Oct 02, 2018

ACC & Big 12 Week 5 Recap: Tigers, Irish, Mountaineers all remain unbeaten

ACC

Big 12

AP Top 10

  1. Alabama
  2. Georgia
  3. Ohio State
  4. Clemson
  5. LSU
  6. Notre Dame
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Auburn
  9. West Virginia
  10. Washington

Clemson avoids upset, rallies to top Syracuse

A 2-yard rushing score by Clemson’s Travis Etienne with less than a minute left in the game proved to be the difference as the Tigers defeated the Syracuse Orange 27-23 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Tigers remained undefeated at 5-0 and 2-0 in the ACC, while Syracuse suffered its first lossof 2018 and moved to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

‘Cuse quarterback Eric Dungey threw 41 times in the loss, completing 26 for 250 yards. He now has 1,040 career pass attempts and is only the second quarterback in program history with more than 1,000 career throws (Ryan Nassib).

After completing 10 of his first 15 passes in his first college start, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence left the game with an injury in the second quarter and was replaced by redshirt-freshman Chase Brice. Brice, who had eight career passes prior to Saturday, led a 94-yard, fourth-quarter scoring drive that ended with Travis Etienne’s touchdown run with 41 seconds to play.

The score gave the Tigers a 27-23 lead and was set up by a 20-yard completion from Brice to Tee Higgins on 4th-and-6 with 38 seconds left in the fourth.

Clemson goes on the road next week to take on Wake Forest while Syracuse will look to bounce back against Pitt this weekend at Heinz Field.

Book, Irish defense lead Notre Dame past Stanford

No. 8 Notre Dame handed No. 7 Stanford its first loss of the season as the Irish defeated the Cardinal 38-17 on Saturday night in South Bend. With the win, Notre Dame improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2014. It is the first time the Irish have opened 5-0 with multiple wins over ranked opponents since 2002.

Ian Book and Miles Boykin, the heroes of last year’s Citrus Bowl, worked their magic once again, as Book threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns, including an 8-yard TD to Boykin, who set career highs in receptions (11) and yardage (144) in the win.

A stifling defensive line also chipped in, holding Stanford to 55 yards on the ground as the No. 8 Irish broke a three-game losing streak to Cardinals. The victory was Notre Dame’s first win against a top-10 opponent at Notre Dame Stadium since the Irish beat No. 8 Michigan 28-20 on Sept. 11, 2004.

The Cardinals return home to face Utah next week while the Irish hit the road to face Virginia Tech.

West Virginia holds on to beat Texas Tech

West Virginia cornerback Keith Washington returned an interception 51 yards for a score with 2:58 to play as No. 12 West Virginia held off a late push by Texas Tech in a 42-34 win over the 25th-ranked Red Raiders on Saturday. West Virginia improved to 6-2 all-time against Texas Tech with the victory, including a 3-1 mark in Lubbock.

Heisman hopeful Will Grier completed 21 of 29 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 35-10 lead after two quarters. The Red Raiders defense came alive in the second half, holding West Virginia to less than 107 yards of total offense and limiting WVU to just six first downs as Tech cut the lead to eight on a 3-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Jett Duffey with 7:50 left in the fourth quarter.

Duffey was playing in place of starter Alan Bowman, who left the game late in the first half with a collapsed lung after being sandwiched between two Mountaineers defenders. Bowman entered the game ranked second among FBS quarterbacks with 1,557 passing yards through Week 4.

Following a West Virginia punt, Texas Tech took over at its own 24 with 4:23 to go, but five plays later, Washington picked off Duffey’s pass, effectively sealing the win for the Mountaineers.

West Virginia hosts Kansas next week, while the Red Raiders have an off week before hitting the road to face TCU on October 11.

Virginia Tech hands Duke first loss of season

Making his first start as Hokies quarterback in place of the injured Josh Jackson, Ryan Willis threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns to lead Virginia Tech to a 31-14 victory over No. 22 Duke on Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium.

With the win, the Hokies moved to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in ACC play, and snapped Duke’s seven-game winning streak. The Blue Devils fell to 4-1 overall and are 0-1 in ACC play.

The Hokies bounced back strong following a 14-point loss at Old Dominion last week and led virtually all night to earn their second road victory against a ranked league opponent this season. They defeated then-No. 19 Florida State 24-3 in the opener. The win was also Virginia Tech’s fourth over a ranked team since Justin Fuente was hired as head coach in November 2015.

The Blue Devils were denied the program’s first 5-0 start since the 1994 season. Duke will regroup during a bye this week and return to action Saturday, Oct. 13 at Georgia Tech. The Hokies will host No. 6 Notre Dame next Saturday night in Blacksburg.

Texas wins fourth straight, beats K-State

No. 18 Texas jumped out to a 19-0 halftime lead and held on for a 19-14 win over Kansas State on Saturday afternoon. The victory was the Longhorns’ first in The Little Apple since 2002 and gave Texas four straight wins for the first time since 2013.

Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw for 207 yards and a touchdown while Charles Omenihuhad recorded two sacks, including one that resulted in a second-quarter safety to put Texas up 16-0. On special teams, freshman return man D’Shawn Jamison scored his first career TD on a 90-yard first-quarter punt return to lead the Horns to the win.

K-State kicked off its second-half rally with a 10-play touchdown drive to cut the lead to 19-7. After a K-State punt and a Longhorn missed field goal, K-State converted two fourth down attempts to cut the Longhorn lead to 19-14. Despite the momentum, Texas was able to force K-State into a three-and-out with 6:20 remaining, then ran out the clock out by converting on three first downs

Next week Texas and Oklahoma meet in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl for the Red River Showdown. Kansas State will head to Waco to face Baylor.

TCU beats Iowa State in final minute

Jonathan Song made a 28-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter to lift TCU to a 17-14 victory over Iowa State on Saturday night at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

The Horned Frogs limited Iowa State to 198 yards on the night, marking the second time this season they have held a team under 200 (Southern had 185 in the season opener). The two teams were tied 7-7 at halftime, but the Frogs took the lead on the first play after the break when Innis Gaines sacked Cyclones quarterback Zeb Noland, forcing a fumble that Ben Banogu picked up and ran 47 yards for the score.

Iowa State tied the game at 14-all with just under eight minutes left when running back David Montgomery (21 carries, 101 yards) scored from 1 yard out. On the ensuing TCU possession, Braxton Lewis picked off a Shawn Robinson pass, but the Cyclones were unable to capitalize and the Horned Frogs took the lead for good on Song’s field goal on the team’s final drive.

Iowa State will face Oklahoma State next week while TCU will have a bye week before hosting Texas Tech on Oct. 11.

Vote for the Play of the Week!

Week 5 was filled with memorable plays in the ACC and Big 12. Here were two of our favorites. Make sure you vote for the best in the poll below!

1.) Clemson’s Hunter Renfrow makes an incredible grab.

2.) Texas return man D’Shawn Jamison takes punt back 90-yards for a touchdown.

Sign Up
for Alerts

Keep up to date with all of the news from the Pop-Tarts Bowl including event information, presale opportunities and more.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.