Duke came close, but couldn’t finish the job last week. It’s a lesson Louisville used to its advantage.

The Cardinals weren’t about to put themselves in a position to let Notre Dame pull a lucky shamrock out of its hat at the end the way it did against the Blue Devils. They put the hammer down in the 2nd half and never let up on the way to an emphatic 33-20 victory.

Louisville delivered the 1st regular-season win against the Irish by an ACC team since 2017, ending a frustrating 30-game losing streak. It also solidified the Cardinals as a legitimate Top 25 team and conference championship contender, along with Florida State and North Carolina.

The same can’t be said for Miami.

The Hurricanes reverted to some familiar old tendencies in a loss to Georgia Tech that was as much their own doing as it was the Yellow Jackets’. The result knocked them from the ranks of the unbeaten and was the only major blemish in an otherwise successful Week 6 for the conference.

Now that it’s done, let’s take a look back to see what we learned about each of the 12 ACC teams that were in action.

Boston College

The Eagles reminded us that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Trailing by 4 with just over 5 minutes remaining, Jeff Hafley’s team appeared to give up what would have been a backbreaking touchdown on a 3rd-and-1 option play from midfield. But the play was nullified and the points taken off the board upon review when it was ruled that Army quarterback Bryson Dailey’s pitch was a forward pass beyond the line of scrimmage.

Given a reprieve after a short punt, Thomas Castellanos drove BC 62 yards on 12 plays for the winning touchdown. Castellanos carried the ball 7 times for 49 yards on the final possession, scoring from 1 yard out with 25 seconds remaining to salvage the victory.

It was Castellanos’ 4th rushing touchdown of the day. He ran for 142 yards on 31 carries.

Clemson

We learned that the Tigers still have Wake Forest’s number. It’s now 15, as in 15 straight wins in the series between the former Atlantic Division rivals.

The other number we learned is 165. That’s how many wins Dabo Swinney now has as Clemson’s coach. That ties him with the legendary Frank Howard for the most in school history. But while Howard has a rock, which is rubbed by each player as they enter Death Valley and run down the hill before every home game, Swinney’s team nearly laid an egg.

The Tigers’ 338 yards were their fewest in a game this season. And their 17 points were the 2nd fewest. While the Deacons’ defense has something to do with those anemic numbers, Clemson’s offense shares an equal portion of the blame thanks to 2 lost fumbles and yet another missed field goal.

Clemson’s penchant for shooting itself in the foot isn’t something we’re just learning now. It has been a recurring problem for 6 weeks now and is part of the Tigers’ personality.

Florida State

We learned that there’s nothing wrong with Trey Benson or Johnny Wilson, after all. Even though their team is undefeated and ranked No. 5 nationally, both of the Seminoles’ offensive stars have been less than impressive through the 1st third of the schedule.

Benson, who came within 10 yards of a 1,000-yard season in 2022, had only run for 189 over the first 4 weeks this year. But energized by last week’s open date, he broke in a big way to lead a 39-17 win against Virginia Tech. The junior had touchdown runs of 85 and 62 yards on his way to a 200-yard effort on only 11 carries to become the first FSU back to reach the 200-yard mark in a game since Dalvin Cook in 2016.

Wilson, meanwhile, finally caught his first 2 touchdown passes of the season. They came on 1st quarter receptions of 7 and 18 yards from Jordan Travis to help stake the Seminoles to an early lead they never gave up.

With their 37 points, the Seminoles have now scored 30 or more in each of their past 11 games dating back to last season. It’s the 2nd-longest active streak in the FBS.

Georgia Tech

What first might have appeared to be a knee jerk, desperation move on the part of a rookie head coach turned out to be a stroke of genius. We learned that Brent Key knew what he was doing when he demoted defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker to safeties coach and elevated linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer to the coordinator’s role.

The results were stunning. After getting torched for 450 yards and 38 unanswered points in an embarrassing home loss to Bowling Green last week, Tech’s new-and-improved defense frustrated a previously high-scoring Miami to a season-low 20 points in Sherrer’s 1st game in charge.

