As the 2026 college football season officially kicked off Saturday afternoon, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) showcased several of their teams on national television. The highlight of the weekend was North Carolina’s upset win in Ireland. There is a lot to be excited about in the conference this season, especially following a year where the ACC was not able to get their conference champion, the Duke Blue Devils, into the College Football Playoff. However, improvements need to be made in various areas for these teams to improve heading into games against better opponents and conference play. Here is a game-by-game breakdown of this weekend in the ACC.
North Carolina vs TCU
Coming into this matchup, the underdogs had won 3 of the last 4 in the Aer Lingus Classic. North Carolina continued this trend, beating TCU 15-10 as 7.5 point underdogs (per Draft Kings). Although defensive coordinator Steve Belichick was unable to coach in this game, the defense was able to shut down highly-touted Harvard transfer quarterback Jaden Craig and the TCU offense. TCU was down their top wide receiver, Jordan Dwyer. The Horned Frogs were only able to manage 281 total yards of offense and despite some early success on outside zone runs, UNC was able to shut them down in the backfield by allowing only 106 yards rushing. Defensive lineman Xavier Lewis had a dominant performance, sacking Craig twice and recording 4.5 tackles for losses. The defense as a whole showed up in a big way in Ireland and helped push the team to a victory.
On the other side of the ball, the offense did enough to win the game, but there were several concerns. Ohio State transfer tight end Jelani Thurman and wide receiver Jordan Shipp were the receiving leaders in the game with 94 and 71 yards respectively. They will need to continue to be Billy Edwards Jr’s top targets in order to keep the offense flowing in new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino’s system. The run game was dormant, putting up just 90 yards amongst their 4 rushers. Benjamin Hall was given the starting role over last year’s leading rusher, Demon June, but had limited success on the ground, averaging 3.3 yards per carry. The lone TD was scored by RB Jaylen McGill, who had just 5 carries but put up 33 yards rushing.
UNC has to establish the running game to stay on schedule throughout the game and convert possessions into points consistently. Edwards transferred in from Wisconsin after missing the 2025 season with a knee injury suffered in the first game. He had a solid game leading the offense, going 16/28 passing with 232 yards in the air. Edwards did not look flashy but did his job, protected the ball, and managed the game just as Belichick’s offense requires . He will need to do better on third down, though, as UNC only converted on 3 of 11 chances.
Looking at special teams, there was a missed field goal from LSU transfer Aeron Burrell (he went 2 for 3 with a long of 28 yards). The highlight of the game was when UNC took the lead by blocking a punt and forcing a safety. This completely changed the momentum of the game right before halftime, and TCU was held scoreless for the rest of the game. With a team that has improvement to do offensively, being able to produce and impact the game on special teams is crucial for UNC.
Following a week off, North Carolina returns to action Sept. 12 against FCS opponent East Tennessee State at Kenan Stadium.
NC State vs Virginia
Times have changed in Charlottesville. Last year’s historic 11 win season saw Virginia just 1 win away from the College Football Playoff. Saturday, UVA fans showed out to sell out Scott Stadium for the first time since 2008 in an unusual Week 0 conference game. Virginia was able to feed off the roaring atmosphere and throttled the visiting NC State Wolfpack, 34-8.
UVA QB Beau Pribula, a transfer from Missouri, was the star of the show. He was able to show off his dual-threat ability the way he did last season in the SEC. He had a similar start to the season last year and had his name in early Heisman conversations before an injury sidelined him for a majority of the year. Pribula carried the ball 15 times for 110 yards and was UVA’s leading rusher Saturday. Although he only attempted 11 passes, Pribula took advantage of those opportunities and was able to air out 155 yards with two 45+ yard touchdowns. This was in spite of an injury to one of his starting receivers, UCLA transfer Rico Flores Jr, who was out for the game.
UVA will continue to be a run-heavy offense with a passing game focusing on explosive gains, and it only works when the running game establishes itself. Pribula and the running backs were able to excel at this plan against NC State. In the RB room, 5 players got at least 6 carries: Jekail Middlebrook, Xavier Brown (TD), Noah Vaughn, Xay Davis (TD), and Peyton Lewis. UVA showed the ability to be successful by doing a running back-by-committee backfield. With all that being said, an area of improvement moving forward will be doing better than 3-14 on third down. As much as UVA stayed ahead of the sticks throughout the game, they will have games coming forward where they get off script, especially against better teams.
On the flip side, CJ Bailey had a rough game for NC State. He only has 84 yards passing and threw a pass that got tipped and intercepted by Michigan transfer S Brandyn Hillman, while also losing a fumble. His legs were not a factor either, recording 33 yards on 10 attempts. As their star player, NC State had to do a ton to get him to come back to Raleigh this season. Bailey needs to play better down the line, or it will be an ugly season for the Wolfpack. This will be highlighted early by a trip to Nashville to play Vanderbilt on Sept. 19.
A total of 168 yards on offense will not cut it for NC State, especially when their defense could not hold their ground against an explosive UVA offense. Their running backs, Duke Scott and Deandre Desinor, had a combined 8 carries for 22 yards, and even when they tried wrinkles with backup QB Will Wilson, he only put up 21 yards rushing, but did score the Wolfpack’s only touchdown of the game. The offense needs to establish a rhythm, because once they do so, it will take a lot of pressure off of the defense that was on the field for 38 minutes.
Virginia has a week off and then returns with another home game against FCS opponent Norfolk State on Sept. 11. They’re coached by former rival and Virginia Tech legend Michael Vick. NC State also has a bye week and returns home to play FCS opponent Richmond on September 11th.
