MY NEW ACC POWER RANKINGS

WHAT IF SYRACUSE BEATS NOTRE DAME?

Clemson handled Boston College and Syracuse looks ready for Notre Dame as we look at this week’s ACC power rankings and assess the Coastal division race. There isn’t much drama left about what teams deserve to be at the top of our ACC power rankings. Clemson and Notre Dame have both separated themselves from the competition. It’s hard to imagine any team dislodging them from the top spots before the end of the regular season. Things are wide open behind the Tigers and Fighting Irish though. NC State looked like a possible contender for much of the season, but losing at home to Wake Forest on Thursday night exposed the Wolfpack as pretenders. Ryan Finley and company have enjoyed some nice moments this year, but it’s not going to be a special season in Raleigh. The same can’t be said for Syracuse. The Orange handled their business against Louisville and continues to shoot up the ACC standings. The same can be said for Pittsburgh’s big home win over Virginia Tech. Both former Big East programs have a chance to enjoy historic seasons if things break right. We start our power rankings this week as a team that continued to solidify their place at the ACC basement this weekend.

15: LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

Last week: Loss at Syracuse, 54-23

Last rank: 15

We’ve been talking about Bobby Petrino’s tenuous grip on the Louisville job for weeks, and his team’s lopsided loss at Syracuse proved to be the school administration’s final straw. They elected to fire him on Sunday. In fairness, the game against the Orange looked a lot like every other Cardinals game this season. Jawon Pass couldn’t get the offense moving consistently and the defense looked powerless to stop the opposition. Jeff Brohm will immediately emerge as Louisville’s top target, but this might be a bigger rebuilding job than some people think.

14: NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS

LAST WEEK: Loss at Duke, 42-35

LAST RANK: 14

With the dismissal of Petrino, it’s now Larry Fedora’s turn to sweat bullets. His Tar Heel squad gave Due a real scare on Saturday, but as usual, North Carolina came up a play or two short of getting a big win. Quarterback play continues to be an issue for this team. Nathan Elliott threw for 221 yards against the Duke secondary, but it took him 41 passing attempts to get there. In fairness to the Tar Heels’ signal caller, that should have been good enough to get his team a win. Unfortunately for fans in Chapel Hill, it’s tough to win when you give up over 600 yards of offense to your opponent.

13: FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES

Last Week: Loss at Notre Dame, 42-13

Last Rank: 12

Florida State at Notre Dame sounded like an appealing primetime matchup for TV executives in the preseason, but it was nothing close to entertaining on Saturday. The Fighting Irish just gave Willie Taggart’s team another lesson in just how far they are away from being a good football team. Fans in Tallahassee might have thought Ian Book’s injury gave them a chance to pull off a big upset, but their defense could not handle Dexter Williams and the Notre Dame Ground game. They rolled up 365 yards on 50 carries to allow their squad to cruise to a pretty easy victory. The Seminoles offense wasn’t much better. They couldn’t get anything going against the physical Irish defense. Taggart and company have a lot of work to do in the offseason.

12: WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS

Last week: Win at NC State, 27-23

Last rank: 13

The ACC schedule kicked off on Thursday night with a big surprise in Raleigh. Dave Clawson’s team went to NC State and stole a big victory from the Wolfpack in the fourth quarter. The win keeps Wake’s hopes of bowl eligibility alive. Credit goes to backup quarterback Jamie Newman for getting the job done on the road. He went 22 of 33 for 297 yards and three touchdowns in a tough environment. Most importantly, he drove the offense down the field in the last two minutes to score the game-winning touchdown. It was a strong performance from a player who’s been sitting on the bench most of the year.

11: GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS

Last week: Win vs. Miami, 27-21

Last rank: 11

TaQuon Marshall isn’t the most prolific passer in the ACC, but he might be the most efficient. Going 3 for 4 for 73 yards and a touchdown was good enough to get his team a big home win over Miami. The most important factor for the Georgia Tech win was their defense’s ability to force turnovers. Specifically, they recovered three Miami fumbles which their offense converted into 13 points. That was the difference in this game. Credit the Jackets for being opportunistic.

10: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES

Last week: Loss at Pittsburgh, 52-22

Last rank: 8

Last week we told you the wheels on the Hokies season were starting to wobble, but they came off entirely at Pittsburgh. Justin Fuente’s team was thoroughly outclassed by the Panthers. Specifically, the Virginia Tech defense was horrible on Saturday. Giving up 492 yards on the ground is never acceptable for fans in Blacksburg. They didn’t play much better against the pass. Kenny Pickett only threw the ball 11 times, but he still hit the Hokies secondary up for 162 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Willis and the offense never stood a chance.

9: VIRGINIA CAVALIERS

Last week: Win vs. Liberty, 45-24

Last rank: 9

This game was a little bit closer than Cavaliers fans would have liked, but Bronco Mendenhall’s bunch pulled away in the second half. To the surprise of absolutely no one, it was the Bryce Perkins show on offense. He threw for 168 yards and added 89 on the ground. The more important number for the impressive quarterback was the four touchdowns he accounted for.

