No. 11 UNC’s visit to NC State headlines ACC’s final week

 

A look at things to watch in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the final week of the regular season:
GAME OF THE WEEK: No. 11 North Carolina at N.C. State. The Tar Heels (10-1, 7-0) are flying high, having reeled off 10 straight wins and clinching the Coastal Division title – and they enter their most heated rivalry with a grudge. A year ago, a North Carolina State player called UNC QB Marquise Williams out for being soft – and then the Wolfpack humiliated the Tar Heels 35-7. North Carolina State (7-4, 3-4) would love nothing more than to end North Carolina’s winning streak. No chance the Tar Heels look past their rivals: UNC coach Larry Fedora said, ”We’ve come too far to only come this far. We still have our blinders on.”
BEST MATCHUP: Florida State’s offense vs. Florida’s defense. The 14th-ranked Seminoles (9-2, 6-2) average 461 total yards in their wins and just 320 in their two losses. Coach Jimbo Fisher’s team will have to find a way to move the ball against a Gators defense that ranks in the top 10 nationally in all four major stat categories. The teams are mirror images of one another with both coaches – Fisher and Florida’s Jim McElwain – previously serving as offensive coordinators under Nick Saban at LSU and Alabama.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: All but one of the ACC’s individual statistical leaders is an underclassman. The only senior leading a stat category is Syracuse punter Riley Dixon. Its top rusher (Florida State’s Dalvin Cook) is a sophomore, and so is its leader in total offense (Clemson’s Deshaun Watson), its top passer (Miami’s Brad Kaaya) and its top scorers (Cook for position players, Miami’s Michael Badgley for kickers).
LONG SHOT: Maybe Georgia Tech can put it all together and end a dismal season with another noteworthy upset, this time against rival Georgia. The Coastal Division’s preseason favorite has won just once since mid-September, but that was a big one – a last-second win over then-unbeaten Florida State. The last-place Yellow Jackets (3-8, 1-7) snapped a five-game losing streak to Georgia last year, and the Bulldogs looked vulnerable last week, needing overtime to beat Georgia Southern.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Duke DB DeVon Edwards has returned six kickoffs for touchdowns during his career – one shy of C.J. Spiller’s league record – and had his third of the season during last week’s loss at Virginia. The Blue Devils have given up 42 points per game during their last five games, meaning their opponents are kicking off more often and Edwards is getting more chances to break returns than perhaps he wants.
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Compiled by AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, North Carolina.