By: Nate Murphy (@bigmurph23)
Deja “U”
The U opened up Season 23 the same way they closed Season 22, with a win over the Texas A&M Aggies.
On March 17th, Miami hoisted the trophy after a 38-31 win. Nearly two months to the day, Miami topped the Aggies 56-46 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Texas A&M quarterback Malcom Streets may have thrown for over 600 yards on the Miami secondary, but for every 100 yards Streets put up, he threw one pass to the Miami defense.
For those of you who don’t want to do that quick conversion in your head, that is six interceptions for the Hurricanes defense. Four Hurricane defenders had one INT apiece (Johnny Butkus, Avery James, Dan Hanson, and Devin Yost). But it was freshman cornerback Veronica Ware who one-upped each of them, hauling in two interceptions on the night.
To keep with the theme of six, TJ Cunnington threw for six touchdowns in his Miami debut. The senior transfer led the Hurricane offense, which exploded for 56 points in three quarters of action. If there is one thing Miami will have to correct is their lack of fourth quarter offense. They were shut out in the final frame, allowing A&M to rally and get the final difference down to ten points.
Hokie Hokie Hokie High
Winning on the road is tough. Winning on the road against a top ten opponent…well, that is even harder. Sure, Virginia Tech entered their week one matchup against the higher-ranked team (#4), but that doesn’t make a win a guarantee, just ask Texas A&M, Alabama, and FSU. But Virginia Tech handled their business this past week with a 44-28 win in Austin over the Texas Longhorns.
Senior quarterback Saint Major struggled during a stretch in the second quarter, throwing interceptions on back-to-back possessions. The second was a pick-six for Valente Martinez. After that, however, Major locked in and led his offense consistently. Freshman wide receiver Taytum Melinyshyn had a huge night in her debut (7 rec 120 yds 1 TD). Sophomore Jon Lee followed suit with a night of his own (6 rec 107 yds 1 TD). Qalib Locklear added five catches and 90 yards for the offense, and Maxwell Orndorff ran the ball 21 times for 95 yards in the win. The Hokie defense was no joke either. The Marron and Orange tallied 8 TFLs (including 2 sacks) and intercepted the Longhorns twice. Jackson McHenry and CJ Mucci led the way for the Hokies with eight tackles each.
Nearly Broke Even
The ACC finished week one at 3-3 overall, the second-best conference record in week one. But the crazier stat line here? The net point differential for the ACC was just -2. Up and down the standings, the conference was nearly as good as they were “bad”.
Now I put bad in quotes because FSU played a very good Colorado team with the greatest modern era running back to strap on a helmet in Taylor James. And UNC had to figure out how to stop…well, slow down…Oklahoma quarterback Himoteo Del Este. Struggling to win those contests hardly classifies as a bad loss. Clemson may have had the easiest task in week one and came away with a big home win over WVU. And Notre Dame couldn’t get off of Good Ole Rocky Top with a win. Those two had the biggest point swings for the ACC…in opposite directions, of course.
ACC Results Week 1
Clemson defeats WVU 48-17
Virginia Tech defeats Texas 45-28
Miami defeats Texas A&M 56-46
Florida State lost to Colorado 52-41
North Carolina lost to Oklahoma 37-20
Notre Dame lost to Tennessee 52-20
ACC Week 2 Schedule
Monday, May 12, 2025
Miami at Alabama (6:30 CST on Twitch)
Michigan at FSU (8:30 CST on Twitch)
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
UNC at Florida (8:30 CST on Twitch)
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Clemson at Iowa (6:30 CST on Twitch)
Virginia Tech at Auburn (6:30 CST on YT)
Thursday, May 15th, 2025
Notre Dame at Penn State (6:30 CST on Twitch)
Potential ACC Game of the Week
If you look at the schedule above, it is very easy to be drawn to the two Monday games featuring ACC schools. I have no doubts those could easily become instant classics. But my eyes are drawn to Wednesday night.
The hardest thing to do will be deciding which one to focus more on. Clemson is looking to continue the momentum it started building at the end of last season and through their week one win when it takes on 1-0 Iowa on the road. But I think my pick for game of the week is Va Tech on the road again against a very good SEC team in Auburn. Auburn lost a shootout to Ohio State in week one, so you know they will be locked in and ready to defend Jordan Hare in week two. Can the Hokies get their new one-two punch of Lee and Melinyshyn going again? Can Orndorff get to the century mark against a tougher-than-they-looked Tigers defense? IF Virginia Tech can do this and protect the football on offense, and if they can slow down the explosive Auburn offense like they did against Texas, the Hokies will be 2-0.
