Things to watch this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference:
Game of the week
Cal (3-2, 0-2 ACC) at No. 22 Pittsburgh (5-0, 1-0), Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Pitt is off to its best start since 1991 and is looking to go 6-0 for the first time since 1982 when NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino was the team’s quarterback. The Panthers made the Top 25 for the first time this season and for the first time since the end of the 2022 season.
Alabama transfer Eli Holstein, Pitt’s quarterback, is third nationally at more than 366 yards of offense and game and is fifth with 15 TD passes.
Cal is seeking its first ACC win in its first year in the league. The Bears have had an up-and-down start, winning at Auburn before losing a pair of tight league games to Florida State and No. 6 Miami, a 39-38 home defeat after leading the Hurricanes by 25 points.
This is the second of three trips to the Eastern time zone for the West Coast school.
The undercard
Louisville (3-2, 1-1) at Virginia (4-1, 2-0), Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET (ACC Network)
The Cavaliers have had a revival under third-year coach Tony Elliott after starting 6-16 and guiding the program through the fatal campus shooting where three players were killed and a fourth wounded in November 2022. Virginia improved to 4-1 for the first time since 2019 after rallying from 14 points down to beat Boston College, 24-14.
The Cardinals have lost two straight games, throwing their ACC title game chances in jeopardy. Louisville fell from the national rankings for the first time this season.
Impact players
Omarion Hampton, North Carolina. The junior running back leads the ACC with 764 yards (127 a game) and is tied for second with seven touchdowns. He has rushed for 100 or more yards in five of his past six games.
Malik Rutherford, Georgia Tech. Rutherford tops the ACC with 37 catches this season. His 474 yards are third best among league receivers. The Yellow Jackets look to win two straight when they face the Tar Heels on Saturday. North Carolina has lost its past three games after opening 3-0.
Inside the numbers
Holstein is the first Pitt quarterback to win his first five starts since Dan Marino in 1979. … Louisville had 461 yards of offense in a 34-27 loss to SMU, the first time it lost when gaining 450 or more yards. … North Carolina is the only FBS team to have a 100-yard rusher in each of its first six games. … Clemson hopes to start 4-0 in ACC play for the 10th time in coach Dabo Swinney’s 17 seasons. … Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord is second in the country at 362.8 yards a game. He leads the nation with almost 31 completions a game. … Wake Forest is looking to break a 15-game losing streak to Clemson. The Demon Deacons and Tigers won’t play again until 2030. … No. 6 Miami, No. 25 SMU, Boston College Duke, N.C. State and Virginia Tech are off this week.
Long-time rivals
Stanford (2-3) steps out of league play when it faces longtime rival in No. 11 Notre Dame (4-1). The Cardinal became just third team to win its ACC debut on the road with a 26-24 win at Syracuse last month. But they’ve been outscored 71-21 in losses to Clemson and Virginia Tech the past two weeks.
Stanford has won eight of its last 14 games with the Fighting Irish. The trip to South Bend, Indiana, is Stanford’s third trip to play in the Eastern time zone. The Cardinal make one more cross-country visit to face N.C. State on Nov. 2.
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