20-of-33 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown, while rushing 16 times for 95 yards and a score in the Eagles 31-29 loss to No. 3 Florida State last weekend. Eight different receivers caught a pass from Castellanos, led by Ryan O’Keefe’s six catches for 64 yards. Lewis Bond racked up 80 yards and a touchdown, while Joseph Griffin collected three receptions for 65 yards.
Clemson: Clemson forced four turnovers and held Florida Atlantic scoreless until the fourth quarter en route to a 48-14 win at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. As a unit, Clemson’s defense registered three interceptions, including returning one for a touchdown, one forced fumble, a turnover on downs, two sacks and 10 tackles-for-loss in the non-conference win.
Duke: Duke defeated Northwestern for the fifth consecutive time in the series, led by junior quarterback Riley Leonard, who rushed for 97 yards and two scores and threw for 219 on an efficient 15-of-20 passing. Running back Jordan Waters also rushed for a pair of touchdowns and has five rushing scores this season. Jalon Calhoun was on the receiving end of five Leonard targets for 112 yards – his sixth career 100-yard receiving game. The balanced Blue Devils’ offense rushed for 268 yards, passed for 219, and owned a 487-267 advantage in total yards.
Florida State: The Seminoles remained unbeaten with a 31-29 road win at Boston College, in which Jordan Travis completed 16-of24 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions on a day when the Seminoles found rushing yards hard to come by. The Seminoles managed just 128 yards on the ground on 34 attempts, and Travis had 38 of those on four carries. Jaheim Bell led all FSU receivers with five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, while Johnny Wilson had four catches for 105 yards.
Georgia Tech: Quarterback Haynes King finished 28-of-41 for 307 yards and two touchdowns through the air to go along with 42 yards and a score on 14 carries last time out at No. 17/19 Ole Miss. His 28 completions are tied for fourth in Georgia Tech single-game history, while the 28 completions without an interception are tied for the third-most ever by a Tech passer. Of the 30 300-yard performances recorded by a Yellow Jackets passer, two have come in King’s first three games in the White and Gold.
Louisville: Three different Cardinals found the end zone in the win over Indiana, as Jawhar Jordan rushed 18 times for 113 yards and a score, Maurice Turner ran four times for 18 yards and a touchdown, and wideout Jamari Thrash hauled in four receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown pass from quarterback Jack Plummer in the victory.
Miami: Miami racked up 589 total yards while limiting Bethune-Cookman to just 165 yards and eight first downs last time out. The Canes averaged 8.4 yards per play and scored five touchdowns in six red zone trips. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke completed 19-of-23 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns in one half of action. He also rushed for a 10-yard score. Van Dyke now has 419 career completions, passing former Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde for 10th on Miami’s all-time list. Emory Williams also saw action at quarterback, completing 9 of 11 passes for 102 yards.
North Carolina: Quarterback Drake Maye threw for 414 yards and two scores, while wide receiver Nate McCollum recorded 15 catches for 165 yards and a touchdown as North Carolina beat Minnesota 31-13 last weekend. It was the second 400-yard passing game of Maye’s career, behind ony his career passing high of 448 yards against Wake Forest in 2022. Saturday marked his eighth 300-yard game in two years as a starter. McCollum’s 15 catches were one away from the Tar Heel single-game record.
NC State: Wide receiver and kick return Julian Gray did it all for the Wolfpack on Saturday in the win over VMI, as the redshirt sophomore returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown in the 45-7 win. He scored twice on kick returns, but because of a penalty the first one was negated and only the second one counted. He also led the Wolfpack in receiving yards with 80 on two catches and tallied 181 yards of total offense for the afternoon.
Pitt: The Pittsburgh Panthers rushed for 130 yards versus West Virginia but threw for just 81 yards and could not find the end zone in the loss to the Mountaineers in the 106th version of the “Backyard Brawl.” This season, 14 different players have at least one reception for the Panthers, led by eight catches from wide receiver Konata Mumpfield (8 rec., 93 yards, 2 TDs) and seven by tight end Gavin Bartholomew (7 rec., 157 yards, TD).
Syracuse: Quarterback Garrett Shrader was responsible for 379 yards of total offense, including 195 yards on the ground and four touchdowns, in Syracuse’s 35-20 win over Purdue. Shrader set a Syracuse record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with four and posted the program’s second-highest rushing yardage total by a quarterback in school history. Shrader threw for 184 yards through the air, completing 14-of-28 passes in the victory. His 195 yards on the ground were also the third-highest single-game total in the FBS this season and the most among quarterbacks.
Virginia: The Cavaliers scored a touchdown on each of their first two drives to take a 14-0 lead over Maryland in a non-conference matchup last week. Tailback Perris Jones ran 13 yards for the first TD, and quarterbcak Anthony Colandrea teamed with tailback Kobe Pace on a 19-yard throwback pass for the second. Colandrea was brilliant for most of the first three quarters, and he finished 23-of-39 passing for 263 yards and one touchdown. But he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.
Virginia Tech: With quarterback Grant Wells out versus Rutgers with an ankle injury that he suffered in the loss to Purdue two weeks ago, redshirt sophomore Kyron Drones completed 19-of-32 passes for 190 yards and ran for 74 yards on 22 carries in his first career start in the 35-16 road loss to Rutgers.
Wake Forest: Wake Forest used 20 unanswered points to erase a 17-point deficit in a 27-24 win over Old Dominion to mark the program’s largest come-from-behind win since Nov. 11, 2017, at Syracuse. The Wake Forest defense set a program record 10 sacks in the win, which is Wake Forest’s 12th-straight win over a non-conference opponent, the second-longest streak in the country. Defensively, Wake Forest was led by its starting linebackers in the win as redshirt sophomore Dylan Hazen and senior Jacob Roberts combined for 22 tackles, six tackles-for-loss and four sacks.
