The opening College Football Scoreboard for the Atlantic Coast Conference was not kind to the league. Clemson lost at LSU and Louisville came up just short against Ole Miss in Nashville, leaving the ACC 1-1 in its biggest Week 1 showdowns against Southeastern Conference opposition.
That matters because these were the games that helped set the tone for the conference race. Clemson and Louisville were the ACC’s headline chances to make an early statement, but both came away with defeats, while FSU also lost to SMU after a stadium lights problem at its newly renovated stadium.
ACC's biggest Week 1 tests came up short
The clearest takeaway from Week 1 is that the ACC did not land the kind of result it wanted in its most visible games. Clemson’s trip to LSU was a difficult assignment from the start, and Louisville’s trip to Ole Miss in Nashville offered another chance for the league to show it could match up with SEC powers. Neither game ended in an ACC victory.
Louisville’s performance still offered a few encouraging signs, though. Jeff Brohm was credited with developing quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, who started slowly against Ole Miss but improved as the game went on. That kind of progression will matter as Louisville moves deeper into the season, especially with SMU next on the schedule after the game against Villanova.
Week 2 gives the ACC a chance to reset
Week 2 does not offer the same spotlight, but it does offer a chance for several ACC teams to build momentum. NC State is set to play Richmond, Boston College is set to play Rutgers, and UNC is set to play East Tennessee State. Virginia Tech faces Old Dominion, while Wake Forest is set to host Miami next Friday night.
There is also a broader conference picture to watch. Richmond enters at 2-0, Villanova is 1-1, and Bucknell is coming off a one-point loss to Villanova, all of which adds some context to the ACC’s early nonconference games. The league may still have time to recover from a slow start, but after Week 1, the pressure is already building on several programs to respond quickly.
