ACC Power Rankings: Miami and Pitt Keep Winning while Clemson, Virginia, and VT Fall in Week 5

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Another great week of ACC football began on Friday when Pitt went to Virginia Tech for what turned into a last second thriller and ended when Miami clashed with Clemson in Death Valley.

The Bottom of the Conference

17. Georgia Tech (Prev 17): The Yellow Jackets had off this week. Meanwhile, their loss last week to Stanford looks even worse as the Cardinal was blown out by Wake Forest.

16. Boston College (Prev 16): The Eagles went to Dallas and made the Mustangs sweat. They stopped the run, but only scored 16 in a 25-16 loss at SMU. That’s the second week in a row they looked respectable after scaring VT in the rain last week.

15. Syracuse (Prev 15): Syracuse blew a 20-point lead at UConn but escaped with a wild overtime win. UConn was denied a likely game-clinching first down by an egregiously short spot before Syracuse missed its own game-winning field goal. In overtime, the Orange converted 4th-and-goal from the 17 and won on a penalty-assisted two-point conversion. The rush defense was porous, allowing 181 yards to UConn. New Syracuse starting QB Amari Odom threw five TDs and two INTs. I’m a lot less intrigued by this team now that Angeli is benched.

14. California (Prev 11): Cal allowed 39 points to UNLV as Rebels QB Jackson Arnold got the best of Jaron-Keaewe Sagapolutele who left the game with injury. Jackson Arnold threw for 3 TDs and ran for another 2 TD with 110 yards rushing. Cal also lost their star safety Kingston Lopa early in the game. With this 39-31 loss, they are 2-3 and may be an underdog in every game other than Stanford at home. Clemson fans should be a bit spooked that this defense largely locked down the Tiger offense.

13. Stanford (Prev 13): The Cardinal didn’t ride the goodwill from their midnight win over Georgia Tech long. They were blown out by Wake Forest. They jump Cal by virtue of being healthier.

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The Confusing Part

12. Louisville (Prev 7): Louisville lost 3 fumbles and let CJ Bailey throw for 373 to sneak out a Wolfpack win in Raleigh. At 2-3 with games against FSU, Pitt, and Kentucky remaining, this may turn into a shocking 6-6 season.

11. NC State (Prev 14): The Wolfpack get their first Power 4 win of the year after a beatdown by Virginia to open the season and a heartbreaking loss at Vanderbilt. As soon as you write them off, Dave Doeren finds a way to make at least a little something out of a seemingly lost season. CJ Bailey is really good against weak secondaries! They get Wake Forest next. That could be blowout watch, but you could’ve said the same with Louisville coming to town.

10. Virginia (Prev 6): FSU obliterated Virginia! QB Beau Pribula has fallen short of my lofty expectations. FSU’s run game just ran it right down their throat. While we gave Virginia a ton of credit for beating NC State soundly in Week 0, it now seems like that was a case of one team playing their A+ game and another their F-game. Teams in this range are wildly inconsistent and especially hard to rank while respecting head-to-head games.

9. North Carolina (Prev 12): The Tar Heels had the game at 21-20, trailing Notre Dame by just one point in the second half. With rain coming down, Notre Dame won in the trenches to pull away with a 37-26 win, but UNC acquitted themselves well.

The Middle Class

8. Virginia Tech (Prev 9): What an incredible crowd in Blacksburg. The packed stadium belted “Enter Sandman” even as they were pelted by rain. The offense stormed out to a 14-0 lead. Despite numerous turnovers, the crowd urged them on and big momentum swing plays including a safety and a long kick return always seemed to erase the mistakes. Ethan Grunkemeyer threw for over 400 yards, but also threw 2 INTs and lost a fumble. In the end, they set up for a short-game winning field goal, but missed as time expired. An ACC thriller on a Friday was fun, but I don’t leave with a wholly different opinion of Virginia Tech or Pittsburgh.

