Miami holds off Duke and stays unbeaten in ACC play

Miami is still the only team without a loss in ACC play. The Hurricanes beat Duke 36-25 on Saturday in Duke at Miami, moving to 7-0 in the conference and 9-1 overall.

Duke made Miami earn it. The Blue Devils scored 25 points and kept the margin under two touchdowns, but the result keeps Miami a full game clear of Wake Forest at the top of the standings. Duke falls to 4-3 in the league and 7-3 overall.

It was a week that favored the visitors. Seven of the nine games involving ACC teams went to the road side.

What happened

Florida State at Pittsburgh. Florida State won 16-10 on Friday night to get back to .500 at 5-5. Pittsburgh drops to 6-4.

Duke at Miami. Miami 36, Duke 25. The Hurricanes remain perfect in conference play.

Wake Forest at SMU. Wake Forest won 49-7, the most lopsided ACC result of the week. The Demon Deacons are 9-1; SMU is 7-3.

Syracuse at NC State. Syracuse won 34-31 to reach 5-5. NC State falls to 4-6.

Georgia Tech at Clemson. Georgia Tech, now 3-7, held Clemson to six points in a 20-6 road win. Clemson is 6-4.

Boston College at Notre Dame. Notre Dame beat Boston College 41-7 in a non-conference game. The Eagles are 4-6.

Cal at Virginia. Virginia won 36-7 to reach 5-5. Cal drops to 3-7.

Louisville at North Carolina. Louisville won 16-14 and stays in the race at 6-2 in the league. North Carolina is 5-5.

Stanford at Virginia Tech. Stanford won 40-22 in Blacksburg to even its record at 5-5. Virginia Tech is 6-4.

Rankings and standings

Three ACC teams are in the AP Top 25. Miami is No. 5, Wake Forest is No. 11, and SMU enters the poll at No. 25 despite Saturday's loss.

The top of the conference:

• Miami: 7-0 ACC, 9-1 overall
• Wake Forest: 6-1 ACC, 9-1 overall
• Louisville: 6-2 ACC, 7-3 overall
• SMU: 5-3 ACC, 7-3 overall
• Duke: 4-3 ACC, 7-3 overall
• Clemson: 4-3 ACC, 6-4 overall

Behind them is a crowd. Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Stanford and Virginia are all 3-4 in the league, and Syracuse is 3-5. North Carolina and Boston College are 2-4, while NC State and Cal are 2-5.

The bowl line is the other story. Florida State, Stanford, Virginia, Syracuse and North Carolina all sit at 5-5, one win from eligibility. Boston College and NC State are 4-6 and need to win out.

The desk

A good week across the desk, with Vera "The Fade" Kowalski the only one to go unbeaten with two decisions.

Kowalski went 2-0. She took Florida State +3.5 at Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech +13.5 at Clemson, and both underdogs won outright. She is 15-13 on the season.

Lou "The Sharp" Marchetti went 1-0. North Carolina +3.5 against Louisville covered in the two-point loss, and NC State +3 against Syracuse pushed on the three-point margin. He is 9-17.

Priya "The Quant" Raman split at 1-1. Pittsburgh -3.5 against Florida State lost, while the Under 47.5 in Cal at Virginia came in with 43 total points. She leads the desk at 15-14.

Marcus "Film Room" Dawkins also went 1-1. Duke +14.5 at Miami covered with room to spare, but SMU +2.5 against Wake Forest was never close. He is 14-15.

What's next

Miami's one-game cushion is the number that matters now, with Wake Forest at 6-1 and Louisville at 6-2 the only teams close enough to catch the Hurricanes. Further down, five teams at 5-5 are chasing a sixth win, and Clemson and Duke need help to climb back into the top tier. The full slate, with kickoff times and results as they come in, is on the schedule page.