From a national perspective, the ACC had a horrendous week. Clemson was blown out by Notre Dame, which not only ruined the Tigers’ chances of making the playoff but also killed any outside chance of North Carolina making it as well. But instead of focusing on the negatives, let’s look at all the good that happened this week in the league. Teams are bowl eligible! Winning streaks are occurring! Even teams that lost this week are looking better! It’s more fun when fans appreciate positivity in college football, so in this week’s recap of the ACC, let’s talk about the fun stories, too.

Duke 38, Boston College 31

Mike Elko has Duke bowl-eligible in his first season in Durham, with room to spare. Based on the recent results around the league, I think he has become the clear front-runner for conference coach of the year. For Boston College, there’s really nowhere to go but up from a loss to UConn, so at least there were a few things to give Eagles fans some hope. Emmett Morehead had arguably the best game a quarterback has had for the team all year, but the lack of a running game and offensive line woes continue to kill Jeff Hafley’s team. Bottom line, though, is that Duke has had an extremely successful season no matter how the Blue Devils finish.

North Carolina 31, Virginia 28

Before the game, it was announced that Virginia’s top three receivers, along with its starting running back, would not play in the South’s Oldest Rivalry. So naturally, what did the Cavaliers do? Score a touchdown on their opening drive. Although North Carolina ultimately won the game – and Drake Maye once again made the case for being the most valuable player in the sport – Virginia showed signs of life for the first time in a long time. For the Tar Heels, they were able to survive an upset bid again, but the defense has to improve if they want to compete with Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

Georgia Tech 28, Virginia Tech 27

The Hokies keep inventing new ways to lose in the most painful scenarios possible. In this case, Virginia Tech led 27-16 against a Yellow Jackets squad starting a true freshman quarterback who hadn’t played all season. The Hokies’ final five possessions of the game: missed field goal, fumble, interception, punt, fumble. Credit to Zach Pyron, who led Georgia Tech on two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to reclaim the lead, but this is just more of the same from Virginia Tech, where miscues and unforced errors have led to a 2-7 start — the first time the Hokies have only won two out of their first nine games in 30 years. It may sound like a broken record at this point, but this was not the start Brent Pry envisioned for his team in Blacksburg.

Pittsburgh 19, Syracuse 9

Well, Syracuse, it was fun while it lasted. Yes, Garrett Shrader didn’t play in this game, and there were lots of injuries on the defensive side of the ball, but this is more the level of competence we expected from the Orange this season. Bowl-eligible, perhaps, but not a top 25 team. On Pitt’s side, it was a solid, yet a bit ugly, performance from a Panthers team that didn’t have their best player in Israel Abanikanda. Nothing spectacular, but Pat Narduzzi seems to have cooked up another patented 7-5 special.

Notre Dame 35, Clemson 14

It was never a question of if a loss like this would come for the Tigers. It was only a matter of whether it would happen in the College Football Playoff. Notre Dame was happy to answer the question sooner rather than later, though, as the Fighting Irish dominated the game in all three aspects. Notre Dame was able to run the ball down Clemson’s throat in the first half, and the defense frustrated Clemson’s quarterbacks to no end. The Irish even threw in a special teams touchdown for good measure. Clemson is a good team, and I feel like that should be stated. It’s just that the Tigers aren’t elite like they have been for the past half decade.

Louisville 31, James Madison 10

Genuine progress for Scott Satterfield and the Cardinals, who slammed the door on the Dukes after being tied 10-10 at half. Louisville has won four straight games, and after a devastating loss to Boston College has looked like one of the better teams in its division. The defense held James Madison to fewer than 100 yards through the air, and Malik Cunningham had an efficient outing, especially in the second half. In a game where past Louisville teams may have tripped up, the Cardinals showed they could control a game, which bodes well for the remainder of the season.

Florida State 45, Miami 3

Utter dominance in a rivalry that isn’t used to seeing blowouts quite on this scale. The score was 31-3 at halftime and honestly didn’t even feel that close. Miami used three quarterbacks on offense, which usually either means you’re blowing someone out or getting blown out yourself. Unfortunately, for the Hurricanes, it was the latter scenario. Expectations in Mario Cristobal’s first year were almost certainly too high to begin with, but even so, Miami should never be this bad. For the Noles, it’s a shame they didn’t win one of the three games in a row against top Atlantic competition, because I think they would be perceived very differently as a two-loss squad with a win over LSU. Even so, nine wins is a clear possibility for Mike Norvell this season, which is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

NC State 30, Wake Forest 21

The most impressive result of the week for an ACC team in my opinion happened in Raleigh on Saturday night, where the Wolfpack showed that despite losing Devin Leary for the season, they were a force to be reckoned with. MJ Morris built on his strong start from last week by throwing for three touchdowns and no interceptions, and the defense was able to hold back the explosive Demon Deacons offense enough for NC State to maintain a lead for the entire second half. Sam Hartman struggled once again, throwing three interceptions on the night for a Demon Deacons team that seems to be in a bit of a free fall ever since I pegged them as the second-best squad in the conference. And with North Carolina, Duke, and Syracuse all coming up, it’s not implausible that the team loses out. Like I said in the lede, though, I want to focus on positivity, so it’s great to have seen the Wolfpack play so well in spite of adverse circumstances.