There was at least one constant in the ACC in Week 5. For the eighth straight time since 2002, Clemson took care of NC State in Death Valley and established itself as the clear-cut front-runner in the competitive Atlantic Division.

Not everything that happened Saturday went according to script, though, including a shocking result in Pittsburgh, where Georgia Tech proved once again that, yes, coaching does make a difference.

While the Atlantic race is already starting to come into focus, the Coastal Division has become even more chaotic than ever.

So let’s dissect how it all went down and what we can learn from each team’s performance:

Boston College

We learned that when Phil Jurkovec gets time to throw and gets any semblance of a running attack to force opposing defenses to respect his play action, he can still be an effective passer and that the Eagles are still capable of producing big plays and putting points on the boards.

At least against bad teams like Louisville.

Jurkovec was 18-of-21 for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 of which went to star receiver Zay Flowers, in Saturday’s 34-32 win against the Cardinals. That running game, fueled by freshman Alex Broome’s 83 yards on 9 carries, accounted for 144 yards in the game – nearly 100 more than BC’s ACC-worst season average of 59.8 per game.

As promising as Jurkovec’s performance was, especially compared to the way the season has started for the senior quarterback and his team, it was far from perfect. He was intercepted once and fumbled twice. But on this occasion, it was still good enough to get the Eagles into the ACC win column and out of the Atlantic Division cellar.

Clemson

The Tigers reminded us that they’re a much better defensive team than they showed a week ago in giving up 45 points to Wake Forest.

Granted NC State’s receivers aren’t the same quality as those of the Deacons and coach Dabo Swinney’s team was playing at home, fueled by the juice provided by an 81,000-fan sea of orange. But Clemson in general and its defensive line in particular showed a lot of pride by bouncing back the way they did in their 30-20 win.

The Tigers limited the Wolfpack to just 34 yards on the ground and 279 total while allowing only 3 plays of 20 or more yards – 1 of which came on State’s final drive, in which it tacked on a window-dressing touchdown that made the final score look closer than the game actually was.

Duke

It had been almost 2 full calendar years since the Blue Devils’ most recent ACC win, a 38-24 triumph at Syracuse on Oct. 10, 2020 and even longer since they beat Miami 27-17 in the final game of the 2019 season for their last home victory against a conference opponent.

But Saturday, coach Mike Elko’s team continued to show us that this is a different Duke team.

The Blue Devils not only ended a 13-game ACC losing streak with their 38-17 rout of Virginia in a game that saw them pile up 248 rushing yards and get 2 takeaways, they exceeded their win total from the 2021 season with more than half the schedule still remaining.

Even though Duke is 1 of 2 teams sitting atop its division standings, it would be silly to start thinking about it as a legitimate contender. Or would it? It is the Coastal, after all.

Florida State

OK, can we stop with the “Florida State is back” narrative now?

Yes, the Seminoles have shown tangible signs of improvement. But with their 31-21 loss to Wake Forest in Tallahassee, we learned that they haven’t progressed far enough yet to beat a well-coached, veteran opponent. Even at home.

Quarterback Jordan Travis recorded another solid stat line, completing 23-of-35 passes for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns. But coach Mike Norvell’s team couldn’t stop Sam Hartman and the Deacons’ offense either early in the game or late when they needed to get the ball back after rallying from a 28-7 deficit to within a single score.

FSU also hurt itself by committing 11 penalties, including a critical delay infraction late in the game that contributed to a missed field goal and ended any chance of a comeback.

Georgia Tech

What a difference a coach makes.

The same group of Yellow Jackets that had looked helpless at times while starting the season at 1-3 under Geoff Collins, who was fired on Monday, came together under interim coach Brent Key and stunned defending ACC champion Pittsburgh.

The 26-21 win snapped a 9-game losing streak against FBS opponents, the last 5 of which came by the combined score of 210-20.

How’d they do it?

With a defense that forced 3 turnovers, including an interception and a fumble recovery from linebacker Charlie Thomas, and an offense that did just enough with the opportunities to pull off the upset. Hassan Hall ran for 157 yards and Gavin Edwards kicked 4 field goals in an effort that was undoubtedly aided by the cool, wet conditions in Pittsburgh.

Louisville

If we weren’t already well aware of Malik Cunningham’s value to the Cardinals, his importance was driven home Saturday when he was forced to leave the game in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed offense.

The senior quarterback wasn’t having his best game to that point, but he did run for 3 touchdowns and throw for 186 yards while willing his team into a late 33-31 lead. But with Cunningham on the sidelines, replacement Brock Domann – who was 1-of-8 passing – wasn’t able to generate enough of an attack to add to the advantage or rally Louisville from behind once BC kicked a go-ahead field goal with 1:56 remaining.