Florida State vs New Mexico State
Doak Campbell Stadium was packed for the Florida State season opener, which included a number retirement ceremony for former legendary kicker Sebastian Janikowski. Jordan Travis, Luke Loucks, and Lajae Jones were other big names who attended the game, along with a loaded list of both football and basketball recruits. Although the Seminoles got the win 34-17, it was not a pretty game for many reasons.
In his FSU debut after transferring from Auburn, Ashton Daniels had a game that will not leave him satisfied at QB. However, despite throwing an interception on a weak cross-body throw, he managed the game and went 17/27 passing with 202 yards and a touchdown throw to Sam Singleton Jr. He made several good throws, including an excellent read on a seam route to Micahi Danzy, and hit Duce Robinson a handful of times. However, it felt like he was underutilizing his star receiver, whether it was a result of Mike Norvell’s playcalling or on Daniels’ own accord. Robinson finished with only 3 receptions for 50 yards, which is an underwhelming game for someone who put up an 1000 yard campaign last season and was named to the 2026 All-ACC preseason first team.
There were also moments when Daniels spent too much time in the pocket unsure of where to go with the ball rather than scrambling when time ran out, leading to plays that were unsuccessful. He needs to work on making quicker reads and as the playcaller, Norvell also needs to design plays to allow Daniels to do this.
Also, unlike how FSU came out last year against Alabama, the rhythm of the offense was extremely slow. They only had 10 possessions, one of them being in victory formation. Part of this is due to the defense not being able to hold New Mexico State to short possessions and they were able to kill a lot of clock throughout the game. Either way, the offense was not able to produce many explosive plays and put up long drives with little to show for them. They did score 4 touchdowns, but also settled for 2 field goals and 2 punts, along with the interception thrown.
A bright spot during the game was the running back room and how they looked with the help of the offensive line. Last year, this was one of the most glaring weaknesses of the 5-7 team, but in game 1, fans got to see a talented and deep RB room. Ousmane Kromah led the way and displayed significant development in year two. He ended with a 115 yard performance, a 52 yard run where he refused to go down, along with a touchdown of his own.
Sam Singleton Jr showed some flashes when he got the ball and had a solid game with a burst for a long of 20 yards and a total of 42 yards for the game. Texas transfer Tre Wisner, who was one of the most coveted transfers for FSU coming into this season, only saw action in the 4th quarter, but looked comfortable on the field when he came in and recorded 34 yards on the ground with 4 carries. The run game was a heavy focus for Norvell against NMSU and will be a crucial part to unlocking the pass game for Daniels and the receivers. The Seminoles now head into a Labor Day conference matchup against a much better SMU team.
Defensively, there was a lot to be disappointed about. The defensive line was only able to record 2 sacks and outside of that, they were unable to put much pressure on NMSU QB Trey Hedden. This allowed him to make the right reads and move the chains consistently, with 10 3rd down conversions. Mandrell Desir, who was expected to have a huge year on the defensive line, did not put any pressure on Hedden and graded out with a 52.2 PFF pass rush rating. The secondary was playing soft coverage most of the game, and NMSU took advantage of that by running short slants and curls.
They were also beaten twice for touchdowns on missed coverages and bad communication. One positive note, however, was a Quindarrius Jones interception and a very good game from Southern Miss transfer LB Chris Jones, leading the team with 7 tackles. Going into the SMU game, the defense needs to be able to step up and make stops on third down to prevent long and tiring drives that take away the offense’s ability to get into a rhythm while also patching the vulnerable spots that allowed NMSU to attack and score off of mistakes.
Stanford vs Hawaii
Out west in California, Stanford hosted Hawaii in the second game of their two year home-and-home series. Last season, Hawaii upset the Cardinal on a game winning kick from Kansei Matsuzawa. This time around, though, Stanford found a way to come in clutch in the 4th quarter and secure the revenge victory 37-27 to start the Tavita Pritchard era 1-0.
Stanford got the ball back down 27-23 following a Micah Alejado 29 yard touchdown pass to DeVon Rice. Davis Warren, a Michigan transfer who missed all of the 2025 season after tearing his ACL in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama, led a 60 yard drive that ended in Micah Ford running the ball in for the go ahead touchdown. Warren had a promising outing in his Stanford debut, going 22/34 for 310 yards passing with a touchdown pass along with 31 yards on the ground. He showed that he can get the job done as a starter and help Stanford improve from their following seasons of disappointment.
Warren also did well spreading out his targets, getting the ball to 6 receivers at least twice throughout the game. Plus, 5 guys had more than 40 yards receiving. Micah Ford received a heavy workload in the backfield, carrying the ball 25 times and gaining 99 yards with a game long of 28 yards. Stanford will have to find ways to convert more 3rd downs and keep the offense on the field to avoid punting. Furthermore, they had a 33 yard field goal blocked. Those areas have to be cleaned up as Stanford steps up in competition..
The Stanford defense was stingy all game and let Hawaii come back to take the lead in the fourth quarter. After the offense retook the lead, Zach Rowell punched the ball out of Alejado’s hands and Tevarua Tafiti returned it to the house to pad the Stanford lead and close out the game. They only gave up 276 yards to a pass-heavy Hawaii offense that attempted 52 passes and completed 31 of them, recording 2 sacks in the process. This was a very good Hawaii team that ended their season a year ago by beating rival California. Stanford performed well all-around and will be able to compete for a mid-tier finish in the ACC this season under Pritchard.
It does not get easier from here for Stanford, though. Next Friday, Sep. 4, they host #7 and national runner-ups Miami. Davis Warren will need to continue making smart plays and protecting the ball, the run game will need to be more efficient and gain more yards per carry, and the defense will need to force turnovers to throw Miami off their game and have a chance at the early season upset.
The ACC promises to have an action filled year, starting next week with SMU and FSU playing, along with several other matchups. Sansom Sports Media will have weekly recaps every single week! Subscribe below!
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