3 games to watch in the ACC: North Carolina, Duke, Pitt vie for Coastal supremacy

It’s time to make the final push. Now that the college football season is more than half over, teams around the country have set their final goals for the season. The ACC's best teams have eyes on the conference championship, while those at the bottom of the barrel are trying to salvage enough wins to see a bowl game. Every game from now on carries more and more weight.

North Carolina at No. 23 Pittsburgh
Thursday, Oct. 29, 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)

In 2014, North Carolina and Pitt each won six games. Both teams have already matched that win total, and now are vying for the Coastal division title. The ways they’ve gotten to this point, though, are very different.

Pitt has been in some close ones, with all but one game this season being decided by one possession. The Panthers are 5-1 in those games after going 1-5 in games decided by eight points or less last season. Last week, they beat Syracuse 23-20 by way of a game-winning field goal by Chris Blewitt as time expired. The Panthers were outplayed for most of the first half, and won’t be able to start slowly again if they want to pick up a win against North Carolina.

While Pitt has been cutting it close all year, the Tar Heels have kept their distance from opponents. North Carolina ranks in the top 20 in both points scored and points allowed, and are outscoring opponents by more than 20 points per game. The Tar Heels are clicking on both sides of the ball, and might be undefeated right now if they had played South Carolina a bit later in the year. Coming off a good win over Virginia, the team will need to keep the momentum going into this week’s game against a ranked opponent.

The winner of this game will emerge as the favorite to win the always-hectic Coastal division. It’s safe to say this is the biggest contest in the ACC this week.

No. 3 Clemson at NC State
Saturday, Oct. 31, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN 2)

After Florida State’s loss last week, Clemson is the best bet to make the College Football Playoff out of the ACC. The Tigers have been running over their ACC schedule to this point, but NC State will be one of the better teams they’ve played so far. The Wolfpack are a win away from bowl eligibility, and bounced back from their first two losses of the season last week with a win over Wake Forest.

Clemson also had a pretty good time last week, if you haven’t already heard. The Tigers handed Miami its worst loss in school history and got Al Golden fired in the process (which might be a positive for Miami fans). Clemson flexed its muscles in the 58-0 win, and put the rest of the country on notice. Anyone who was doubting the team's legitimacy as a contender before has been silenced, but Dabo Swinney’s squad hasn’t won anything yet.

The key to this game will be whether Deshaun Watson can play his game. NC State is third in the country in passing yards allowed per game and fourth in opponent completion percentage (46.2 percent). Watson, on the other hand, has been exceptional in leading his undefeated team. He’s completing almost 70 percent of his passes and is averaging more than five yards per carry. He’ll need to show up if Clemson wants to remain undefeated.

Miami at No. 22 Duke
Saturday, Oct. 31, 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Oh, Miami. This team has been all over the place this season, and it feels like the Hurricanes are the most disorganized program in the nation despite being over .500. This week won’t make figuring things out any easier, as they have to travel to take on No. 22 Duke. Interim coach Larry Scott will try to turn around a team that was beaten by 58 last week without a whole lot of time to make changes. It isn’t looking good.

For Duke, Miami will hopefully be nothing more than a stepping stone for bigger games to come. The Blue Devils have Pitt and North Carolina in their next two games, which could leave them looking ahead of this week's opponent.