The Hurricanes continue to get the white glove treatment from the conference
1. Clemson (last week: 29-13 W @ Florida State)
The Tigers continue to look like the best team in the conference, jumping out to a 17-0 1st quarter lead over FSU and cruising the rest of the way. The offense continues to impress with a turnover-free, 500 yard effort. If not for settling for 5 short field goals, this would have been a complete blowout. Smart move by the Tigers staff, though, knowing that FSU was only going to get in the game if Clemson had scoreless drives. Get your 3’s and move on. The Tigers head to Winston-Salem this weekend to take on Wake.
2. SMU (last week: 34-27 W @ Louisville)
The Mustangs of the past three weeks have been a different breed than what we saw over the first three weeks of the season. The fact that QB Kevin Jennings turned a corner during that time is no coincidence. While not getting a ton of sacks, the defense is disruptive and great at creating turnovers. Couple that with the explosive offense and you have a really good team. SMU is on a bye this week, then hits the road for games at Stanford and Duke.
3. Louisville (last week: 27-34 L vs SMU)
Despite losing two in a row, the stock is still pretty high for Louisville. Back-to-back one-possession losses to Notre Dame and SMU are tough, but this is a talented team that can beat anyone on their schedule. The upcoming slate is tough, though, with Virginia, Miami, Boston College, and Clemson up before the Cards hit their bye week, and three of those are on the road.
4. Miami (last week: 39-38 W @ California)
Yes, Miami is the highest ranked ACC team in the national polls and they’re currently in the drivers seat to make the ACC Championship Game, but… let’s be real, if not for the conference stepping in an making two controversial calls in the Hurricanes’ favor the last two games, this would be a team sitting at 0-2 in conference and basically on a narrow path to get to the CFP. Credit to Miami for coming through when they needed to most, but it’s hard to give too much credit to a team after back-to-back performances like that.
5. California (last week: 38-39 L vs Miami)
Cal should have won. The Golden Bears were in control for much of the game and it took a blatant targeting no-call to give Miami a chance to win it. If you’re the Bears, though, you can’t blow a 20-point 4th quarter lead, and that falls mostly on the offense whose last three possessions went punt, punt, interception. Cal hosts NC State in two weeks, but this week will hit the road to take on…
6. Pittsburgh (last week: 34-24 W @ North Carolina)
We’re about to find out if Pitt is for real or not real quick. The Panthers extended their record in one-possession games to 3-0 by pulling away from UNC in the 4th quarter last week. After falling behind in the opening quarter, Pitt grabbed the lead early in the 2nd quarter and then made UNC play catch-up the rest of the way. The offense was efficient in a 520-yard effort, although that early hole they found themselves in was thanks to a pick-six. That was the only blemish of the day, though, and we’re all grateful the Panthers took down the Heels. After the tilt with Cal, Pitt will get a bye week before hosting Syracuse.
7. Syracuse (last week: 44-41 W @ UNLV)
It was a road win against a Top 25 opponent, so kudos there. I still don’t understand the offensive approach for the Orange (63 pass attempts to 33 rush attempts), but they cleared the 40-point mark for the 2nd straight week, so who am I to say anything (granted, that’s against an FCS team and a G5 team, so maybe I’m right). This was a very entertaining game, so hopefully you saw it. If not, you’ll get your chance to see Cuse up close and personally this weekend when they come to Raleigh.
8. Virginia Tech (last week: 31-7 W @ Stanford)
The Hokies followed up the disappointing ACC-aided loss to Miami in the best way possible, by putting together a solid start-to-finish effort in the win over Stanford. The offense was efficient and turnover free while the defense held the Cardinal to 258 yards and forced a pair of turnovers. Brent Pry is doing much better than I expected him to do. Kudos there. VT is off this week before a Thursday tilt with BC.
9. Georgia Tech (last week: 24-14 W vs Duke)
Good finish for the Jackets, who put up 14 points in the final quarter for the come-from-behind win. Haynes King and Jamal Haynes continue to make the offense move and the defense is solid, as you’d expect for a Brent Key team. GT heads to Chapel Hill this week.
10. Duke (last week: 14-24 L @ Georgia Tech)
That Duke offense is really bad. Outside of the 45-point game against MTSU where the defense continually set up the offense with short fields, Duke hasn’t topped 26 points in a game. That’s probably not going to bode well with their next three games being against FSU, SMU, and Miami. The good news for the Blue Devils is that their defense should keep them in most games, and they should reach a bowl game in Manny Diaz’s first season.
11. Virginia (last week: 24-14 W vs Boston College)
Virginia is 2-0 in ACC play, sitting along with Clemson, Miami, SMU, and Pitt as the ACC teams without a dent in conference play. I wouldn’t expect for that to stick for long with the Wahoos next two games being Louisville and Clemson, but it’s nice for them for now. I’m sure Tony Elliott’s agent is in the AD’s office a ton this week because, yeah, they still have Pitt, Notre Dame, SMU, and VT on the schedule, too. So even though the Cavs are 4-1, getting to bowl eligibility may be dicey.
12. Boston College (last week: 14-24 L @ Virginia)
Thomas Castellanos returned after missing last week’s narrow win over Western Kentucky, but he was not very efficient in this one, clearly slowed by the injury sustained against Michigan State. BC actually led 14-0 in the 2nd quarter, but failed to top 30 yards on a drive for the last 2.5 quarters of the game. The Eagles are on a bye this week before heading to VT for a Thursday night game next week.
13. Stanford (last week: 7-31 L vs Virginia Tech)
The game wasn’t as bad as the final score indicated as VT just slowly bled Stanford to death, but it certainly never felt like the Cardinal were going to be able to win this one, even with a late 3rd quarter TD that made it 21-7 at the time. It didn’t help that starting QB Ashton Daniels was out for this one, and then had RB Micah Ford banged up against VT. Daniels will be back this week for the game at Notre Dame, but Ford’s iffy. Getting to bowl eligibility is also going to be iffy for Stanford with SMU, Louisville, and Cal still on the schedule.
14. Wake Forest (last week: 34-30 W @ NC State)
Wake started hot and finished hot, basically looking like the better team for only about 15 minutes of the game, but that was enough. Of course, the big play was the hit on Grayson McCall and subsequent fumble return that set up a short TD. That was the difference in the game. Despite the Deacs overcoming State’s 10-point 4th quarter lead, this is not a good Wake team. There’s probably two wins left on the schedule.
15. Florida State (last week: 13-29 L vs Clemson)
The offense is awful, but at least Brock Glenn looked better than D.J. Uiagalelei. The game was over as soon as FSU fell behind by two scores, but the defense kept them theoretically in it by forcing Clemson’s FG unit to get a ton of work. That defense is going to give them a chance to win, including in their next game against Duke’s struggling offense, but the offense will have to do something at some point. The Noles are on a bye this week.
16. NC State (last week: 30-34 L vs Wake Forest)
It’s tough right now to look at the ACC and point to a team that the Wolfpack would be favored against. That’s depressing.
17. North Carolina (last week: 24-34 L vs Pittsburgh)
UNC’s offense put up 416 yards and didn’t turn the ball over, but still somehow managed to only put 17 points on the board thanks to going 2-for-6 on 4th down conversions. That’ll do it. The Tar Heels will look to extend their 3-game losing streak as they host Georgia Tech this week.