The ACC faces a monumental weekend in terms of reputation. Five out-of-conference games — against opponents from every BCS conference besides the Pac-12 — make Saturday crucial for the ACC on the national scale.

In the Atlantic Division, Clemson plays host to reigning national champion Auburn, preseason Big East favorite West Virginia visits College Park to play Maryland and No. 1 Oklahoma will travel to Doak Campbell Stadium for a game with National Championship implications against ACC favorite, No. 5 Florida State.

In the Coastal Division, Kansas visits Georgia Tech and Miami plays No. 17 Ohio State in the home half of its two-year contract with the Buckeyes.

Everyone in the ACC has a stake in these five games. If the ACC comes away with a losing record in the five games, or anyone (especially Florida State and Clemson) get embarrassed, it can and will damage the conference’s chance to place a team in the National Championship or snag an at-large spot in a BCS game.

“On a national stage, I think its always good for someone in our conference to be in the national spotlight, for any conference,” Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. “The more teams that are in that national spotlight...I think is better for the conference. There’s no doubt.”

The BCS is made of two human components — the Harris Poll and the Coaches’ Poll — and the computer rankings, which take into account things like margin of victory and strength of schedule.

If the ACC collapses this weekend, the conference’s strength of schedule will go down. Should there be a scenario where three teams at the top of the rankings have the same record, the team with the worst conference — like TCU last season, which was undefeated just like Oregon and Auburn — will watch the BCS National Championship with everybody else.

And in the human polls, out-of-conference makes a difference — it’s just not as measurable.

For example: If Clemson were to be blown out by Auburn, then Georgia Tech loses a close game against Clemson, and the final spot in the national championship game is between Georgia Tech and LSU, and both are 13-1, it comes down to chance.

Chances are the human voters will join the computer in leaning toward the SEC’s reputation.

North Carolina

While North Carolina’s 24-22 win against Rutgers improved its record to 2-0, at no point was it comfortable for anyone in Carolina Blue. The Heels committed five turnovers and struggled to put away the Scarlet Knights, who were picked to finish last in the Big East.

“We stopped ourselves more than Rutgers stopped us,” North Carolina coach Everett Withers said Wednesday.

The Tar Heels did, however, struggle with Rutgers’ speedy defensive line. With the exception of two big carries, UNC managed only 39 yards on 27 carries. The Tar Heels were also apprehensive to run left: UNC rushed to the left side eight times for 14 yards.

Now, North Carolina will see Virginia, whose greatest strength is its defensive line, and best player, senior Cam Johnson, is a defensive end.

“I think they’ve got a really good defensive line. What they’re doing is really getting off the ball and trying to penetrate up front,” Withers said. “(Johnson) does a nice job of creating negative plays because he plays so fast up front.”

North Carolina was, at times, undisciplined in its blocking packages against Rutgers. UNC struggled to block defensive end Manny Abreu, and allowed the Knights’ defensive line to record four tackles for loss.

Withers said the team practiced well Sunday and Tuesday, and is simply working on itself, not the Cavaliers.

“What we’re going to do is take care of us and do the little the things to get better and continue to move on,” Withers said.

Duke

Frustration has been apparent on Duke’s sideline, so much so that coach David Cutcliffe has addressed the problem’s significance two weeks in a row.

Cutcliffe said Duke’s offense showed its displeasure with its performance in the season-opening loss against Richmond, then again in its 44-14 loss against No. 6 Stanford.

“Maybe the frustration from Week 1 with our offense carried over into not having scored an offensive touchdown (in the) first half and missing two field goals (against Stanford),” Cutcliffe said. “I think that frustration was surprisingly a little bit more than I anticipated.”

The Blue Devils (0-2) have a chance to take their frustrations out at winless Boston College on Saturday.

“You don’t have letdowns, certainly let one loss turn into two,” Cutcliffe said. “(We) certainly haven’t had any indication in practice that they’re not ready to focus, work hard. (We) expect them to get done what we expect them to get done on the field.”

N.C. State

The Wolfpack’s disappointing loss to Wake Forest in Week 2 can be attributed to its defense. The offense was decent — scoring 27 points — but N.C. State watched Wake Forest quarterback Tanner Price, playing with a knee brace, throw for nearly 300 yards.

“I think the problem came in as we were unable to get a pass-rush,” N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien said. “You don’t give (Price) any time to throw the football because he’s good enough to complete it as is.”

O’Brien said that the intensity at Wolfpack practice has picked up on the defensive end, and he has been encouraged by the hard work.

“There’s certainly been a sense of urgency, even to a casual observer,” O’Brien said. “It seems like everybody is practicing harder. So I think that’s a good sign.”

The Wolfpack (2-0) plays host to South Alabama on Saturday. O’Brien said the Jaguars have several transfers from SEC and ACC schools. N.C. State’s defense, even though taking on an FCS school, will have to account for South Alabama’s speed.

“They have really good team quickness and speed,” O’Brien said. “If you can run, you always have a chance to be in the football game.”

Nick Piotrowicz can be reached at 407-9952 or at npiotrowicz@rmtelegram.com.