Week 4 wasn’t as bad as week 3. However, the ACC didn’t fare as well as it needed to. The league suffered a loss to the Sun Belt, and a few games with MAC opponents were tougher than expected.
How will these results impact this week’s rankings? Here’s how things look after week 4.
14. Georgia Tech
Last Week: 14
The Jackets didn’t play last week. Let’s see if the sting of the loss to the Citadel fires up the team for Saturday’s game with Temple.
13. Virginia Tech
Last Week: 13
The Hokies didn’t move up this week because they didn’t play.
12. Duke
Last Week: 12
Like the other two teams above, Duke was idle last week. The Devils will have the opportunity to make a statement versus Virginia Tech on Friday night.
11. Syracuse
Last Week: 11
The Orange rebounded from two painful losses with a 19-point victory over Western Michigan. Although it was close for most of the contest, Syracuse played like the 2018 edition of the Orange in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to crack the top 10.
10. Miami
Last Week: 8
Yes, I know that the Hurricanes defeated Central Michigan, but there are two numbers that I cannot ignore. The first is that UM went 1 for 10 on third down conversions. The second is 13… the number of penalties the ‘Canes committed on Saturday. While Miami deserves credit for coming up with a big stop at the end, this lackluster performance drops them two spots this week.
9. Louisville
Last Week: 9
I’m not going to penalize the Cardinals for losing to Florida State. UL actually held the lead in this contest, before the Seminoles started playing like they did under Bobby Bowden. Coach Satterfield’s squad still looks like a bowl-bound team, so expect to see Louisville to move up over the next few weeks.
8. North Carolina
Last Week: 4
The Tar Heels slide four spots this week after a loss to Appalachian State. As it always does, UNC rallied from a second half deficit to put itself in position to win the contest. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers blocked a 56-yard FG attempt that would have sent the game into overtime. On the bright side, the ‘Heels have a perfect record in conference play and control their own destiny.
7. Boston College
Last Week: 7
Many in the media gave up on the Eagles when they lost to Kansas, wondering whether the team would beat Rutgers. Although BC trailed briefly, it pulled away from the Scarlet Knights in the second half. The ground game finally found its groove, galloping for 277 yards — it’s highest total against a Power 5 opponent since 2017. The Eagles can crack the top 5 next week with a win over Wake Forest.
6. North Carolina State
Last Week: 6
Although State’s win over Ball State was more lopsided than the final score would indicate, it’s tough to move the ‘Pack up in the rankings. After all, the Cardinals actually outgained NC State in this contest and also won the turnover battle. However, the Wolfpack special teams came to the rescue, returning a punt for a TD and blocking a punt to set up another. That’s just enough to hold onto the six spot… for now.
5. Florida State
Last week: 5
FSU played like a championship caliber team last weekend. Instead of panicking about blowing another huge lead, the ‘Noles rallied by scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away from Louisville. If — and it’s a big if — Florida State continues to play with this type of swagger, it can beat anyone in the country.
4. Pittsburgh
Last Week: 10
The Panthers snapped UCF’s 27-game regular season winning streak, 35-34. Pittsburgh dipped deep into its bag of tricks to get the victory, running a reverse pass back to the quarterback to get the “W”. It’s a shame that the Panthers didn’t do something similar against Penn State. If they had, they would be in great shape for a potential NY6 Bowl bid. Regardless, the team has only one conference loss — a respectable 30-14 defeat against Virginia.
3. Wake Forest
Last week: 3
There’s not much to say here other than Wake absolutely crushed Elon. The Deacons will face a much tougher test against Boston College this.
2. Virginia
Last Week: 2
It wasn’t pretty, but the ‘Hoos rallied back to beat ODU. Even while all of the talking heads kept saying, “keep an eye on this potential upset”, you just knew that UVA would win this contest. Despite the bad half of football, I still believe that the Cavaliers are playing as well as any team in the country right now.
1. Clemson
Last Week: 1
Well imagine my shock! Clemson is number one after throttling an undermanned opponent. In other news, water is wet ;-).
Terry Johnson is a Contributor to the All Sports Discussion. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @TerryPJohnson
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