North Carolina’s wild 29-24 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday pushed it up four spots in Sunday’s Associated Press poll.

The Tar Heels’ No. 18 ranking is their highest since Sept. 5, 1998, when then-No. 12 UNC lost to Miami (Ohio) 13-10.

With a 12-7 victory over Clemson on Thursday night, No. 21 Wake Forest is 2-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1987. 

The Demon Deacons (4-1, 2-0) prevailed in ugly fashion, though how they won mattered less to fans than the fact that before a national television audience on ESPN they lived up to their billing as the favored team.

AP photo

WINSTON-SALEM — It wasn't pretty but Wake Forest will take it. And with their 12-7 win over Clemson on Thursday night, the Demon Deacons take control of the Atlantic Division race.

D.J. Boldin's 7-yard touchdown catch capped Wake's winning drive, which Boldin sustained with a 28-yard play on third-and-24.

After going with a Tar Heel guest picker last week, it's only fair to go with a Wolfpacker this week.

James Curle, Yet Another N.C. State Blog author and all-around renaissance man, joins us. He's inspired to match Tar Heel Fan's victory over Team ACC Now from Week 6. 

On with the games:

Wake Forest senior kicker Sam Swank injured his right quadriceps in a practice this week and there's only a 50-50 chance he'll play for the Demon Deacons' home game against Clemson on Thursday.

Wake coach Jim Grobe said on the ACC's teleconference Wednesday that redshirt freshman Shane Popham might have to replace Swank in the lineup for kicking and punting duties.

• Late Hits archive

Boston College: Quarterback Chris Crane threw for 461 total yards in the first four games of the season before uncorking 428 in a wild 38-31 win over N.C. State, to go with five total touchdowns.

Note: J.P. Giglio is one of 65 voters in the AP Top 25. This is his ballot.

• JP Top 25 archive
• AP Top 25

Where’s UNC? The short answer is No. 26.

The long answer is the Tar Heels lost at home. You get extra credit for road wins and lose points for home losses in my book.

Nearing the midway point of the ACC football season, my choice for league player of the year is North Carolina wide receiver Brandon Tate. Not only that, No. 2 on my list is probably Tar Heel wideout Hakeem Nicks.

Their collective impact on the program and the season thus far has bordered on phenomenal and could wind up being historic. Two wideouts from the same school have never been voted first-team all-conference in the same season.

Note: J.P. Giglio is one of 65 voters in the AP Top 25. This is his ballot.

Note, part 2: I'll be on 850 the Buzz from 3 to 5 p.m. today. If you have any questions about the top 25, call in to the show (919-860-0850).

• JP Top 25 archive
• AP Top 25

I'm one of the 21 AP voters to move Alabama to No. 1 after the Tide dominated Georgia on the road. I think Alabama's resume, to this point,
is more impressive than Oklahoma's.

The top 25 is an opinion poll and in that regard, a voter can't be wrong. But funny, the Harris Poll was created, because the AP withdrew from the BCS process, to correct the preseason bias of starting teams too low based on expectations and not results. Lo and behold, the Harris voters have Alabama is No. 3 with seven first-place votes.

WINSTON-SALEM – Wake Forest tried to dig itself out of a 17-point hole but kept making mistakes and fell 24-17 to Navy.

No. 16 Wake turned the ball over six times, including four interceptions thrown by Riley Skinner, but still had a chance to tie the game in the fourth. 

Wake was on the Navy 40 with more than five minutes to
go and down just a touchdown. But Skinner got picked off by Emmett Merchant, whose 12-yard return set up a Navy scoring drive.