7. Clemson (Prev 8): I predicted Miami to come into Clemson and leave with a resounding 31-13 win. Instead, it was 41-13. Clemson looked less stunned and overwhelmed than they did at LSU, but it is clear the offense doesn’t have the mix of talent and experience to compete with top 15 teams like LSU and Miami. We’ll have to wait and see if they make a change to roster construction strategy to fix that for next year. In the here and now, this team doesn’t look hopeless despite failing to cover a 16.5-point spread as home dogs.

The Tigers had some chances to at least give Miami a scare, but a false start on 3rd-and-1 led to Clemson settling for a field goal and a 17-6 deficit at halftime. The Tigers had 10 penalties for 91 yards and only one looked questionable (the roughing the passer on Will Heldt was ludicrous). This team has a lot more heart, fight, and mental toughness than last year’s squad, but they’re not necessarily smarter or more talented.

The biggest disappointment from the offense was getting only 55 rushing yards. The offensive line woes reared its head again as they faced a defense that is a lot tougher than the weak unit they saw at Cal. Clemson running backs had just 15 carries. With Tait Reynolds’ accuracy issues, defenses don’t have to respect the deep pass, which will make it tough to grind out first downs on the ground.

Clemson has been outscored 92-23 by ranked opponents this season and is now 2-6 against ranked competition over the past three years. That’s not acceptable and should merit changes to Clemson’s roster construction strategy. The good news is they likely won’t face another ranked opponent all season. In a best-case scenario, Clemson makes the long-term changes needed while Reynolds hones his deep ball, the offensive line continues to improve, and the defense stays healthy and unflappable.

Florida State and Duke look daunting, but winnable. Charleston Southern should be a bankable win, Georgia Tech and Syracuse look much easier than they did a month ago, and South Carolina may be in shambles by Thanksgiving. Clemson gets an open date and Charleston Southern before a back-to-back with Virginia Tech and Florida State that should tell us whether they can salvage something positive from this season.

6. SMU (Prev 5): SMU was outgained by 104 yards but had one fewer turnover and a few fewer penalties and found a way to beat Boston College.

5. Florida State (Prev 10): The Seminoles are a good team. In a year with an impossible schedule and a Coach they all want gone, they’re dangerous and fighting. Ashton Daniels ran for 136 yards and 5 TDs as FSU totaled 281 yards on the ground while Virginia ran for only 37. That rushing defense is impressive and will be needed next week at Louisville.

4. Duke (Prev 4): The Blue Devils were off this week. Wins against Tulane, Illinois, and Stanford don’t knock your socks off, but I expect them to go win in Atlanta vs. Georgia Tech next weekend.

3. Wake Forest (Prev 3): Wake Forest ran for 197 while holding Stanford to only 49 yards on the ground. QB Gio Lopez had 5 TDs as the Deacons embarrassed the Cardinal 57-3.

2. Pittsburgh (Prev 2): Some questioned my placement of unranked Pitt at #2, but the Panthers validated it with a gutsy win in Blacksburg. They fell behind 14-0 before the defense settled in and Mason Heintschel got the offense rolling. Unfortunately, Heintschel left with what looked like a serious knee injury, but Pitt kept forcing turnovers and backup Holden Geriner made enough plays to pull out the win. Pitt won the turnover battle 4-0. They may trend down without Heintschel, but for now, they deserve nothing but praise.

National Title Contender

1. Miami (Prev 1): The Hurricanes passed their first major test of the season as they came to Death Valley and had control of the game from start to finish. The offense was dominant early, scoring one of their first plays with screen play to WR Cooper Barkate. Clemson’s defense responded and held Miami down for a while, but Clemson’s offense lacked the punch to make it last. Eventually, Miami made it ugly and won 41-13. If Miami stays focused, the only team on their schedule that should challenge them is Notre Dame. Florida State could make it interesting, but that game is in Miami and I’d be shocked if the Hurricanes don’t win. This is a legitimate National Title contender. Any doubt has been erased.

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