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The ACC’s ranked teams were spared the chaos that the rest of the league endured, whether by wild upsets or coaching changes.
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No. 1 Miami and No. 23 SMU, two of the conference’s AP Top 25 teams, blew out their opponents and surpassed the 50-point mark. No. 17 Wake Forest was off this week, making things relatively easy for its better teams.
There was movement by every team in the rankings after another week of upsets outside the ACC after five teams in the Top 25 lost to unranked opponents. (Uhhh hello BYU and Texas Tech? And Southern Cal?)
Miami couldn’t go up, and with BYU losing, the Hurricanes remained safe at their top spot. They are one of the three remaining unbeaten teams. SMU slid up four spots to No. 19 after its strong finish. Even Wake Forest jumped to No. 14, despite being off with a bye.
Pittsburgh put up a fight, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overtake No. 1 Miami (7-0). The Hurricanes defeated the Panthers (5-3), 52-23, at Hard Rock Stadium.
Malachi Toney and Darian Mensah, unsurprisingly, had huge performances in the program’s first game as the top-ranked team since 2002. Toney hauled in 16 catches for 194 receiving yards, a school record, while Mensah threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns.
Javian Mallory and Mark Fletcher both added scoring on the ground, with Fletcher scoring his 33rd career touchdown. He ranks second in Hurricanes history for career rushing scores.
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Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said his team “ran into a buzz saw.” The Panthers picked up 403 yards of total offense, but had two drives of more than 70 yards that ended without points.
Miami heads to North Carolina next week. After the overtime loss to Syracuse on Saturday, the Tar Heels could be in for their own buzz saw situation.
California led by three at halftime. Then it never scored again. SMU used a 42-point second half to push the Mustangs past the Golden Bears.
Kevin Jennings led No. 23 SMU (6-1) to a 59-20 win over Cal (3-5), setting the program’s career touchdown record in the process. Jennings threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns, He now has 74 career passing touchdowns, two more than former QB Tanner Mordecai. The senior already tops the record books in career passing yards (9,766) and completions (781).
Kendrick Raphael put together another 100-yard game, rushing for 104 and a pair of touchdowns. Christian Rhodes also made two trips to the end zone. The Mustangs gained 236 yards on the ground while holding their opponent to 40.
The Golden Bears didn’t exactly help themselves, though. They were called for 11 penalties and lost 107 yards because of the miscues, more than double Cal’s second-half offensive output.
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This story was originally published October 25, 2026 at 6:00 AM.