It was a busy opening week in the ACC, which began on Thursday night with Georgia Tech’s loss to Colorado. The ACC was involved in a primetime game every night through Monday’s game between SMU and Florida State.
Unfortunately, the league was involved in five games against Power 4 opponents, and the conference lost all five games. Overall, the league went 5-5 in non-conference games over the weekend.
Also, Miami and SMU won conference games on the road.
Here is a look around the ACC from Week 1.
No. 19 SMU, 27, Florida State 24
Kevin Jennings shook off a pair of interceptions to lead No. 19 SMU’s winning scoring drive, capped by Nick Reed’s 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds to play, to wrap up a 27-24 win over Florida State on Monday night.
Jennings completed 26-of-36 passes for a career-best 430 yards and three touchdowns as SMU outlasted the Seminoles in a game that was delayed nearly two hours due to a power outage at Doak Campbell Stadium prior to kickoff.
Jennings had a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Cooper and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Randy Pittman, a Florida State transfer, to help the Mustangs rack up 585 offensive yards.
Ousmane Kromah had 22 carries for 116 yards, including a 54-yarder and a 7-yard touchdown to lead Florida State. Kromah has back-to-back 100-yard games to begin his sophomore season.
Ashton Daniels completed 12-of-23 passes for 125 yards and a 39-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Singleton Jr.
Daniels also had an 8-yard touchdown run to help Florida State (1-1, 0-1) wrap up a 14-play, 75-yard drive in the first quarter.
Ashlynd Barker and Nehemiah Chandler had second-half interceptions for Florida State. The Seminoles also forced a muffed punt, which led to a third-quarter touchdown.
Virginia Tech 73, VMI 3
Marcellous Hawkins Jr. rushed for three touchdowns, and Jeffrey Overton Jr. rushed for 108 yards and two scores to lead Virginia Tech to a 73-3 victory over VMI on Saturday in the debut of Hokies’ head coach James Franklin.
Franklin, who was fired last October by Penn State after 12 seasons and hired by Virginia Tech 36 days later, witnessed a dominating performance by the Hokies in their opener.
Virginia Tech’s offense scored on its first six possessions and punted just once during the game. The Hokies’ defense held VMI to just 83 yards, and the special teams blocked two punts, recovering one for a touchdown.
Hired to rebuild a once-proud Virginia Tech program that has suffered losing seasons in five of the past six years, Franklin brought in 27 transfers, including 12 who followed him from his previous stop. Arguably the most important of those, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, enjoyed a great Virginia Tech debut.
Grunkemeyer, who started the final seven games for Penn State last season, completed 10 of his first 11 passes. He finished 17-of-20 for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
Led by Overton, who scored on runs of 50 and 23 yards, and Grunkemeyer, the Hokies finished with 619 total yards.
Duke 17, Tulane 3
Nate Sheppard ran for a career-best 227 yards and two touchdowns to help Duke beat Tulane 17-3 in Saturday’s weather-delayed season opener for both teams.
Sheppard powered the Blue Devils all day, starting when he weaved through the right side for a 9-yard TD in the first quarter — capping a 17-play, 75-yard drive lasting nearly 10 minutes. That would set the tone for Duke’s run-heavy approach behind the sophomore, who ran for 1,132 yards and 11 touchdowns last year to help the Blue Devils win their first outright Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 1962.
Sheppard carried the ball 35 times along with tallying three catches for 19 yards.
His second TD came at a critical point, with the Blue Devils holding to a 10-3 fourth-quarter lead. Sheppard cracked the 200-yard mark on what would become a 12-play, 75-yard scoring march taking nearly 7 minutes off the clock, ending when he broke around the left side for the pylon and a 14-yard score with 6:44 left.
Tulane struggled in its debut under Will Hall, the former Southern Mississippi head coach who was elevated to this job from the Green Wave’s offensive staff after Jon Sumrall left for Florida. But the Green Wave managed 258 total yards and converted 3-of-14 third downs on a day when they switched from starting quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion to Kadin Semonza at halftime in search of a spark.
