Five weeks remain in the regular season, but favorites finally have emerged in the ACC’s division races.

Georgia Tech won at Virginia for the first time since 1990, ending an eight-game losing skid at Scott Stadium to seize control of the Coastal Division. The Yellow Jackets (7-1, 5-1 ACC), who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Virginia Tech (5-2, 3-1), can clinch the division title and a spot in the ACC championship game with wins over Wake Forest and Duke in their final two conference games.

Clemson, meanwhile, has emerged as the team to beat in the Atlantic Division after impressive conference wins over Wake Forest and Miami in back-to-back weeks. The Tigers (4-3, 3-2) still have three league games remaining — home against Florida State, at NC State and home against Virginia — but they will finish in first place if they win out. That would be quite an achievement for a team that headed into its bye week with a losing record overall (2-3) and in conference play (1-2).

Scoreboard

Florida State 30, North Carolina 27
Clemson 40, Miami 37, OT
Duke 17, Maryland 13
Georgia Tech 34, Virginia 9
Navy 13, Wake Forest 10
Notre Dame 20, Boston College 16

Clemson’s Spiller simply unstoppable

Clemson senior C.J. Spiller has flown under the radar on the national scene for much of the season after the school touted him for the Heisman Trophy during the preseason. But Spiller got everyone’s attention at Miami, putting on a show for his father and leading the Tigers past the Hurricanes in a crucial game that featured nine lead changes.

With his father, a sanitation truck driver in Miami, watching him play in a college game for the first time, Spiller racked up a school-record 310 all-purpose yards and scored a pair of long touchdowns. In addition to rushing for 81 yards on 14 carries, he caught six passes for 104 yards and added another 125 yards on kickoff returns.

The Hurricanes inexplicably kicked off to Spiller with less than a minute remaining in the first half, and the 10-7 lead they had worked so hard to build turned into a 14-10 deficit in a matter of 11 seconds. Spiller returned the kick 90 yards for a touchdown, his third kickoff return for a score this season and his ACC-record sixth kickoff return for a score in his career. Miami kickoff specialist Alex Uribe, who Coach Randy Shannon said was told not to kick the ball to Spiller, was benched for the second half.

Spiller, who leads the nation with an average of 207.9 all-purpose yards per game, has at least one 60-yard play in every game this season. Spiller added a 56-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, showcasing the versatility that has professional scouts salivating. Given his elite speed, pass-catching acumen, ability to make big plays and jersey number, it’s becoming difficult to watch him play and not think of former NFL star Marshall Faulk.

Spiller’s play has been so spectacular that it has overshadowed an outstanding season by teammate DeAndre McDaniel, a junior safety. McDaniel, who picked off two passes against Miami and returned one of them 23 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, is tied for the national lead with seven interceptions this season.

Tough times on Tobacco Road

Big improvement was expected from North Carolina and NC State this season, and Wake Forest figured to be in contention in an up-for-grabs Atlantic Division. Well, at this point, those three teams have a combined league record of 2-8. Or, in more amazing terms, they have combined for as many league wins as Duke.

The Blue Devils (4-3, 2-1) overcame 12 penalties and three turnovers to defeat Maryland, winning back-to-back ACC games for the first time since 1994. Senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis had another big day for Duke, throwing for 371 yards and two touchdowns in his third consecutive 300-yard passing game.

Duke travels to Virginia (3-4, 2-1) this week for a game that’s much more important than anyone expected during the preseason. Elsewhere on Tobacco Road, the forecast for the coming weeks seems less sunny:

• North Carolina’s vaunted defense allowed Florida State’s Christian Ponder to throw for a career-high 395 yards, including a Kenan Stadium-record 98-yard touchdown pass to Rod Owens, as the Seminoles overcame a 24-6 deficit to pick up their first ACC win of the season. Florida State, which totaled just 100 yards in the first half, gained 236 yards in the third quarter alone. Ponder, meanwhile, completed his final 16 passes of the game. UNC’s consolation prize this week for its heartbreaking stumble on national TV? A chilly Thursday night in Blacksburg, Va., against a better team that had an open date to prepare. Good luck with that.

• Wake Forest, coming off an embarrassing 38-3 loss at Clemson, lost to Navy for the second year in a row. The Midshipmen didn’t have to throw a single pass in their win, rushing for 338 yards. That’s not a good sign, given that Miami’s talented tailback trio of Graig Cooper, Javarris James and Damien Berry are coming to Winston-Salem this week.

• NC State was lucky enough to have the week off. The Wolfpack, who allowed 101 points and 982 yards in their last two games, head to Florida State this week. Based on what Ponder did to UNC’s defense and the fact that NC State will be starting its seventh different secondary in eight games — redshirt freshman C.J. Wilson is set to start at cornerback for the first time since the season opener — the Wolfpack had better be ready to defend the pass.

Yellow Jackets dominate ball, game

Georgia Tech delivered another dominating performance on offense, reaching seven wins after eight games for the first time since 1990 and just the second time since 1966. The Yellow Jackets outgained Virginia 447-198, including 362-30 on the ground, and racked up their biggest edge in time of possession (42:43 to 17:17) in at least 20 years.

Coach Paul Johnson’s offense choked the life out of Virginia on the opening drive of the second half, chewing up 10:47 on an 18-play, 82-yard touchdown drive. It was Georgia Tech’s longest drive in terms of time off the clock since at least 1989, which is as far back as complete records in that category go.

Running backs Jonathan Dwyer and Anthony Allen each rushed for more than 100 yards for the Yellow Jackets, who have averaged 38:15 in time of possession over their last five games. Georgia Tech leads the nation in that category for the season (34:50), and the team ranks second in rushing (291.6 yards per game) and fifth in third-down conversions (51.8 percent). The Yellow Jackets take aim this week at Vanderbilt, which ranks 85th nationally against the run (164.1 ypg).

Quick outs

• Clemson-Miami went to overtime for the third consecutive meeting. The visiting team won in all three instances, with the Tigers prevailing in 2004 and 2009 and the Hurricanes winning in 2005.

• Clemson, which had lost eight consecutive games decided by five points or fewer, recorded its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2006.

• Miami dropped to 136-2 since the start of the 1985 season in games in which it scored at least 34 points.

• Duke’s Conner Vernon made five receptions for 102 yards against Maryland, becoming the first freshman in school history to record two 100-yard receiving games.

• It’s not difficult to see how Boston College’s six-game winning streak against Notre Dame came to an end. The Eagles had five turnovers, compared with none for Notre Dame, and tailback Montel Harris managed just 38 yards on 22 carries a week after burning NC State for a school-record 264 yards and five touchdowns.

• NC State certainly is down, but it’s too early to count out the Wolfpack. In each of the two previous seasons under Coach Tom O’Brien, NC State ripped off four consecutive wins immediately following its open date.