8: MIAMI HURRICANES

Last week: Loss at Georgia Tech, 27-21

Last rank: 6

Mark Richt and his coaching staff have to feel like they let their game against Georgia Tech slip away. We mean that literally. Three different Hurricanes lost fumbles to the Yellow Jackets defense. Going -2 in the turnover battle cost Miami the football game. Other than one fumble, N’Kosi Perry had a reasonably good game under center. He only threw for 165 yards but he didn’t turn the ball over. He might not be the team’s long-term answer at quarterback, but at least he didn’t lose the Hurricanes this game.

7: PITTSBURGH PANTHERS

Last week: Win vs. Virginia Tech, 52-22

Last rank: 10

Averaging 13.7 yards per carry is generally a pretty solid blueprint for victory. It’s particularly effective when you run the ball 36 times. Qadree Allison’s 235 yards on 16 carries led the way for Pittsburgh’s demolition of Virginia Tech on the ground. The Panthers’ run defense also did their part in the big victory. They held the Hokies to just four yards per carry on 48 attempts. They didn’t shut the Virginia Tech offense down, but they did more than enough to get a big home win. Pittsburgh is now firmly in control of the Coastal Division.

6: DUKE BLUE DEVILS

Last week: Win vs. North Carolina, 42-35

Last rank: 7

Rivalry games are always trick and David Cutcliffe’s team almost learned that lesson the hard way on Saturday. Fortunately for the Blue Devils, Daniel Jones had an absolute field day against the North Carolina defense. Not only did he throw for 361 yards and three touchdowns, he also ran for 186 yards on just 15 carries. To say that Carolina didn’t have an answer for him would be a supreme understatement. On the other hand, giving up 35 to the UNC offense isn’t exactly encouraging for the Duke faithful. The defense has cost this team several wins this year.

5: BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES

Last week: Loss vs. Clemson, 27-7

Last rank: 4

When Michael Walker ran a punt back for a touchdown in the first quarter it looked like an upset might be brewing in Chestnut Hill. Then reality showed up in the form of a Clemson defense that absolutely suffocated A.J. Dillon and the Eagles offense. Boston College needed to run the football effectively to win this game. They did not. They carried it 33 times for a grand total of nine yards. The air attack didn’t fare much better. 104 passing yards was nowhere near enough to trouble the Tigers. Credit the defense for coming up with three interceptions as well. That made this game pretty comfortable for Virginia in the second half. All in all, they handled their business against the Flames and ran their record to an important 7-3.

4: NC STATE WOLFPACK

Last week: Loss vs. Wake Forest, 27-23

Last rank: 3

NC State started the year with the potential of growing into a dark horse challenger to Clemson. After losing at home to Wake Forest, those dreams are over. The loss drops the Wolfpack to a disappointing 3-3 record in the ACC. The running attack really let the team down on Thursday night. Wake’s defense had been pretty weak against opposing running backs, but NC State only managed to run for 47 yards on 27 carries. That forced Ryan Finley to throw the ball 52 times. He was reasonably effective, but the offense’s imbalance allowed the Demon Deacons to pull off the upset.

3: SYRACUSE ORANGE

Last week: Win vs. Louisville, 54-23

Last rank: 5

If you’re looking for the surprise story of the ACC this season you don’t need to look any further than Syracuse. Dino Babers’ crew has absolutely exceeded expectations. Their dominant win over Louisville assures the Orange of an eight-win season. Not even optimistic Syracuse fans saw that coming. Moe Neal was the start of the show in this game. He racked up 159 yards rushing on just eight carries against the hapless Louisville defense. Overall this wasn’t a great performance by the Orange, but they move up to the No. 3 spot by taking care of business against the league’s worst team.

2: NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

Last week: Win vs. Florida State, 42-13

Last rank: 2

The injury to Ian Book made this game a little nervy for the Irish heading in, but the team’s ground game made Brandon Wimbush’s errors pretty irrelevant. Dexter Williams ran for 202 yards on just 20 carries. That allowed Notre Dame to surge to a comfortable 32-6 lead at halftime. The defense also did their part. They swallowed up the ‘Noles at the point of attack. One sack and five tackles for loss set the tone for the game. There was a lot of concern about the Notre Dame offense before the game kicked off, but their defense made the quarterback situation a non-issue.

1: CLEMSON TIGERS

Last week: Win at Boston College, 27-7

Last rank: 1

We’re running out of superlatives to describe Dabo Swinney’s defense. The Tigers’ defensive line absolutely dominated Boston College up front. That took all the air out of the Eagles’ potential upset bid. Trevor Lawrence was pretty good too. He finished the night 29 of 40 for 295 yards and a touchdown. This wasn’t a banner day for the talented freshman, but he was pretty efficient in the Clemson victory. The win brings the Tigers’ record to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the ACC. There’s no doubt who rules the ACC this season as the Tigers will play for the conference for the fourth year in a row.