No. 10 Miami visits SMU, No. 8 Georgia Tech travels to NC State to headline ACC slate

Things to watch this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference:

Game of the week

No. 10 Miami (6-1, 2-1 ACC) at SMU (5-3, 3-1), Saturday, noon ET (ESPN)

There are five one-loss teams behind league unbeatens Georgia Tech and Virginia, so this one could be a de facto elimination game in the chase to reach the ACC title game. The Hurricanes regrouped from a turnover-filled loss to Louisville by beating Stanford. The Mustangs are coming off a loss at Wake Forest, their first regular-season ACC loss following an 8-0 run through the league in their debut last year.

The undercard

No. 8 Georgia Tech (8-0, 5-0 ACC) at N.C. State (4-4, 1-3), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

The Yellow Jackets can become only the sixth team in program history to start 9-0, something they haven't done since 1966. They rolled past Syracuse last week and their closest call came when they edged Wake Forest by stopping a 2-point overtime try for a walk-off win. N.C. State has lost four of five since a 3-0 start but is 3-1 at home.

No. 15 Virginia (7-1, 4-0) at California (5-3, 2-2), Saturday, 3:45 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

The Cavaliers keep winning with a sputtering offense. Virginia averaged just 23 points and 265.7 yards in wins against Louisville, Washington State and North Carolina, and two of those were among UVA's three OT wins this year. Before the lull, Virginia was averaging 45.6 points and 539.6 yards. The Cavs will face a Cal team with a chance to clinch bowl eligibility for a third straight year.

Impact players

— Duke RB Nate Sheppard. The true freshman has taken a leading role in the backfield entering Saturday's trip to Clemson, highlighted by a 168-yard day at Syracuse.

— Pittsburgh QB Mason Heintschel. The true freshman has led Pitt to four straight wins since taking over as the starter. He enters Saturday's trip to Stanford coming off a freshman school record with 423 passing yards against the Wolfpack.

Inside the numbers

The league has four ranked teams in the AP Top 25 poll with No. 16 Louisville visiting Virginia Tech on Saturday. ... Florida State returns from a bye by hosting Wake Forest. The Seminoles have lost 11 of 12 league games since the start of last season. ... The Demon Deacons are a win from bowl eligibility under first-year coach Jake Dickert after being picked to finish 16th in the league. ... North Carolina visits Syracuse on Friday night with an 0-5 record against power-conference opponents, though the past two losses have come by a combined four points.

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