More important, the Yellow Jackets forced 4 turnovers, including what turned out to be a decisive fumble recovery with 26 seconds that set up a dramatic, game-winning 44-yard touchdown pass from Haynes King to Christian Leary with 10 seconds remaining.

While it’s too soon to know if Tech is the team that looked so terrible last week or the one that looked so good on Saturday, we did learn at least 2 things from Saturday’s resilient effort. No. 1 is that the Yellow Jackets are back in bowl contention at 3-3. No. 2 is that they’re a better team on the road.

Their win at Miami improves their record to 5-3 on foreign soil under Key with victories at Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and North Carolina in 2022, and Wake Forest and Miami this year. They’re only 2-4 in games played in Atlanta, at either Bobby Dodd Stadium or Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Louisville

The 25th-ranked Cardinals showed us that it’s actually possible for an ACC team to beat Notre Dame in a regular-season game. Their 33-20 win, before the largest home crowd in program history at L&N Stadium, ends a 30-game losing streak for the conference against the Irish dating to 2017.

And oh yeah, we also learned that Louisville really is as good as its record. The win improves it to 6-0 in Jeff Brohm’s 1st year as coach and firmly establishes the Cardinals as a serious contender for a spot in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 2.

With or without a schedule that avoids fellow frontrunners Florida State, North Carolina and Clemson.

While running back Jawhar Jordan (21 carries, 143 yards and a 45-yard touchdown run) and quarterback Jack Plummer (17-of-24, 145 yards, 1 touchdown) will get most of the glory for the program-defining victory, it was Louisville’s defense that did most of the heavy lifting.

Looking eerily similar to the unit that was among the nation’s leaders in both takeaways and sacks last year, the Cardinals forced 5 Notre Dame turnovers and sacked Sam Hartman 4 times in a dominating performance. Devin Neal had 2 of the picks and Mason Reiger had 2 of the sacks to go along with a forced fumble to key a performance that was even more impressive than last week’s effort at NC State.

Miami

Coaching staffs change. So do the rosters, especially under the current transfer rules. But Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium, we learned that the more things change, the more they stay the same when it comes to the Hurricanes.

They’re going to tease us and make us think that the old swagger is back, only to fall flat on their face at the most inopportune time. And in the most dramatic of ways.

Miami’s 23-20 loss to Georgia Tech might not have been as bad a look as last year’s debacle against Middle Tennessee State, even though the Yellow Jackets were coming off a drubbing at the hands of Bowling Green the previous week.

But it was far more damaging.

It knocked Mario Cristobal’s team out of the ranks of the unbeaten and likely the national rankings. It also raised some serious questions.

Specifically, why didn’t Cristobal have quarterback Tyler Van Dyke take a knee to run out the clock with a 3-point lead and just 26 seconds left? It’s a decision that came back to haunt him when Don Chaney fumbled, setting up Tech’s winning touchdown.

How did Miami’s secondary let Christian Leary get so wide open what far downfield with the game on the line? And why did the Hurricanes look so unprepared despite having an extra week to get ready?

That last question is the real stumper. Although Cristobal deserves to take heat for the flat performance following an open date, it’s not a problem exclusive to his staff. Miami is now 2-7 since 2017 following a week off, a stretch that covers 3 head coaches.

North Carolina

Tez Walker has been “freed” and Drake Maye can sling it with the best of them.

But then we already knew both of those things.

What we learned from Saturday’s 40-7 demolition of Syracuse – other than punter Ben Kiernan is a hurting pup after getting clobbered while running with a blocked kick for a 1st down – is that defensive coordinator Gene Chizik hasn’t lost his touch.

Any resemblance to the defense that ranked dead last in the ACC in virtually every statistical category last season is little more than a coincidence. There are still some familiar faces. The 4 leading tacklers in Saturday’s win – linebacker Cedric Gray, safety Don Chapman, tackle Myles Murphy and linebacker Power Echols are all holdovers. But transfer cornerback Alijah Huzzie continued to shine with his 2nd interception in as many games.

Together, they combined to keep Syracuse’s dual-threat quarterback Garrett Shrader under wraps while limiting the Orange to season-low totals of 221 yards and 7 points. Combined with an offense that has scored at least 30 points in every game this season, the 14th-ranked Tar Heels improved to 5-0 for the 1st time since 1997.

