Whoa, BC…
1. Miami (last week: 56-9 W vs Florida A&M)
The Hurricanes will remain here unless they are somehow challenged by Ball State this week. That “road trip” to South Florida the next week at least looks a bit tougher after the Bulls pushed Alabama (don’t let the 42-16 final score fool you, it was 21-16 Bama with under 6:00 to play in the game). Cam Ward and the offense still look amazing and the defense is solid. If you’re looking for a must-watch game, circle that 10/19 game against…
2. Louisville (last week: 49-14 W vs Jacksonville State)
The Gamecocks hung around a bit more than expected, but this game was never really in doubt as the Cardinals controlled throughout. Tyler Shough and the offense totaled over 600 yards in the game as things continue to hum. We’re going to find out a lot more very quickly as Louisville takes on Georgia Tech and Notre Dame over the next two weeks.
3. Boston College (last week: 56-0 W vs Duquesne)
Oh, crap… BC may be turning this thing around quicker than expected under Bill O’Brien. Yeah, don’t too carried away with a win against an overmatched Duquesne squad, but the Eagles dominated in every which way including holding the Dukes to 135 yards of total offense. BC has a running back named Turbo and he ran for 74 yards. I thought you should know that. The Eagles head to Missouri this week. A win there would put BC can start dreaming about a CFP spot.
4. Clemson (last week: 66-20 W vs Appalachian State)
Good gracious – what a response to a resounding thud the week prior (NC State, take notice how it’s done – cough, cough, cough). The Tigers gave the Mountaineers the Debo treatment. Cade Klubnick was 24-of-26 passing for 378 yards, 5 TD, and 0 INT, while also rushing for two short TDs. Can’t do any better than that. Time will tell if that 712-yard output is Dabo finally letting Garrett Riley do his own thing with the offense or if the App defense is really that atrocious. Clemson takes this week off before hosting the Wolfpack.
5. Syracuse (last week: 31-28 W vs Georgia Tech)
Much of this game looked like Syracuse was going to roll GT, but they let the Yellow Jackets mount a late comeback attempt that fell just short. The Orange are 2-0 under Fran Brown with a multi-faceted offense leading the charge. Kyle McCord looks like a heck of a portal grab for Cuse, leading a 515-yard effort. Keeping that up is going to make this a dangerous team, especially in a wide-open ACC. Syracuse should be 5-0 heading into a road trip to Raleigh as the next three games are against Stanford, Holy Cross, and at UNLV. That UNLV is going to be tougher than it looks, though.
6. Georgia Tech (last week: 28-31 L @ Syracuse)
The Yellow Jackets looked out of sorts for much of the game, but still almost came back to win it. There’s some grit with this team, certainly something that wasn’t there under the previous head coach. GT isn’t a top-25 squad and there was too much stock placed in that win over Florida State, but don’t this is still a solid team. A layup against VMI is up next before a road trip to Louisville.
7. California (last week: 21-14 W @ Auburn)
Way to step up for your new conference there, Cal! Even more surprising in the win is that Jaydn Ott (battling an ankle injury) only tallied 11 yards on 10 carries. In the absence of Ott’s typical high productivity, QB Fernando Mendoza stepped up to put forth one of the best efforts of his career. If Cal gets that level of play from Mendoza every game, this is going to be an easy bowl team, especially if the defense can limit opponents like they did (Auburn had 286 total yards of offense). San Diego State is on tap this week for the Golden Bears followed by a road trip to Florida State.
8. Pittsburgh (last week: 28-27 W @ Cincinnati)
While GT wasn’t able to complete the late comeback, Pitt finished the job by scoring the last 22 points of the game to overcome a really bad first three quarters. Western Carolina transfer Desmond Reid had a career day, going for 148 yards on the ground and 106 and a TD through the air. Pitt hosts West Virginia this week.
9. Virginia Tech (last week: 31-14 W vs Marshall)
It took a bit for VT to pull away from Marshall, but a win is a win and the Hokies needed it after their season-opening loss to Vanderbilt. The offense wasn’t everything you’d hope, but the defense picked it up by holding the Herd to 278 total yards, including just 3.6 yards per pass attempt. The Hokies head to Old Dominion this week in what should be a rout of a win and then host Rutgers.
10. Duke (last week: 26-20 W @ Northwestern)
I don’t believe in this Duke team, but they’re 2-0 and their next two games are against UConn and Middle Tennessee State. This team will be 4-0 heading into a matchup with UNC. Let’s hope they’re 5-0 when the calendar flips to October. Jordan Moore is having a great start to the year at WR, but the running game is the Achilles heel for this team.
11. North Carolina (last week: 38-20 W vs Charlotte)
The 49ers are not good this year, but UNC handled business nonetheless. NC Central comes to Chapel Hill this week followed by James Madison the next. Basically, you’re going to get an undefeated 9/28 game between Duke and UNC. Get ready for way too much hype for a game that won’t live up to it.
12. Virginia (last week: 31-30 W @ Wake Forest)
Trailing 30-17 heading into the 4th quarter, the Wahoos made the comeback. Anthony Colandrea had a big game, although he’ll need to take better care of the ball (2 INTs). Malachi Fields had his second straight 100-yard game, the first two of his career. There are huge flaws, though, with Wake Forest racking up 544 total yards of offense. Allow opponents to chew them up like that and those tallies in the win column are going to start drying up.
13. Wake Forest (last week: 30-31 L vs Virginia)
Oof. Finish the job, Wake. Certainly making matters worse is that the last two full drives for the Deacs ended in a turnover on downs and a fumble. The offense looks much improved over last year, except it might not matter much. Next up is a home game against Ole Miss. Yikes.
14. Stanford (last week: 41-7 W vs Cal Poly)
This is probably too high for the Cardinal. Ashton Daniels looked really good, although he should against an FCS foe. Still, that’s more than can be said for others around the league. Stanford will have a chance to earn their stripes with their next two games being on the road at Syracuse and Clemson.
15. NC State (last week: 10-51 L vs Tennessee)
I don’t want to talk about this game and you don’t want to hear about it anymore. The only thing I’ll say is that Tennessee looks really really freaking good. Not giving State credit for that, but at least it’s a bit more excusable. The Pack needs to get better in a hurry.
16. SMU (last week: 15-18 L vs BYU)
The Mustangs have now looked pretty horrendous in two of their three games, so despite being 2-1, they’re getting dinged in these rankings. There are some playmakers – including RB Brashard Smith – and the defense looks pretty good, but QB play has been pretty bad. SMU gets a week off before hosting TCU.
17. Florida State (last week: BYE)
Mercifully, the Seminoles were off this week. Let’s see if Mike Norvell can fix what’s broken down in Tallahassee.