Only three ACC games played on Saturday mattered.

Yes, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton had a big game with 265 yards from scrimmage (172 rushing, 93 receiving) in the Tar Heels’ 35-11 win over Florida State, whose 1-8 record continues to shock the nation.

And, of course, North Carolina State freshman quarterback CJ Bailey was nearly spectacular, completing 18 of 20 passes for 234 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 59-28 victory over Stanford, which has lost in the last six games by a combined margin of 146 points.

And it’s true that Syracuse’s comeback from a 21-3 deficit midway through the third quarter to a 38-31 victory over Virginia Tech was impressive.

But we’ll focus on the three ACC games that had an impact on the college football landscape:

Louisville 33, Clemson 21

(Louisville is 6-3, 4-2 ACC; Clemson is 6-2, 5-1 ACC)

—This result erased a major concern at the start of the weekend that three teams could finish with undefeated ACC records, leaving one 8-0 team, possibly Miami, out of the ACC championship game . Clemson, Miami and SMU do not play each other this season, making it possible before this weekend for all three to finish the regular season with undefeated conference records, leaving a complicated tiebreaker scenario to determine the two. teams that will win the ACC title. .

But Clemson’s loss means only two teams – SMU and Miami – can finish with undefeated records in the conference.

That said, Clemson is still in College Football Playoff contention, as it seems likely that at least one two-loss team will make the 12-team field, perhaps even a three-loss team.

—Clemson looked nearly unbeatable at home, especially at night, and not only did the Tigers lose, but Louisville made them look tame in a dominant 33-21 victory that wasn’t as close as the score suggests.

“Tonight we looked like a very poorly coached team,” Clemson coach Damo Swinney said.

Clemson was 69-3 at home in the College Football Playoff era and had not lost a night game at home in 11 years.

The last time Clemson lost a home game to an unranked team was in 2001, when North Carolina beat the Tigers 38-3.

—Louisville freshman running back Isaac Brown is one of the surprises of the ACC season. He had his fourth 100-yard game of the season against Clemson, rushing for a career-high 151 yards while averaging 7.6 yards per carry.

“Their running back was the difference in the game,” Swinney said.

For the season, Brown is averaging 7.55 yards per carry, fourth-best in the country and easily the best among freshmen. His 800 rushing yards rank second in the nation for freshmen, just 11 yards behind Louisiana-Monroe freshman Ahmad Hardy.

Brown is second on the team in receptions with 26.

Coming out of high school in Homestead, Florida, the 5-foot-9 Brown was rated as a three-star recruit who was ranked the 524th best prospect in the class of 2024 by the 247 Sports Composite.

Miami 53, Duke 31

(Miami is 9-0, 5-0 ACC; Duke is 6-3, 2-3 ACC)

—Miami is ranked No. 4 in the AP rankings released Sunday and is one of five undefeated FBS teams. Miami leads the nation in scoring at 47.4 points per game, but it will be interesting to see where the College Football Playoff Committee ranks the Hurricanes when the first CFP rankings are released on Tuesday.

—For the third time this season, Miami won a game it trailed by double digits in the second half.

Miami trailed Cal 35-10 with eight minutes left in the third quarter and outscored the Bears 29-3 the rest of the way to win by one.

The Hurricanes trailed Virginia Tech by 10 points with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter and won that one by four (in a disputed decision on the final play).

Miami faced an 11-point deficit against Duke with 10 minutes left in the third quarter, then outscored the Blue Devils 27-3 the rest of the game to make the result look like a rout.

—Miami quarterback Cam Ward threw five touchdown passes, giving him 29 on the season, three more than anyone else in the country. Ward is tied for the school record for TD passes in a season. His plus-23 touchdown-interception margin (29 touchdown passes, 6 interceptions) is five better than anyone else in the country.

—Miami wide receiver Xavier Restrepo set a school record for career receiving yards, starting the day 4 yards ahead of Michael Irvin, and then passed Reggie Wayne and Santana Moss on Saturday.

But if you can guess which player Restrepo tied for the most receptions in Miami history, consider yourself a sports trivia genius. Let me give you some options:

Santana Moss, only Pro Bowl selection and Super Bowl champion?

Six-time Pro Bowler Reggie Wayne?

Hall of Famer Michael Irvin?

