SMU dang came to play
1. SMU (last week: 48-25 W vs Pittsburgh)
Kudos to the Mustangs for showing out in their biggest ACC game ever. Brashard Smith ran for 161 yards and a pair of scores, Kevin Jennings threw for 306 yards and 2 TDs, and the defense forced two turnovers to move SMU to 5-0 in ACC play. A week after their worst performance of the year, Rhett Lashlee’s group put together their best. Games against Boston College, Virginia, and Cal remain after the bye week.
2. Miami (last week: 53-31 W vs Duke)
Don’t let the final score fool you, this one was a battle until late. Duke actually led 28-17 early in the 3rd quarter, but slowly fell apart as the offense dried up and Miami’s offense got to work. Cam Ward threw for 400 yards and 5 TDs with 146 of those yards and 3 of the TDs going to noted councilwoman Jenene Xavier Restrepo. I still don’t believe this Miami team is that good, but it’s hard to see a loss remaining on their regular season schedule (GT, Wake, Syracuse).
3. Louisville (last week: 33-21 W @ Clemson)
Louisville took over the middle portion of the game and kept the Tigers from ever really threatening the rest of the way in an impressive road win. If not for three 3rd quarter drives resulting in FGs instead of TDs, the Cards would have made this one a laugher. Isaac Brown carried the offense with a 151 yard, 1 TD performance while Louisville’s special teams unit blocked a pair of Clemson field goals. This is going to end up a season of what-if’s for the Cards as all three losses have been by one score, including to both teams above them in these rankings. They’ll get a bye this week before finishing with road games against Stanford and Kentucky surrounding a home matchup with Pitt.
4. Clemson (last week: 21-33 L vs Louisville)
Getting beat convincingly at home by Louisville was bad enough, but with Pitt – which remains on the Tigers schedule – getting pantsed by SMU, Clemson’s ACC title hopes also took an L on Saturday night. The offense just couldn’t do anything until late (first 8 drives went for 169 yards; the last 4 drives went for 271 yards), and that just wasn’t going to cut it as Louisville wasn’t helping things (0 turnovers, 35 penalty yards for the Cards). This probably is the 4th best team in the conference this year.
5. Duke (last week: 31-53 L @ Miami)
The Blue Devils trailed 14-0 early and it seemed like this one was going to be over quick, but then the same turnover luck that had buoyed Duke’s season to this point popped up again and led to their first score. Three long manufactured TD drives later and the Blue Devils led 28-17 in the 3rd quarter. It seemed like maybe Duke was for real in this one… but then the offense managed just three more points the rest of the way and reality set in. This is a Duke team clearly good enough to hang with anyone in the conference, but also due dry spells that can make it lose to anyone. They’ll head to Raleigh this weekend.
6. Pittsburgh (last week: 25-48 L @ SMU)
If that wasn’t their first loss of the year, I’d have dropped the Panthers a lot further here. That was one massive egg Pitt laid on Saturday night in what was supposed to be one of the best ACC games of the year. Pitt isn’t technically out of the ACC title race yet, but Miami and SMU are both undefeated and SMU would need to lose both of their remaining ACC games to fall below Pitt. Plus, the remaining slate for Pitt includes Clemson (another team ahead of them in the standings) and Louisville. I hope Pitt fans enjoyed the first seven weeks of the season.
7. Syracuse (last week: 38-31 W vs Virginia Tech)
Despite trailing 21-3 midway through the 3rd quarter, Syracuse was able to find their footing and send the game to overtime with a LeQuint Allen TD run with 29 seconds left in regulation. The Orange scored a TD on their OT possession before recovering a fumble to end the game on VT’s possession. The win made the team bowl eligible in Fran Brown’s first season at the helm, which is quite an accomplishment. The team finally leaned on Allen’s running ability more in this one, and the result was the come-from-behind win. If only someone had been saying they should do more of that all year…
8. NC State (last week: 59-28 W vs Stanford)
There was a lot to feel good about for State fans on Saturday, especially with the offense absolutely humming under C.J. Bailey. Putting up 527 yards and 59 points will tend to do that. The box score for the Pack looks like a video game, and that’s always a fun time. State hosts Duke this Saturday at 3:30pm before hitting the road for contests at Georgia Tech and North Carolina to finish the regular season.
9. Virginia Tech (last week: 31-38 L @ Syracuse)
The loss to Cuse dropped VT to 5-4 on the year, with all four of those losses being of the one-score variety. Worse yet, the Hokies held second half leads against Vanderbilt, Miami, and Syracuse – as well as having momentum late against Rutgers before faltering defensively. It’s hard to imagine Brent Pry’s job being on the line as this is clearly his best team, but he sure could use a nice finish to the year (vs Clemson, @ Duke, vs Virginia) to make a smoother transition into next year.
10. Boston College (last week: Bye)
After opening the season 4-1, the Eagles have lost three straight. With SMU and Pitt still on the schedule, bowl eligibility will likely come down to the games with Syracuse and Pitt.
11. California (last week: Bye)
The Bears head to Winston-Salem for a Friday night showdown with the Demon Deacs. The game marks their best shot at a win aside from the penultimate regular season game against Stanford.
12. Georgia Tech (last week: Bye)
Haynes King is in the “hopeful” category as to his availability for Saturday’s game against Miami, and the team’s hopes of winning ride with his health. To that end, the bye week was great timing. Not good timing is having Miami and Georgia still on the schedule, with those two games sandwiching a matchup with NC State.
13. North Carolina (last week: 35-11 W @ Florida State)
After losing four straight, the Tar Heels have bounced back with two convincing wins in a row. UNC’s defense has found its footing, registering 17 sacks over the last two weeks. Omarion Hampton (172 rush yards, 4 TDs; 93 receiving yards, 1 TD) is the offense. They’ll head into their bye week before facing off with Wake Forest and Boston College ahead of the season finale in Raleigh.
14. Wake Forest (last week: Bye)
Dave Clawson’s squad has surprisingly won 3 of 4 before their bye week, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Clemson. They’ll need to win 2 of the last 4 to get to a bowl game.
15. Virginia (last week: Bye)
The Bye week came at a good time as Virginia had lost three straight ahead of time. Now comes a brutal finishing kick of road games at Pitt, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech as well as a home matchup with SMU. Finding two wins in that group to get to a bowl game is going to be tough.
16. Stanford (last week: 28-59 L @ NC State)
Despite playing from behind, Stanford was hanging within striking distance of the Pack until Ashton Daniels was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Up until that point, the Cardinal offense was able to find some big running plays, but after the Daniels injury the offense dried up as NC State pulled away. The loss – the sixth straight – officially eliminates the team from bowl eligibility. Stanford gets a much needed bye week before hosting Louisville.
17. Florida State (last week: 11-35 L @ North Carolina)
The Seminoles finish their 2024 ACC schedule with a performance embodying puke hitting tile floor, securing a 1-7 conference mark. There will undoubtedly be deep dives on this squad, and rightfully so, because the turnaround from CFP snub to ACC scrub was a quick one. The Noles will need to beat either Notre Dame or Florida (in addition to their cakewalk game against Charleston Southern) to avoid a double-digit loss campaign.