The Triangle has its best chance in years to win the ACC in football. If not now, when?

OK, trivia time. The rules: no Googling. No retreating to your library of local college football media guides (for, surely, the majority of those reading this out there have such a repository).

The question: When was the last time Duke and North Carolina both started a football season with victories in their first four games? We know the answer for each, individually.

Before their victory Saturday night at Pittsburgh, the Tar Heels hadn’t started 4-0 since 1997. More than 25 years ago. It’s difficult to believe it’d been that long for UNC, but it’s true, and it speaks to the sort of football suffering the Tar Heels have experienced more often than not throughout the past two-plus decades.

Duke, meanwhile, hadn’t started a season 4-0 since ... 2018. So not all that long ago. Under former head coach David Cutcliffe, the Blue Devils also started 4-0 in 2017 and ‘14. (And in those seasons, like this one, it must be noted, one of Duke’s four victories to start the season came against an FCS opponent).

But back to the question. Only the most old-school or encyclopedic of local ACC and college football aficionados would know the answer. The last time Duke and UNC both began a season 4-0: 1971. Fifty-two years ago, if you’re counting. And, also, the only time, since the formation of the ACC in 1953, that it has ever happened.

In studying the history, there are two main points here: For one, it just doesn’t happen very often — hardly ever, really — that these two blue blood “basketball schools” (and we went through that topic last week in this space) ever begin a football season with this sort of sustained hope. And second, and more important to this discussion: We now know, four weeks into the season, that the Triangle has its best hope in a long, long (loooong) time of ending its ACC football championship drought.

It has been 34 years, after all, since any of those three schools has won the ACC in football. And even then, in 1989, Duke shared the league championship with Virginia. For some perspective, remember that the ACC was but a quaint, eight-team conference back in 1989, when the Blue Devils and Cavaliers both finished with 6-1 league records.

Duke receiver Clarkston Hines earned ACC Player of the Year honors. Its young, swashbuckling head coach, Steve Spurrier, earned ACC Coach of the Year honors. Maryland was still in the ACC. Florida State (and six other current members) hadn’t yet joined. People wore big hair and baggy, colorful pants, when they weren’t wearing acid wash jeans. It was a strange, glorious time.

For UNC and N.C. State, the wait has been even more tortured. UNC hasn’t won the ACC since 1980 (when Lawrence Taylor was the league’s player of the year) and N.C. State hasn’t won it since 1979. If you’re 42 or younger, the state’s two largest public ACC schools haven’t won the conference in your lifetime. (On a related note, if you’re a football fan of either of those schools, you’ve also built an uncanny resilience, and tolerance of pain. Send your thank yous to the likes of Mike O’Cain and John Bunting.)

One would’ve thought that Duke or UNC or State would’ve at least sort of tripped and fallen into winning the conference just once at some point over the past 30-plus years (the likes of Wake Forest and Pittsburgh have, after all). But, no. Duke spent the better part of two decades wandering a football wilderness, until Cutcliffe resuscitated that program about 10 years ago. UNC at least has made two ACC championship game appearances but remains the sport’s drowsiest sleeping giant. And N.C. State, well ... there’s a reason why N.C. State stuff (as it must appear in a family publication) is a thing.

But this is the year!

Or, if not, it begs the question of if it’ll ever be the year for any of these teams to win the ACC again. No one is taking Duke lightly, nor should they, after what it did to Clemson. UNC has its most complete team since the 1990s. (And we’ll throw State in the mix, too, despite the shakiness of the foundation under its 3-1 start.)

Equally important, there’s no 1990s Florida State or mid-2010s Clemson atop the ACC, lording over the rest of the league. Those two teams remain very good, yes, though they’re hardly unbeatable. And so all of this has come together to create the most favorable environment in a long, long time for Duke or UNC (or State, in the unlikely event it finds an offense) to break through and deliver the Triangle its first outright ACC championship in more than 40 years.

If not now, when?

One big thing

In the latest sign that we’re not in Kansas anymore — “Kansas” in this case being a metaphor, but one that’s actually comparable to North Carolina and a land enchanted by and built upon college basketball — Duke this weekend will be hosting ESPN’s College GameDay. Indeed, Duke has hosted its share of basketball GameDays over the years, but this is a whole different deal. For the Blue Devils, it’s a worthy honor.

Any time Notre Dame plays a football game anywhere on the road, it’s an event for the home team. For Duke, the stakes are amplified to a degree that needs no explanation. But how big of a moment is this, for the Blue Devils? Well consider this: Saturday will be the first game between ranked teams at Wallace Wade Stadium since 1994 (and No. 23 Duke’s 28-25 victory against No. 13 Virginia). It’s the first game between top 20 teams at Wallace Wade since Nov. 5, 1960, when No. 13 Duke defeated No. 4 Navy, 19-10.

Realignment rumblings

OK, hear me out: When was the last time a school joined a new conference and established sustained football success? Or, in other words, the last time the grass really was greener? Maryland in the Big Ten? No. Texas A&M and Missouri in the SEC? Not really. The ACC’s additions over the years have mostly proven to be middling, or worse.

