I think we can all agree that the decade of the 2010s has been a resurgence of ACC football. I’ve looked at the ACC’s best Out of Conference wins in the past, but I want to compile the 30 best into a series so far this decade. We did this last year, and we’re updating again this year with games from 2018. We’ll do it again next year…
So here goes starting with 30 to 26.
Games 1 – 5 | Games 6 – 10 | Games 11 – 15 | Games 16 – 20 | Games 21 – 25
26. #25 Florida State 18 Notre Dame 14 – December 29, 2011
Who was the last team to defeat Notre Dame, before Alabama did in the 2012-2013 BCS National title game? It was the Florida State Seminoles. This was the ACC’s best bowl win of 2011, and got the Noles into the national title discussion to start the 2012 season for the first time in several years. In only his 2nd year and Florida State, this game proved that the Noles wouldn’t start backing up after a 10 win 2010.
27. Miami 24 #16 Ohio State 6 – September 17, 2011
This win could have been higher on this list but the Buckeyes collapsed to a 6-7 season. Coming into the game though Ohio State had won 24 of their previous 26 games. It was Al Golden’s first marquee win and seemed to have set the foundation for the future of his tenure. Year’s later the game wasn’t the stepping stone for Golden some expected, but at the time it was an upset that stunned the college football world.
28. Wake Forest 55 Texas A&M 52 – December 29, 2017
Wake Forest gave hope to every school in the ACC, that upward mobility is possible. Wake Forest finished 2017 with an 8-5 record playing in a division with 2 recent national title winners and with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. The season was capped by beating a Texas A&M team with more resources that all but a handful schools in college football. Wake Forest is one of smallest programs in FBS, but that didn’t matter in the 2017 Belk Bowl. It was was one of the best bowl games of 2017.
29. Duke 41 Northwestern 17 – September 9, 2017
I bet you didn’t realize when Duke pounded Northwestern in Durham early in the 2017 that it would be their best OOC win so far in the decade. This Northwestern team turned out to be really good. Their only other losses were to top 10 teams Wisconsin and Penn State. The Wildcats finished ranked #17 in the country with a 10-3 record. Daniel Jones showed how good he can be throwing for 305 yards and running for 108 with 2 TD through the air and 2 on the ground.
30. Louisville 27 Texas A&M 21 – December 30, 2015
This was Louisville QB Lamar Jackson’s coming out party. In a 27 – 21 over Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl, Jackson had over 450 yards of offense and accounted for 4 touchdowns. It put Jackson on the national map, and set the stage for his Heisman Trophy season in 2016. SEC teams lost only two bowls games in 2015, and this was one of them.
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