Florida State's visit to Pitt, Virginia Tech at Louisville highlight Week 10 in ACC
Things to watch in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Week 10:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 4 Florida State at Pitt, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
The Seminoles (8-0, 6-0 ACC) play their last league road game against the struggling Panthers (2-6, 1-3). Florida State looks to move a step closer to its first conference title game appearance since it last won the crown in 2014. It's used a dynamic offense — it leads the ACC and is 11th nationally in red-zone offense — and a defense that's forced more incompletions than pass catches this fall. Florida State is looking for its 15th straight win.
Pitt, the ACC champion two seasons ago, has lost its past two games including a 58-7 blowout at Notre Dame last week. Coach Pat Narduzzi apologized for comments made after the loss that were critical of his players. Narduzzi said he apologized to the team at their Sunday meeting and everyone was ready to move on.
BEST MATCHUP
Virginia Tech, picked 11th out of 14 teams in the ACC preseason rankings this year, has a two-game winning streak as it heads to No. 15 Louisville. Both teams have ACC title game hopes. The Hokies (4-4, 3-1) have consecutive wins over Wake Forest and Syracuse while Louisville (7-1, 4-1) has been perhaps the biggest surprise in the league. The Cardinals are coming off a 23-0 victory over then-20th-ranked Duke.
LONG SHOT
Wake Forest (4-4, 1-4) is a 12 ½-point underdog to Duke (5-3, 2-2), according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Duke is coming off back-to-back losses to ranked opponents in Florida State and Louisville.
The Blue Devils broke a three-game losing streak in the series last year when Riley Leonard threw his fourth touchdown to Sahmir Hagans with just over two minutes left in the 34-31 victory. Leonard, who's dealt with injuries this season, played throughout the Louisville game and is expected to play as Duke tries to become bowl eligible.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is stuck on 165, the number of career wins at Clemson. He tied the late Frank Howard, who coached the Tigers from 1940 to 1969, with a 17-12 win over Wake Forest on Oct. 7. Losses to Miami and North Carolina State followed.
Things won't get easier this week as Clemson (4-4) hosts No. 12 Notre Dame (7-2) on Saturday.
The frustrations are building for Swinney, who criticized a radio caller who questioned his coaching this season and his status as one of college football's highest-paid coaches.
IMPACT PLAYER
Virginia has found some of its football footing the last few weeks and receiver Malik Washington is a big reason why.
Washington, the 6-foot-2 graduate student who previously played at Northwestern, leads the ACC in receptions and receiving yards per game and is second with six touchdowns catches.
Washington tied a career-high with 12 receptions for 152 yards in the 29-26 overtime loss at Miami last week, his sixth game with at least 100 receiving yards this season. That ties the Virginia record for most 100-yard receiving games in a season.
Washington has been named the ACC receiver of the week after the past two games and three times overall this season.
Virginia (2-6, 1-3) looks to bounce back against Georgia Tech (4-4, 3-2).
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