The ACC, fresh off its best week for the conference in a long time, followed it up with a not-so-great week seven. We learned that North Carolina may not be as great as originally thought (or that we should start buying stock in FSU), that Notre Dame has problems on offense that must be fixed, and that, per usual, the Clemson Tigers are the clear-cut number one in the ACC. After a crazy Saturday in the conference, let’s take a look at the new power rankings.
1. Clemson Tigers (5-0, 4-0 ACC, No. 1 AP)
Clemson strengthened its spot at the top of the ACC and AP polls after the most dominant victory in ACC history, defeating Georgia Tech, 73-7. Trevor Lawrence tightened his grip on the Heisman after tossing for a career high 404 yards and five touchdowns. Right now, there is not a team in the ACC on the Tigers’ level. Clemson will turn their attention this weekend to the Syracuse Orange, who quite honestly do not deserve what the Tigers are going to give them this weekend.
NEXT: Home vs. Syracuse (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., ACC Network)
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0, 3-0 ACC, No. 3 AP)
Notre Dame looked fragile in a lousy 12-7 victory over Louisville. Ian Book looked less than stellar, only throwing for 106 yards and collecting the Irish’s only touchdown on a 13-yard run in the third quarter. Notre Dame will have to get better on offense before welcoming Clemson to town in three weeks. The Irish still look good on defense, but right now, Notre Dame does not look like a top three team.
NEXT: Away at Pittsburgh (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ABC)
3. Virginia Tech Hokies (3-1, 3-1 ACC, No. 19 AP)
The Hokies get a big bump in this week’s power rankings after a solid 40-14 thumping over a good Boston College team. The stock in Virginia Tech keeps growing week after week. Quarterback Hendon Hooker had a monster game, throwing for 111 yards, rushing for 164 yards, and scoring four total touchdowns. Running back Khalil Herbert also added 143 rushing yards for the Hokies. Virginia Tech looks like a confident group that can hang with the ACC’s best this year.
NEXT: Away at Wake Forest (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPN3)
4. Miami Hurricanes (4-1, 3-1 ACC, No. 11 AP)
Miami looked decent in their 31-19 victory over Pittsburgh. However, the Hurricane’s defense once again looked a little off, giving up almost 300 passing yards to a backup quarterback. Nonetheless, Miami found a way to make some big plays down the stretch and secure the win. D’Eriq King bounced back from that awful Clemson game with 222 passing yards and four touchdowns. Miami certainly does not look like the team we saw prior to the Clemson game, but the Hurricanes are still a top five team in the ACC.
NEXT: Home vs. Virginia (Saturday, 8:00 p.m., ACC Network)
5. North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1, 3-1 ACC, No. 14 AP)
The Tar Heels suffered their first setback of the season, losing on the road to Florida State, 31-28. UNC trailed 31-7 at halftime, but got themselves back into the game with three touchdowns in the second half. The Heels had a chance on their final drive, but three dropped passes spoiled the comeback attempt, and FSU picked up its biggest win in a long time. Sam Howell still had nearly 400 yards and three touchdowns, but the defensive issues for the Heels were too much to overcome. UNC will most likely have to win the remainder of their games now to get a shot at the ACC Championship in December.
NEXT: Home vs. No. 23 NC State (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., ESPN)
6. North Carolina State Wolfpack (4-1, 4-1 ACC, No. 23 AP)
The Wolfpack remain a dark horse candidate this season after improving to 4-1 with a 31-20 victory over Duke. Their season does hang in the balance now that quarterback Devin Leary was injured in last week’s game, sidelining him for four to eight weeks. If NC State can find a way to win without him, the Pack could be dangerous. They do have a tough stretch in their schedule coming up with back-to-back games against North Carolina and Miami. If they can win one of those, the rest of their schedule sets up nice for a potential spoiler situation down the road.
NEXT: Away at No. 14 North Carolina (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., ESPN)
7. Boston College Eagles (3-2, 2-2 ACC)
It was a tough weekend for the Eagles, dropping their contest against Virginia Tech in blowout fashion. Quarterback Phil Jurkovec still had a quality outing, throwing for 345 yards and two touchdowns. The combination of Hendon Hooker and Khalil Herbert was just too much for the Eagle defense. It does not get much easier for BC unfortunately, with Clemson and Notre Dame lurking around the corner in their schedule.
