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The Atlantic Coast Conference again made headlines in Week 2, with several highly-anticipated matches reaching the national spotlight. Similar to last week, two new quarterbacks made headlines—this time by overcoming slow starts—and defensive efforts were also on display. Here are some of the biggest highlights from the ACC this weekend:
Duke Wins Beautifully Ugly
The Blue Devils survived a back-and-forth affair against Northwestern on Friday night, ultimately requiring overtime to defeat the Wildcats 26-20. Redshirt sophomore and newcomer Maalik Murphy threw for two touchdowns in the extra period to seal the deal.
After being named Duke's starter by first-year head coach Manny Diaz, the Texas transfer faced doubts about his accuracy, particularly his downfield throws. These questions remained after Murphy struggled with longer throws against Week 1 opponent Elon, completing only 3 of 17 passes over 10 yards. Some of those doubts resurfaced against Northwestern, such as when he threw into double coverage against Northwestern in the third quarter, resulting in an interception.
However, Murphy rallied, throwing for 242 yards, and added two touchdown passes in overtime, first to Jordan Moore, then to Eli Pancol.
Looking ahead, Murphy will continue to face questions about his decision-making in the pocket. Fortunately, he is surrounded by experienced receivers, including Moore, Pancol, Sahmir Hagans and tight end Nicky Dalmolin. For Murphy to be successful at Duke, chemistry is the name of the game.
Pitt Makes Comeback History
Last week, the Panthers defeated Kent State 55-24, overcoming a few first-half blunders including an Eli Holstein red zone interception, a Konata Mumpfield muffed punt and an error by senior defensive back PJ O’Brien to allow a long Kent State touchdown.
This week, against tougher competition that just happened to be an old Big East foe, Pitt overcame greater adversity to make history against the Cincinnati Bearcats, resulting in their largest comeback victory since 1971.
Holstein, the redshirt freshman quarterback who transferred in from Alabama, showed his inexperience when he threw for just 66 yards in the first half before turning it around after halftime. He admitted to overthinking the Bearcats’ defensive schemes in the first half.
Trailing 27-6 with 4:50 to go in the third quarter, the Pitt offense got to work quickly. Despite an offensive holding penalty that shortened an impressive run by Desmond Reed, they would reach the end zone thanks to an 11-yard touchdown catch by Mumpfield. It was all uphill from there.
Aided by a defense that held the Bearcats scoreless in the fourth quarter, Holstein threw for two long touchdowns and led his team on a final drive to set the stage for Ben Sauls to kick the game-winning field goal.
Pitt fans are hoping that with Holstein at quarterback and first-year offensive coordinator Kade Bell able to implement his aggressive system, the sky will be the limit for the Panthers.
Next week, Holstein and the Panthers rekindle another historic Big East rivalry when they the West Virginia Mountaineers in the 107th edition of the Backyard Brawl.
Cal’s Statement ACC Defense
The Golden Bears, one of three newcomers to the ACC, walked into Jordan-Hare Stadium as double-digit underdogs to the Auburn Tigers. Coming into this season, one of the obvious narratives about Cal and their new crosstown ACC counterpart Stanford involved how all the travel would affect them.
This week, Cal put those fears at ease. They came out victorious thanks mostly to a solid defensive effort that saw five takeaways.
Senior Nohl Williams, in his second season with Cal after transferring from UNLV, had two of Cal’s four interceptions, contributing to Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne’s disappointing day.
Senior linebacker Teddye Buchanan led the team in tackles and forced a fumble that led to running back Javian Thomas’s 32-yard second-half touchdown, which turned out to be the game-winning score.
It was an impressive performance for a defense that had trouble against the pass at times last season, resulting in 32.8 points allowed per game, the worst of the Justin Wilcox era.
After a few costly penalties, including a targeting call on senior defensive back Marcus Harris, Auburn did pull to within one score with a touchdown on a two-yard keeper by Thorne, but it wouldn’t be enough to break Cal’s spirit. On Auburn’s final drive, Cal defensive back Lu-Magia Hearns III sealed the deal with another interception, allowing quarterback Fernando Mendoza to kneel out the final 24 seconds.
No team ever wants to be accused of looking too far ahead, but if this performance is a harbinger of anything, the Bears could go into the much-anticipated Oct. 5 home game against Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes sitting at 4-0. If they can work on being more disciplined in key situations, there’s no reason they can’t give Ward a challenge.
Wolfpack Defensive Woes
Whereas Cal’s defense helped their team to an unlikely win, NC State’s defense was torn apart against a potential Heisman candidate in Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, en route to a 51-10 loss to the Volunteers.
After struggling at times against Western Carolina in Week 1, the Wolfpack looked to put fears at ease with a strong showing against Tennessee. That didn’t happen. Sure, a game against the 'Vols was always going to be a tough test, but there’s little to look back on positively after that performance.
Despite forcing Iamaleava into his first career interception in the second quarter with a ball that looked like it was thrown right to senior safety Bishop Fitzgerald and another pick-6 in garbage time, NC State ultimately surrendered 211 passing yards and 65 rushing yards from Iamaleava, and 132 more rushing yards and 2 touchdowns from junior running back Dylan Sampson.
Before the game, Wolfpack defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said his unit needed to play fundamentally sound and communicate. He will undoubtedly need to reaffirm this message during practice in the week ahead as they prepare for a home date against Louisiana Tech.
After facing the Bulldogs, NC State will go on the road against Clemson, who, despite taking a step back offensively in recent years, look to have a formidable quarterback in Cade Klubnik.
As Week 2 wraps up, the ACC has proven that this season will be filled with surprises, comebacks and underdog victories. As each school prepares for another week of high-stakes matchups, fans are left eagerly anticipating what the next set of games will bring in a conference packed with talent, unpredictability and history-making moments.
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