The kickoff was delayed by 90 minutes due to severe weather.
Pitt 59, Miami (Ohio) 14
Sophomore Mason Heintschel threw seven touchdown passes, tying the school record, and Pittsburgh rolled to a 59-14 win against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.
Heintschel, a true sophomore, equaled the school record set by Pete Gonzalez against Rutgers on October 25, 1997.
Heintschel, who won the job midway through the season last year, completed 31-of-41 passes for 453 yards. His seven touchdowns went to seven different receivers during his first season-opening start.
Pitt scored on its first three possessions and outgained Miami 219-15 in the first quarter, as the RedHawks failed to pick up a first down on three possessions. The Panthers converted all four third-down plays during their first three possessions en route to an early 21-0 lead.
Heintschel threw first-quarter touchdowns to Malik Knight and Ja’Kyrian Turner, while Justin Cook scored on a 50-yard run and Elijah Lagg had a second-quarter score. Heintschel threw touchdowns on Pitt’s first three second-half drives, connecting with Blue Hicks, Censere Lee and Bryce Yates, before the record-tying score to Damon Ferguson Jr. in the fourth.
Antonio Chadha’s 58-yard field goal tied the school record as Pitt closed the first half with a 31-14 lead. The kick equaled the mark set by Ben Sauls and Alex Kessman.
Redshirt freshman David McComb threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Damarion Witten and D’Shawntae Jones rushed for a score for Miami.
Last season, Heintschel threw for more than 300 yards in five of his first six starts before struggling in the final month during blowout losses against Notre Dame and Miami.
Heintschel appeared patient and confident while rotating through his reads during Pitt’s season opener. He eluded a sack on third-and-11 and completed a 31-yard pass to Lee, which set up Knight’s touchdown two plays later.
On Pitt’s second drive, Heintschel broke free from two sacks and completed a short pass to Knight for a first down. Two plays later, Cook broke free for a touchdown.
Heintschel found a wide-open Turner on a swing pass from the backfield for a 45-yard score and connected with Hicks, Lee, Yates and Ferguson Jr. for long touchdowns in the second half.
Pitt faced a shortage of wide receivers after losing Kenny Johnson and Poppi Williams, but Hicks, Lee and Knight helped fill the void.
Hicks, who caught five passes for 114 yards, returns after averaging 17.4 yards per catch last season. Knight and Lee, both transfers from Western Carolina, combined to catch 10 passes for 139 yards with two scores.
Syracuse 66, New Hampshire 3
Steve Angeli passed for three touchdowns in his first game action following a season-ending injury nearly a year ago, freshman Shavane Anderson Jr. ran for three more, and Syracuse routed New Hampshire 66-3 Saturday in the Orange’s season opener.
Angeli, who suffered a torn Achilles in Syracuse’s fourth game last season, was sharp in his return. He completed 20-of-29 passes for 263 yards and touchdown strikes of 19 and 18 yards to Umari Hatcher and 27 yards to David Clement.
The quarterback threw a scare into the Orange faithful when he appeared to injure his right knee midway through the second quarter, but he ran off the field and missed just one play.
Brown was a bit more concerned.
Despite the scare and Syracuse up by an insurmountable margin, Angeli played until 10 minutes were left in the game.
Syracuse came out sluggish but then scored on six consecutive drives. The Orange amassed 513 yards of total offense to 155 for New Hampshire (0-2).
Anderson Jr. ran for 102 yards in his Syracuse debut. Tylik Hill ran for 90 more and a 2-yard score. Ten Syracuse players caught passes, led by Hatcher who had eight for 147 yards.
The Orange led 41-0 at the break.
New Hampshire’s Brooks Bentley played just the first half and finished 11-of-18 passing for 75 yards and one interception. The Syracuse defense shut down the ground game, holding the Wildcats to 51 yards, and just 99 through the air. Running back Myles Thomason had seven receptions for 53 yards out of the backfield.
No. 9 Ole Miss 41, No. 24 Louisville 38
Lucas Carneiro kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to give ninth-ranked Mississippi a 41-38 victory over No. 24 Louisville on Sunday night in the Music City Kickoff.