NC State

MJ Morris reminded us that it’s not how you start that matters most. It’s how you finish. The bottom line Saturday is that the sophomore quarterback got the job done, lighting the offensive spark coach Dave Doeren was hoping for by leading State wild 48-41 win against Marshall in his 2023 debut.

But man, did he get off to an awful start.

The sophomore quarterback, who started in place of a struggling Brennan Armstrong, threw an interception on his 1st pass. He then threw a pick-6 later in an opening quarter that saw him complete just 1-of-7 attempts for just 17 yards.

The 1 completion was a touchdown to freshman KC Concepcion. He and Concepcion later hooked up on another scoring pass. Morris also threw for a pair of scores to tight end Trent Pennix while going 17-of-23 for 265 yards and 4 TDs in a win that gets the Wolfpack back on the right track after last week’s loss to Louisville.

Syracuse

For the 2nd straight year, we learned that the Orange’s early success is a mirage. After averaging 44.2 points per game and going 4-0 in their nonconference schedule, their lack of offensive firepower outside of the do-it-all Garrett Shrader has been exposed over the past 2 weeks by ACC rivals Clemson and North Carolina.

After being held to 14 points in last week’s loss to Clemson, Dino Babers’ team could muster only 7 against the Tar Heels. Things were so bad in the 1st half that UNC’s Maye had more completions (23) than Syracuse had offensive plays (22).

Shrader finished with 124 yards passing and an interception to go along with 28 rushing yards on 10 carries. As a team, the Orange mustered only 221 yards of total offense, 75 of which came on their only scoring drive on the opening possession of the 2nd half. Things weren’t any better on the other side of the ball, where their defense was torched for 644 yards and 40 points.

And it’s not going to get any easier from here. Next week, Syracuse has to travel to No. 5 Florida State.

Virginia

We learned a lot about the Cavaliers, courtesy of their 27-13 win against William & Mary.
First and foremost, we learned that UVa won’t go winless this season. Their victory ends an 8-game losing streak dating to last season.

We also learned that Tony Elliott’s team can, in fact, learn from its mistakes. After faltering in the 4th quarter 3 times earlier in the season, including last week against Boston College, the Cavaliers put the game away this time by scoring a clinching touchdown in the final period.

One other revelation: UVa can actually run the ball. It came into the game averaging only 75.2 yards per game on the ground, worst in the ACC. Against the Tribe, they rushed for 221 yards, with 134 coming from Perris Jones.

Sure, it was only William & Mary. An FCS team. But the Tribe is ranked 7th nationally against the run, allowing just under 80 yards in the first 5 games.

Virginia Tech

Despite being beaten by a lopsided score, we learned that the Hokies still managed to show some signs of progress in their 38-17 loss to Florida State.

Brent Pry’s team could have packed it in and gotten embarrassed after falling into a quick 22-0 hole. Instead, they battled back by scoring 3 unanswered touchdowns to pull to within 22-17 following Bhayshul Tuten’s 99-yard kickoff return to start the 2nd half.

That’s as close as Tech would get, as the Seminoles finished things off by scoring the game’s final 17 points. But with quarterback Kyron Drones rushing for 80 yards, Jaylin Lane catching 6 passes and safety Jalen Stroman recording 10 tackles before being ejected for targeting, there was at least something on which Pry and his staff can continue to build.

Wake Forest

We’ll never know if things might have been different had the Deacons been able to get into the end zone after being gifted an early Clemson turnover. We do know, however, that the field goal they ended up getting off a muffed punt wasn’t enough to get the job done. Even on a day in which Wake’s defense played well enough to win.

The Deacons did eventually get into the end zone in the final 2 minutes. But by that time, it was too late to prevent a 15th straight loss to the Tigers.

The biggest takeaway from the game is that we continue to learn that the Deacons’ offensive success over the past few seasons was more the product of Hartman’s ability than coach Dave Clawson’s slow-mesh RPO scheme. Hartman’s replacement Mitch Griffis struggled again, going 15-of-25 for 137 yards and no touchdowns against Clemson. But he wasn’t alone. Wake managed only 239 total yards on the way to its 2nd loss in as many ACC games this season.