NEXT: Home vs. Georgia Tech (Saturday, 4:00 p.m., ACC Network)
8. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-2, 1-2 ACC)
Wake Forest makes a pretty stellar jump in this week’s power rankings. The Deacons dominated Virginia to the tune of a 40-23 victory. Wake has now won back-to-back games heading into a huge home contest against No. 19 Virginia Tech. Quarterback Sam Hartman had his best game of the season against Virginia, tossing for 309 yards and a touchdown. The Demon Deacons will look to play spoiler in the ACC this weekend against the Hokies.
NEXT: Home vs. No. 19 Virginia Tech (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPN3)
9. Pittsburgh Panthers (3-3, 2-3 ACC)
After a 3-0 start to the season, the Panthers have dropped three consecutive games, and it does not look like the ball is going to get rolling this week either as Pitt welcomes No. 3 Notre Dame to town. If quarterback Kenny Pickett is not able to go, the Panthers will have to turn to freshman Joey Yellen again this week, who did not look terrible against Miami, but still not on the level of Pickett. Pitt needs a win badly, but their schedule does not favor them moving forward.
NEXT: Home vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ABC)
10. Florida State Seminoles (2-3, 1-3 ACC)
The ‘Noles are not back yet, but Saturday night’s upset win over No. 5 North Carolina sure gives Mike Norvell’s squad and the FSU faithful some more hope moving forward. Quarterback Jordan Travis has been the difference for an FSU offense, which had been pretty stagnant since 2016. The ‘Noles jumped up five spots in this week’s power rankings, and with the way the seven through 15 teams in the ACC have been playing, a few more W’s could find Florida State into the top five or six by the end of the season.
NEXT: Away at Louisville (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., ESPN3)
11. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-3, 2-2 ACC)
There is not much to say here. After giving up 73 points and 671 yards to Clemson, the Yellow Jackets take a tumble in this week’s power rankings. However, Clemson makes everyone look silly nowadays, so judge Georgia Tech more off of their previous win over Louisville than their loss to the Tigers. The Jackets still have the potential to match their win total from last year, but with Notre Dame, Miami, and NC State ahead on the calendar, things do not look terrific in Atlanta (R.I.P. to the state of Georgia sports right now anyways).
NEXT: Away at Boston College (Saturday, 4:00 p.m., ACC Network)
12. Virginia Cavaliers (1-3, 1-3 ACC)
Virginia’s third straight loss came at the hands of Wake Forest on Saturday, losing 40-23 on the road. There was not much of a bright spot, if any, for the Cavaliers, who may very well finish the season below .500. Virginia gets Miami and UNC the next two weeks, which will most likely set the Cavaliers back even further. Think Virginia misses Bryce Perkins this season?
NEXT: Away at No. 11 Miami (Saturday, 8:00 p.m., ACC Network)
13. Syracuse Orange (1-4, 1-3 ACC)
Things only got worse this past weekend for the Orange, who dropped a should-win game to Liberty, 38-21. To make matters even worse, Syracuse has to travel to No. 1 Clemson this weekend (Surely the ACC can give the Orange some kind of opt-out ability). Dino Babers is struggling to duplicate what his program did just two years ago when they won 10 games. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Syracuse is not favored to win any of their remaining games. Tough time to be an Orange fan.
NEXT: Away at No. 1 Clemson (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., ACC Network)
14. Duke Blue Devils (1-5, 1-5 ACC)
Duke has the worst record in the ACC, but I give them a slight nod over Louisville just because their win is more recent. The Blue Devils showed a little bit of fight against NC State, but ultimately, this team just is not good. Clemson transfer Chase Brice has struggled to get Duke rolling, but things are just not clicking in Durham. The good news for the Blue Devils is that Clemson and Miami are not on the remaining schedule, and their only ranked matchup left is with No. 14 North Carolina.
NEXT: Duke is taking the bye week this weekend in the ACC.
15. Louisville Cardinals (1-4, 0-4 ACC)
The good news for the Cardinals? They held Notre Dame to just 12 points. The bad news? They only scored seven points en route to their fourth consecutive loss. Louisville has been by far the biggest disappointment of the 2020 season in the ACC and it does not look to end soon. The Cardinals are through the toughest part of their schedule, so maybe that will help them moving forward.
NEXT: Home vs. Florida State (Saturday, 12:00 p.m., ESPN3)