The week’s only game between ranked teams started sloppy, only to turn into a second-half thriller that Ole Miss coach Pete Golding called a heavyweight fight. Louisville coach Jeff Brohm agreed.
Lincoln Kienholz, in his first career start after three seasons on Ohio State’s bench, tied it for Louisville at 38 with 1:28 left. The quarterback found Lawayne McCoy on the sideline for a 54-yard catch-and-run TD with 4:42 to go before his 7-yard TD run with 1:28 left.
Trinidad Chambliss set up the winning field goal with an 18-yard pass on third-and-6. Chambliss finished with 351 yards passing with three touchdowns, and he ran for a fourth score, all after halftime.
The Ole Miss quarterback would like to avoid some of his heroics.
Kewan Lacy ran for 61 yards on 17 carries with a 1-yard TD before being sidelined by a thigh injury. Golding said he didn’t think it was serious, though Lacy will be checked out by the team’s medical staff.
Maybe it was a bit of opening night nerves or starting with a ranked, Power Four opponent. Both Ole Miss, which ended last season losing to Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals, and Louisville had issues in the first half.
A shotgun snap went over Chambliss’ head on the opening series, and Louisville’s long snapper sent the ball flying over punter Niall Hayes’ head to set up the 1-yard TD run by Lacy.
Chambliss looked nothing like the Heisman Trophy candidate Ole Miss has been promoting at Times Square in New York City and the Sphere in Las Vegas early. He fumbled after picking up a first down on a fourth-down run. Stanquan Clark also picked off a Chambliss pass to Deuce Alexander in the second.
The quarterback playing thanks to a Mississippi Supreme Court ruling put on a show in the second half.
Chambliss found Alexander for not one, but a pair of 62-yard TD passes in the third quarter. He connected with Caleb Odom on a 35-yard TD early in the fourth, then Chambliss gave Ole Miss its biggest lead with a 5-yard TD run with 6:43 to go.
UCLA 45, California 24
Wayne Knight ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter following interceptions by Ta’Shawn James and UCLA opened the Bob Chesney era with a 45-24 victory over California on Saturday night.
Both teams entered the season with new coaches and high hopes but Chesney’s team got the best against Tosh Lupoi’s Golden Bears by capitalizing on the late miscues by quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.
Knight, who came from James Madison along with Chesney, scored on a 31-yard run midway through the fourth one play after James’ first interception on a pass that went off Ian Strong’s hands. Knight then made it 38-24 when he scored on a 4-yard run with 2:58 to play following the second takeaway by James.
Anthony Woods sealed it with a 53-yard touchdown run as the Bruins used 37 new players in the win.
Knight finished with 71 yards rushing and three TDs. Nico Iamaleava threw for 184 yards and ran for a score. UCLA finished with 277 yards rushing and six TDs on the ground.
Sagapolutele threw for 271 yards and two TDs but turned the ball over three times.
The former Pac-12 rivals met at least once every year from 1933-2023 before the series took a break when UCLA left for the Big Ten and Cal joined the ACC. The realignment that started when the Bruins left the Pac-12 with USC has raised the rancor between the schools and led to a ruling by the UC Regents where UCLA has to pay Cal $10 million annually in what is known as “Calimony.”
The teams traded TDs on the opening drives and then the final two minutes of the first half were especially eventful. It started when Sagapolutele lost a fumble on a sack in his own territory. Iamaleava then threw an interception in the red zone to Kingston Lopa in the final minute of the half.
Sagapolutele then led an 87-yard drive in 38 seconds featuring a 49-yard pass to Strong and an 8-yard TD to Mason Mini that made it 21-17 with 13 seconds left.
But Iamaleava completed a 43-yard pass to Mikey Matthews on the first play following the kickoff that set up Mateen Bhaghani’s 38-yard field goal that made it 24-17 at the half.
Cal tied the game midway through the third on Adam Mohammed’s 1-yard run.
—briefs courtesy of the ACC / photo courtesy of SMU Athletics