This Week in the ACC: Cal Makes First Cross-Country Trip of Season

Cal makes the first of three cross-country trips for ACC games this week, venturing more than 3,000 to face Boston College in the quaint burgh of Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Asked about the trek, coach Justin Wilcox said travel is “a non-factor.”

The Bears will continue fly charter, leaving on Thursday to give themselves  the chance to get settled a bit before Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. PT kickoff.

Cal’s travel this season is actually much easier than a year ago, when they had five lengthy flights, including to Dallas to face SMU in an ACC and to Auburn, Ala., for a non-conference game.

The Bears, who will face SMU every year in the current ACC schedule model, play the Mustangs at home this season. And both of their non-conference road games — Oregon State and San Diego State — were shorter trips up or down the West Coast.

After this week, Cal has ACC road games at Virginia Tech on Oct. 24 and at Louisville on Nov. 8.

The Bears went 2-3 in their long-distance road games a year ago, and travel didn’t really factor into any of those outcomes. 

Cal scored wins at Auburn and Wake Forest and lost by five points at Florida State and two points at Pitt. It was tough to blame jet lag for those results.

Here are the Week 5 matchups in the ACC: 

(Point spreads provided by DraftKings)

FRIDAY

— No. 8 Florida State (minus-7) at Virginia, 4 p.m., ESPN

The Seminoles (3-0, 0-0) put up 66 points against Kent State last week and that wasn’t their highest-scoring game of the season. Their offense is powered by a ground game averaging 363 yards per game with 17 rushing touchdowns. The host Cavaliers (3-1, 1-1) have scored 48 points or more three times, so a shootout on national television won’t be a surprise.

SATURDAY

— No 16 Georgia Tech (minus-14) at Wake Forest, 9 a.m., ESPN

The Yellow Jackets (4-0, 1-0), surprise of the ACC and off to their best start since 2014, visit the Demon Deacons (2-1, 0-1). Tech doesn’t face either Miami or Florida State and, as a result, may be a sneaky pick to reach the ACC title game.

— Duke (minus-5.5) at Syracuse, 9 a.m., ACC Network

LSU transfer Rickie Collins gets the start at QB for the Orange (3-1, 1-0) after prolific starter Steve Angeli suffered a torn Achilles tendon last week in their 34-21 win at Clemson. Darian Mensah, who threw 22 TDs at Tulane last season, already has 11 for the Blue Devils (2-2, 1-0).

— Louisville (minus-4.5) at Pittsburgh, 9 a.m., ESPN2

This is the ACC opener for both Louisville (3-0) and Pitt (2-1) and the host Panthers are eager to avenge a 37-9 defeat a year ago. Louisville, playing its first road game this season, is 0-3 against the point spread.

— Cal (plus-6.5) at Boston College, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network

The only other time these the Bears (3-1, 0-0) and Eagles (1-2, 0-1) met was at Chestnut Hill in the opening game of coach Joe Kapp’s final season of 1986. The Bears had a freshman quarterback then, too, but Troy Taylor didn’t get on the field in BC's 21-15 victory.

— Virginia Tech (plus-10.5) at NC State, 4 p.m., CW Network

After three losses and the firing of coach Brent Pry, the Hokies (1-3, 0-0) rebounded with a 38-6 victory over Wofford that clearly did not impress Vegas. NC State (3-1, 1-1) has somehow won three times despite ranking 106th nationally in scoring defense and 112th in yards allowed.

— San Jose State (plus-2.5) at Stanford, 4:30 p.m., ACC Network

The Cardinal (1-3) is winless on the road but hopes to start 2-0 at home for the first time since 2018. The Spartans (1-2) will try to beat Stanford for the second year in a row.