But, yes, let’s contract even more. Good idea, league commissioners. Yet, in a way, all of this has been greener for them. Much more so. Piles and piles of green, everywhere, as college athletics more and more becomes something it was never intended to be.

Three to like

1. A Saturday that delivered. If you’re a college football enthusiast, it’s difficult to beat days like Saturday. Conceivably, such an enthusiast could’ve remained in a seated or reclined position for the duration of the day (not that we’d recommend such a thing) and been treated to what will likely be some of the season’s most memorable games and moments. It began at noon with an instant classic between FSU and Clemson. It ended late at night with Ohio State’s escape at Notre Dame. An early fall treat, if you’re into such things.

2. UNC proving, again, that things look different now. Forgive Tar Heels fans for the familiar refrain that went through many of their minds in the early going Saturday night, when little was going UNC’s way: “Here we go again.” Especially given the opponent and venue. Trips to Pittsburgh have always been fraught with drama for the Tar Heels, but ... not this time. Not really. A strong second quarter, a relatively easy win; Drake Maye producing more Drake Maye moments. The confidence continues to build here.

3. Duke doing what good teams do against suspect ones. Take note, N.C. State: That’s how one goes on the road and makes easy work of Connecticut. The Wolfpack made it look hard against the Huskies back in Week 1. No such struggle for Duke, which led 27-0 at halftime and did away early with the thought of: “Might this team be looking ahead to Notre Dame?” The answer was no, and the Blue Devils continue to impress, regardless of the competition.

Three to ... not like as much

1. What to make of the Wolfpack? The record is, as Dennis Green might say, what we thought it’d be. State has won three of its first four, including the conference-opener at Virginia on Friday night. And that’s all well and good. But now the not-so good: the wins at Connecticut and Virginia were closer, and uglier, than anyone thought they’d be. The defense appears to have taken a step back. The offense is still, to put it kindly, a work in progress. Suddenly, State’s game Friday night against Louisville (2-0 in the ACC, after crushing Boston College) looms quite large.

2. The post-Hartman era lacking at Wake. Nobody can blame Sam Hartman for leaving Wake Forest to play on a national stage at Notre Dame. He gave the Demon Deacons some of the best years in school history. Wake isn’t exactly reeling without Hartman, but after a 30-16 loss at home against Georgia Tech this is clearly looking like a transition year for the Demon Deacons. It’s early yet, but Hartman’s successor, Mitch Griffis, has already thrown six interceptions (tied for most in the ACC) and moving the ball has been a challenge.

3. Coaches behaving badly — or at least childishly. We like to keep things local in this space as much as possible but Ryan Day’s silly chest-thumping Saturday night was about as unlikable as it gets. After Ohio State’s dramatic victory at Notre Dame, Day called out Lou Holtz, of all people, and nonsensically played the disrespect card. Note to Day: taking shots at an 86-year-old man is unbecoming, and suggesting anyone ever overlooks Ohio State football is nonsensical. Then there was Oregon’s Dan Lanning, calling out Deion Sanders for chasing social media clout ... all the while Lanning had the cameras rolling in his locker room so his rant could be posted ... to social media.

This week’s best program in the state

And the award goes to (drumroll, please) ... the Tar Heels, of North Carolina. Before Saturday, UNC hadn’t won at Pitt since 2017. Also before Saturday: UNC had lost no shortage of games like these, against conference opponents (and otherwise) it had no business losing. And, oh yes: Is it possible that winning a close game against a hungry in-state opponent helped the Tar Heels beat better competition in subsequent weeks? And they say playing App State has no value.

Carolinas ranking

1. Duke (ideal GameDay guest picker: Coach K — make it happen, Mike); 2. North Carolina (party like it’s 1997 again); 3. Clemson (Tigers are 0-2 in the ACC for the first time since 2010); 4. South Carolina; 5. N.C. State; 6. Wake Forest; 7. Appalachian State; 8. Coastal Carolina (not the most ideal of starts for first-year head coach Tim Beck); 9. ECU; 10. Charlotte (moral victory points for keeping it closeish at Florida).

Final thoughts, in no particular order

▪ I think N.C. State’s game Friday against Louisville is about as important of a non-UNC, non-Wake, non-Clemson game (and, OK, that’s a lot of qualifications, yes, but bear with me) in a long time. Pull that out and State should be 5-1 going into Duke on Oct. 14. Lose, and then there’s a lot of pressure to beat Marshall, which ... isn’t a gimmie of a game as one might’ve thought.

▪ I think it’s always a bad sign when the athletics director has to send out a letter to try to comfort fans this early in the season. That’s what happened last week at ECU, where many in Pirate Nation are growing restless and weary, especially after the Pirates took a big, resounding L at App State two Saturday ago. ECU did what it should’ve Saturday against Gardner-Webb but the heat surrounding Houston will grow hotter if the Pirates stumble at Rice this weekend.

▪ I think Drake Maye might just sneak into the Heisman conversation, after all. Maye’s numbers are down compared to a season ago and yet he’s still seventh nationally in total offense (326.5 yards per game) and leads the ACC in that category. He’s going to have to throw for a lot more touchdowns to warrant serious consideration, because voters are impressed by shiny objects and gaudy stats. But if UNC keeps winning, so do the odds Maye winds up in New York as a finalist.