Louisville’s defense didn’t do much to help the situation either by allowing 4 plays of 40 yards or longer and giving up 448 yards to a team that came into the game ranked dead last in the ACC in total offense with an average of 283 yards per game.

With the Cardinals falling to 0-3 in the conference and 2-3 overall and a brutal schedule still to come, it goes without saying that coach Scott Satterfield figures to get hotter as the weather gets colder.

North Carolina

So we found out that the Tar Heels actually do know how to play defense.

After giving up almost 500 yards per game to its first 4 opponents, Mack Brown’s team limited Virginia Tech to 273 total yards and just 92 during a second half in which it pitched a shutout.

Before we go comparing UNC to the 1985 Chicago Bears and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik to Buddy Ryan, let’s take a deep breath and remember that the Hokies are as offensively challenged through the first third of the season as the Tar Heels have been defenseless.

But you have to start somewhere. And in a Coastal Division that again is wide open, any kind of defense at all could be enough with an offense like the one being directed by quarterback Drake Maye. May threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for 2 more in leading his team to a 41-10 victory in its ACC opener.

NC State

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Wolfpack couldn’t get the job done in a big situation against a quality opponent with an opportunity to put themselves in a position to win their first ACC championship since 1979.

Saturday’s 30-20 loss to Clemson at Death Valley reminded us that when it comes to NC State, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Wolfpack actually had a shot at this one for a while. They led 10-6 with just under 2 minutes remaining in the half but couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity after coming out flat offensively after the break.

If there’s one new thing we learned about State in its latest disappointment, it’s that it can’t run the ball effectively, its offensive line is suspect without first-round NFL Draft pick Icky Ekwonu there to anchor it and that quarterback Devin Leary’s receiving options are severely limited beyond Thayer Thomas (9 catches, 84 yards against Clemson).

Pittsburgh

The biggest takeaway from the Panthers’ stunning loss to Georgia Tech, other than that they can now officially stop talking about their Playoff possibilities and national rankings, is that the injury bug that has taken a huge bite out of their defense is now carried over to the offense.

Israel Abanikanda, the ACC’s leading rusher through the first 4 weeks, left the game with an injury late in the first half and never returned. His replacement Vincent Davis fumbled twice, both of which turned into points for the Yellow Jackets.

We also learned that quarterback Kedon Slovis, unlike his predecessor Kenny Pickett, isn’t the kind of passer that can lift a team up and carry it to victory with his arm. Although he threw for 305 yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 of the scores came in the final 2 minutes. He also threw an interception that led to a Tech field goal.

Syracuse

We learned that the Orange had no business playing a team the caliber of Wagner, which came in at 0-3 with losses to Fordham and St. Francis. But since the Seahawks were on the schedule, at least Syracuse took care of business emphatically with a 59-0 rout that moved it 1 win away from bowl eligibility and took even more of the heat off coach Dino Babers.

Virginia

The Cavaliers might not be the worst team in the ACC right now — Louisville is giving them a serious run for their money. But coach Tony Elliott’s team is certainly in the conversation.

We learned that even with an accomplished veteran quarterback like Brennan Armstrong, UVA can’t seem to get anything going offensively. They mustered only 295 total yards in Saturday’s loss to Duke, an issue that is only compounded by a self-destructive streak that saw it commit 6 penalties for 87 yards.

Slow starts are a particular problem. The Cavaliers fell behind 21-7 by halftime and have now scored only 2 touchdowns in the first half of their past 4 games combined.

Virginia Tech

As bad as Virginia is offensively, the Hokies are even worse. They were only able to scrape out 273 yards and a single touchdown against a UNC defense that played its first 4 games as though it had only 8 men on the field.

Tech has struggled across the board all season, but they’ve had an especially hard time running the ball. Despite playing against an opponent that had been allowing teams to average 4.6 yards per carry, the Hokies barely averaged 2 yards per rush. They punted on each of their first 5 second-half possessions.

Coach Brent Pry’s team is averaging 18.2 points per game, but is trending in the wrong direction after being limited to only 10 points for the second straight week.

Wake Forest

Beating Florida State for the third straight year, this time in Tallahassee no less, is an impressive accomplishment for the Deacons no matter what the circumstances. But when you throw in the fact that coach Dave Clawson’s team was both physically and emotionally spent after last week’s double-overtime disappointment against Clemson, the 31-21 win becomes even more noteworthy.

Clawson and his staff did a masterful job of regrouping their 22nd-ranked team and preparing it for a significant bounce-back victory that keeps Wake just a game behind Clemson in the Atlantic Division and will almost certainly move them up a notch or two in the polls.

While Sam Hartman threw for 2 more touchdowns, we learned that the Deacons are a lot more balanced than we may have realized. Justice Ellison ran for 114 yards and a touchdown as Wake ran for 171 yards – it’s highest team total of the season against an FBS opponent.