Seven-time Pro Bowl selection Andre Johnson?

Four-time Pro Bowl selection Kellen Winslow?

Three-time Pro Bowler Greg Olsen?

Four-time Pro Bowler Jeremy Shockey?

Well, it was nothing like that. Restrepo is linked to a guy named Mike Harley, who played in Miami just three years ago. But Harley went undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft and has never played in an NFL game.

SMU 48, Pittsburgh 25

(SMU is 8-1, 5-0 ACC; Pitt is 7-1, 3-1 ACC)

—SMU is now 5-0 in conference play for the second straight season, and the last time the Mustangs started 5-0 in conference play in back-to-back seasons was in 1947 and 1948, when Doak Walker was the SMU star.

—The degree to which SMU dominated previously undefeated Pitt was shocking. Pitt had allowed opponents an average of just 2.52 yards per rushing attempt, third-best in the country, before SMU carved up that defense for 135 yards rushing and 5.9 yards per carry in the first half, which ended with SMU with a 31-3 lead.

—SMU moved up seven spots in the AP poll this week and sits at No. 13, the Mustangs’ highest ranking since 1985. But will the College Football Playoff Committee be as kind to the Mustangs when they play? release the first CFP rankings on Tuesday? Clemson’s loss puts the ACC in danger of having only one team in the 12-team CFP, and SMU may be the conference’s best chance for a second representative.

—It’s been a long, hard fight for SMU since it received the death penalty in 1987, preventing the school from playing football for two seasons due to repeated recruiting violations and forcing the program to start from scratch. Since then, SMU has never been ranked higher than 15th until now, and not once since receiving the Death Penalty has SMU finished a season in the top 20.

Both members of SMU’s famed Pony Express running tandem, Eric Dickerson and Craig James, attended SMU’s win over Pitt. Dickerson and James helped the Mustangs finish the 1982 season with an 11-0-1 record and a No. 2 national ranking. Coincidentally, SMU beat Pitt 7-3 in the Cotton Bowl that season.

—SMU was virtually written out of the ACC championship conversations after the first three games of this season. In the opener, the Mustangs had to rally from an 11-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to beat a mediocre Nevada team, which was picked to finish last in the 12-team Mountain West and is now 0 -4 in conference games. Then in the third game, SMU lost at home to BYU, which was picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 out of 16 teams.

SMU’s highly touted quarterback Preston Stone struggled early and was replaced by Kevin Jennings as the starter. The Mustangs seemed to be going nowhere.

Since then, SMU has won six straight, including two games against ranked teams at the time, Louisville and Pitt. Meanwhile, BYU remains undefeated and is ranked No. 9 in the country. The Mustangs’ three remaining games are against Boston College, Virginia and Cal, all of which have losing records in the conference and are a combined 3-10 in the ACC.

ACC Player of the Year Rankings

–1. Quarterback Cam Ward, Miami – 29 touchdown passes, 6 interceptions for No. 4 team.

–2. Quarterback Cade Klubnik, Clemson – Poor performance on Saturday, but still has an impressive +17 TD and interception margin (20 TDs, 3 picks) for a top-20 ranked team.

–3. Running back Omarion Hampton, North Carolina – Yes, I know North Carolina is 5-4, but he was outstanding against Florida State with 265 yards from scrimmage, and is fourth in the country in rushing yards with 1,178 yards.

–4. Quarterback Kevin Jennings: He is the main reason SMU is where it is.

–5. Quarterback Eli Holstein, Pitt – Just edges out Miami wide receiver Xavier Restrepo for the final spot.

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ACC’s five best teams

(We rank based on which teams have had the best results, not which teams we think are the best)

–1. Miami (9-0, 5-0 ACC) – The Hurricanes have won three games by one score but are still undefeated.

–2. SMU (8-1, 5-0) – The way the Mustangs manhandled Pitt was impressive.

–3. Clemson (6-2, 5-1) – The Tigers looked weak Saturday, but they are still in contention for an ACC title.

–4. Pitt (7-1, 3-1) – There are fears that Pitt will fall out of sight after the humiliating loss to SMU.

–5. Louisville (6-3, 4-2) – The Cardinals’ three losses were by seven points, and all were against teams ranked in the top 13 in this week’s AP Poll.

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