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Again? Two weeks in a row? Also with a controversial review involved?
You have to be kidding.
If you didn’t stay up past your bedtime to see what Miami did at Cal early Sunday morning, you’re not going to believe what happened. I did make it to the final tick of the clock at just past 2:30 a.m. on the Atlantic Coast. And I’m still trying to decide if it was real or if I just dozed off and dreamt it.
The 9th-ranked Hurricanes spoiled Cal’s 18-hour College GameDay party by rallying for their 2nd come-from-behind 1-point win in as many weeks, a 39-38 victory that was even more improbable than the Houdini act they pulled 8 days earlier against Virginia Tech.
It took some magic from Cam Ward, some help from the ACC’s command center and one incredibly timely defensive breakdown. But Miami somehow found a way to defy logic and remain undefeated.
Ward recovered from a horrendous opening 2 1/2 quarters to throw for 437 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game-winner to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds remaining. The winning score was preceded by a hit on Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza that looked like targeting to everyone but the replay official and a 77-yard completion from Ward to an inexplicably wide-open Xavier Restrepo.
The fact that it all happened on a day in which 5 of the nation’s top 11 teams lost, including No. 1 Alabama to perennial SEC bottom-feeder Vanderbilt, makes the Hurricanes’ comeback all the more improbable.
Somebody up there, either in Charlotte or an even higher authority, must like this Miami team. Because at least for now, it’s living an incredibly charmed existence.
That’s not the only thing we learned about the ACC in Week 6. Here are some of the other big takeaways:
It’s not that complicated
Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson was asked what adjustments he and his staff made to help bring about the 10-point 4th-quarter rally that led the Deacons to a 34-30 win at NC State. His answer might sound simplistic, but it’s to the point. And spot on.
“Get your best player the ball,” he said.
Clawson did just that by giving Demond Claiborne 12 touches in the 4th quarter on 11 runs and 1 reception. And the junior running back responded by picking up 65 yards and getting into the end zone twice – including the go-ahead score with 1:01 remaining – to lead his team to the win.
The concept of feeding the beast is one Clawson’s counterpart Dave Doeren might want to study.
In contrast to Wake, NC State’s best player Saturday and its best player overall combined to touch the ball 1 time in the final 15 minutes. KC Concepcion gained 8 yards on a run 1 play before CJ Bailey hit tight end Justin Joly for a touchdown that put the Wolfpack ahead 30-20 with 13:51 remaining. But that was the last time either he or running back Kendrick Raphael saw the ball.
The decision to keep Raphael on the bench was particularly head-scratching. He led the Wolfpack in rushing with 48 yards on 10 carries. His 2 best runs came on a punishing 5-yard pickup on 3rd-and-short, followed by an even more physical 20-yard touchdown run with 3:07 left in the 3rd quarter. But instead of rolling with the hot hand to try and put the game away, Doeren chose to use graduate transfer Jordan Waters, who picked up 7 yards on his final 3 carries, the rest of the way.
And it cost him.
Move over, Dan Marino
No one is going to confuse Eli Holstein with Dan Marino. Not yet, at least. But Pitt’s redshirt freshman quarterback already has at least one thing in common with the Hall of Famer other than the position they both play.
With Saturday’s win at North Carolina, the transfer from Alabama became the first Panthers quarterback to win each of his first 5 starts since Marino did in 1979. Along the way, he also broke Alex Van Pelt’s single-game school record for passing yardage by a freshman by throwing for a career-high 381 yards in a 34-24 win against the reeling Tar Heels.
The 5-0 start is Pitt’s first since 1991 and moved the Panthers within 1 win of bowl eligibility after winning only 3 times all last season.
Holstein is a big reason for the turnaround. He has thrown for 300 or more yards in all but 1 of his team’s games this season. And the one he didn’t, he only played a half in a 73-17 rout of Youngstown State – still finishing with 247 yards.
The most amazing aspect of that success is that his coach Pat Narduzzi spent the entire offseason pumping up incumbent starter Nate Yarnell. He even brought Yarnell with him to the ACC’s preseason media event in Charlotte. Either Narduzzi is an elite sandbagger or he saw something in Holstein in the days leading up to Pitt’s season opener against Kent State that convinced him to change his plans.
Either way, he’s hit on a winning formula.
UNC keeps finding new ways to lose
Give Mack Brown and his Tar Heels credit for at least one thing. They’re nothing if not creative about the way they’re flushing their season down the drain. Two weeks ago, they gave up 70 in a loss to James Madison. Last week they coughed up a 20-point lead in losing to arch-rival Duke.
Saturday, they were much more subtle in their self-destruction. The downward spiral of UNC’s season is encapsulated in one incredible sequence during the opening half of Saturday’s loss to Pitt.
Leading 7-3 midway through the 1st quarter, the Tar Heels took position at their own 10 after a Panthers punt. With running back Omarion Hampton doing the bulk of the work on the ground and as a receiver, they methodically began moving the ball downfield.
Eighteen plays and 9 minutes later, they found themselves facing a 4th-and-2 situation at the Pitt 9. Instead of kicking a field goal and taking the points or handing the ball to his workhorse back, Brown had quarterback Jacolby Criswell throw. Incomplete. It’s bad enough that the epic drive yielded no points. But UNC’s porous defense helped the situation go from bad to worse by allowing the Panthers to drive 91 yards in just 93 seconds for the tying touchdown.
While the Tar Heels didn’t turn the ball over per se, they did the next best thing by going just 2-for-6 on 4th downs, including a 4th-and-1 play from the Pitt 9 with 9 minutes remaining that all but sealed their fate.
Signs of life from the Seminoles
For the 6th time in as many games this season, Florida State failed to reach the 300-yard mark in total offense on Saturday. Its 250 yards against Clemson were its 2nd-lowest total to date. They were also held to 16 points or fewer for the 5th time since scoring a season-high 21 in its opening game against Georgia Tech in Week 0.
And yet, there were still some positives for Mike Norvell’s reeling team, even as it sank even further toward rock bottom. When you’re 1-5 and heading nowhere fast, you have to take your victories where you can find them.
The most encouraging sign was the play of quarterback Brock Glenn. The redshirt freshman, who struggled in his 2 starts at the end of last season, battled back from a shaky start and gained confidence as the game went on. Glenn completed 23-of-41 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns and an interception in relief of starter DJ Uiagalelei, who missed the game with a broken finger on his throwing hand. Beyond the statistics, Glenn was much more poised than in his previous appearances, especially in converting all 4 of his 4th-down opportunities.
Defensively the Seminoles put pressure on the quarterback, tightened up in the red zone and forced Clemson to settle for 7 field goal attempts while their special teams blocked 2 of them to keep the score from getting out of hand after falling into an early 17-0 hole.
Turning the corner in Charlottesville
Times have been tough at Virginia. Both on and off the field. But finally, for the first time in Tony Elliott’s tumultuous 3-year tenure, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Saturday’s 24-14 victory against Boston College wasn’t a transformative result for UVa’s program because of the opponent or even because it helped Elliott and his team surpass its win total from each of the past 2 seasons. It’s more because of the way it was achieved.
The Cavaliers forced 3 turnovers in the 4th quarter, leading to 18 points in the final period to complete a rally that saw them outscore the Eagles 24-0 after falling into an early 14-point hole. It was the 2nd time this season they’ve rallied from a 2-score deficit and the 2nd time they’ve won a game when trailing entering the 4th quarter.
It’s still too early to consider UVa an ACC contender. But at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference for the first time since 2019 under former coach Bronco Mendenhall, it finally appears to be heading in the right direction.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
