Things to watch this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference: No. 8 Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC) at California (3-1, 0-1), Saturday at 10:30 p.m.
ET (ESPN) The Hurricanes have their best start since winning the first 10 games of the 2017 season as they make a cross-country trip face the Bears, who are playing their first ACC home game. Miami survived a wild finish to edge Virginia Tech last week and has positioned itself at the front of the league title chase along with No. 15 Clemson.
That has come behind star quarterback Cam Ward, who leads the Bowl Subdivision ranks with 18 touchdown passes while ranking third nationally in passing offense (356.4). The Bears lost their league debut at Florida State on Sept.
21 and are coming off an open week. Duke (5-0, 1-0) at Georgia Tech (3-2, 1-2) , Saturday at 8 p.m.
(ACC Network) The Blue Devils are off to their best start since winning the first seven games of the 1994 season, and they're coming off a comeback from 20 down to beat rival North Carolina . It's been a strong start to Manny Diaz's coaching tenure, notably with Duke getting after it up front to rank second in the FBS in tackles for loss (10.4) and tied for eighth in sacks (3.
4). The Yellow Jackets got off to a big start by taking down preseason ACC favorite FSU in Ireland and cracked the AP Top 25, but they've lost at Syracuse and Louisville since. Eli Holstein, Pittsburgh.
The quarterback who redshirted at Alabama last season is in the top 25 nationally in total offense (343.8 ya.