| A week after Florida State rushed for negative yardage, Devonta Freeman ran for 148 against Maryland. (US Presswire) |
ACC scoreboard
No. 10 Florida State 41, Maryland 14: RB Devonta Freeman ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns as Florida State (10-1, 7-1 ACC) clinched the Atlantic Division at Maryland (4-7, 2-5 ACC). The Seminoles held Maryland to 170 yards of total offense, and DE Cornellius Carradine had two sacks to give him an ACC-leading 11. LB Kenneth Tate had three sacks for Maryland. With the loss, the Terrapins will not be bowl eligibile for the second year in a row and the third time in the past four years.
Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 23 OT: QB Logan Thomas threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to TE Randall Dunn in overtime to push Virginia Tech (5-6, 3-4 ACC) past Boston College (2-9, 1-6 ACC). With the win, the Hokies keep their hopes of a 20th consecutive bowl trip alive. Thomas threw for 247 yards and two scores and also fan for a touchdown. Boston College RB Rolandan had 133 rushing yards and 53 receiving in what was in all likelihood coach Frank Spaziani's last home game.
Miami 40, South Florida 9: Stephen Morris threw for 413 yards and Miami (6-5, 4-3 ACC) became bowl eligibile with a blowout of South Florida (3-7, 1-4 Big East). Three Hurricanes had 100 yards receiving -- Clive Walford (3 catches, 135 yards, 1 TD), Herb Waters (4 catches, 130 yards, 1 TD) and Phillip Dorsett (11 catches, 104 yards). The school said it was the first time since at least 1981 that three players had 100 yards in a game.
No. 3 Notre Dame 38, Wake Forest 0: Notre Dame (11-0) finished its first undefeated home season since 1998 with a shutout of Wake Forest (5-6, 3-5 ACC), which hasn’t beaten a top-5 opponent in 66 years. The Irish scored three touchdowns in the first 11 minutes, including a 68-yard run by Cierre Wood and a 50 yard pass from Everett Golson to John Goodman.
Georgia Tech 42, Duke 24: Georgia Tech (6-5, 5-3 ACC) became bowl eligible for the 16th straight season and clinched a tie for first in the Coastal Division with a win over Duke (6-5, 3-4 ACC). QB Tevin Washington threw for three touchdowns and ran for one. If Duke beats Miami next weekend, or if the Hurricanes choose to self-impose a bowl ban over alleged improper benefits from a booster, Georgia Tech will play Florida State in the ACC Championship Game. For Duke, Conner Vernon set ACC records for most consecutive games with a catch (46) and career receiving yards (3,522).
No. 11 Clemson 62, NC State 48: A week after Georgia Tech beat North Carolina 68-50, Clemson (10-1, 7-1 ACC) and NC State (6-5, 3-4 ACC) had the second-highest scoring game in ACC history. QBs Mike Glennon (NC State) and Tajh Boyd (Clemson) each threw for more than 400 yards. Shadrach Thornton, Andre Ellington and Boyd rushed for 100, and each team had two receivers top 100 yards. Boyd set a school record with 529 yards of total offense, breaking Woodrow Dantzler’s mark from 2001.
Thursday
North Carolina 37, Virginia 13: Leading 20-13, the Tar Heels (7-4, 4-3 ACC) stopped Virginia (4-7, 2-5 ACC) on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line late in the third quarter and outscored the Cavaliers 17-0 in the fourth to win in Charlottesville. North Carolina QB Bryn Renner threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, and freshman WR Quinshad Davis tied an ACC record with 16 receptions for 178 yards. With the loss, Virginia will not reach bowl eligibility for the fourth time in the past five years.
Play of the week: Trailing 3-0 in the first quarter, Virginia Tech QB Thomas faced third-and-19 from his 10-yard line. Thomas threw the ball 49 yards in the air to Corey Fuller, who was in double coverage. Boston College S Spenser Rositano batted the ball away, but it bounced off the helmet of CB Justin Simmons and into Fuller’s hands. By the time Simmons and Rositano caught up to Fuller, he’d taken it to the Eagles’ 21, setting up a game-tying field goal.
He said what? Virginia coach Mike London on what’s at stake next week against Virginia Tech: “You tell them that there's one more game left. There's one more opportunity, and you always like for your guys to have a positive playing experience. One more opportunity to play with your teammates and play your in-state rival. You have to make it your bowl game, basically. That's what it is. It's one last game to play.”
RapidReports defensive star of the week: CB Tre Boston, North Carolina. Boston led the Tar Heels with 13 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown in the second quarter of Thursday's 37-13 win over Virginia. Boston's big play helped spark a defense that needed a bounce-back performance after surrendering 68 points to Georgia Tech last week. The Tar Heels limited Virginia to 2 of 15 on third-down conversions.
RapidReports offensive star of the week: WR Palmer, NC State. Palmer had 7 catches for 219 yards and touchdowns of 77, 49 and 29 yards. He also had eight kick returns for 277 yards, giving him an ACC-record 496 all-purpose yards. Palmer set a school record for kick return yards and was six shy of the ACC mark. The receiving yardage was the third-best in NC State history.
His seat is getting uncomfortable: Boston College coach Frank Spaziani. The Eagles were 2-8 and had the ball with just over a minute left in a tie game. If ever a team had an excuse to roll the dice and go for the upset, it was the Eagles. Instead, Spaziani chose to run the ball twice and take a knee with 40 seconds left to play overtime.
A possible spot on the bench for: WR Davis, North Carolina. Davis set a North Carolina freshman record and tied the ACC single-game mark with 16 catches. His share of the record should come with an asterisk for poor sportsmanship on the part of the Tar Heels. North Carolina was throwing with the game well in hand to try to get him the record. With 1:22 left and a 24-point lead, the Tar Heels called a pass play to Davis to get him catch number 16, and a potential record-breaking pass fell incomplete as time expired.
Why you care about these three stat lines:
- Chase Rettig completed three fewer passes than Logan Thomas for 118 fewer yards. Rettig’s numbers show the conservative Boston College play calling. He was 13 of 30 for 129 yards, an average of 9.9 yards per completion. Thomas was 16 of 33 for 247, a 15.4-yard average.
- Florida State rushed for 237 yards. The Seminoles were held to negative rushing yards against Virginia Tech last week. Against Maryland, Florida State exploded, led by Freeman’s 148 yards and two touchdowns.
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Georgia Tech had two scoring drives of more than eight minutes: Duke ran 56 plays and had 21:50 time of possession in the 42-24 loss to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets' three longest touchdown drives were 47 plays and took 22:22.
Key number: 109. Clemson ran 109 plays in the 62-48 win over NC State. The Wolfpack ran 95.
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from ACC bloggers Shawn Krest and Sean Bielawski, follow @CBSSportsACC.