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Oct
22
2019

ACC Power Rankings After Week 8

Raise your hand if week 8 went exactly as you expected.

Don’t feel bad: no one else saw some of these upsets coming, either.

So how did these contests impact our weekly power rankings? Here’s the latest installment:

14. Miami

Last Week: 8

The Hurricanes drop six slots this weekend after losing at home to Georgia Tech. This team hardly resembled the squad that upset Virginia on 10/12. As Forrest Gump famously quipped, “that’s all I have to say about that”.

13. Georgia Tech

Last Week: 14

The Jackets escaped the cellar this weekend thanks to an impressive road win over Miami. Sure, it struggled at times, but Georgia Tech managed to come up with plays when it needed them the most. Whether it was a fumble recovery in the end zone, a gutsy fake punt, or a clutch stop on fourth down in overtime, the Jackets did what they needed to.

12. Syracuse

Last Week: 13

Friday’s loss hurt: both literally and figuratively. The Orange have allowed 35 sacks this season — the worst total in the nation. With a brutal conference schedule remaining, it looks like Syracuse will fail to qualify for a bowl game this season.

11. Duke

Last Week: 11

Duke remains at No. 11 after suffering a blowout loss to Virginia. The Devils play arch rival North Carolina this week in a must-win game for both teams.

10. North Carolina State

Last Week: 9

I won’t sugarcoat it: NC State has a lot of work to do after its crushing loss to Boston College. While everyone wants to discuss the QB situation, the fact of the matter is that the ‘Pack won’t make a bowl if its run defense doesn’t improve. Let’s hope they get things figured out during its bye week.

9. Boston College

Last week: 10

No Anthony Brown. No problem. Of course, with the way the Eagle ground game ran the ball, the team would have won if I were playing QB. NC State’s offense had no answer for the two-headed monster of AJ Dillon and David Bailey, who combined to run for 404 yards and 5 touchdowns. That’s more than enough to quiet the Steve Addazio critics… for this week.

8. North Carolina

Last Week: 5

The ‘Heels drop three spots to No. 8. Mack Brown’s squad was literally one play away from defeating Virginia Tech failing to reach the end zone on fifth and six overtimes. Regardless, UNC still has an excellent chance to reach a bowl game this season if it takes care of business against Duke on Saturday.

7. Virginia Tech

Last Week: 13

As I watched the second half of this contest, my wife said, “you sound like that basketball guy whose always excited”. While I assure you that I did not get as loud as Dickie V does, I did enjoy what I saw from Hokie QB Quincy Patterson. Although Ryan Willis wasn’t exactly horrible (3 of 3 for 55 yards and a touchdown), Patterson brought a Michael Vick-type of electricity to the Tech offense. It’ll be interesting to see how Coach Fuente uses all of the weapons he has available at this position over the next few weeks.

6. Louisville

Last Week: 6

I’m not going to punish the Cardinals for their lopsided loss to Clemson. After all, Louisville does have respectable wins against Wake Forest and Boston College. The Cards play Virginia in one of the more intriguing games of the weekend.

5. Florida State

Last Week: 4

This ranking will cause many of you to start sending me Jimmy McMillan Tweets because Florida State is just too darn high. However, the ‘Noles nearly beat Wake Forest and have the second-best passing offense in the conference. That’s just enough to keep it in the five slot this week. However, given the volatile nature of the ACC — where upsets happen every week — that will certainly change over the next month or so.

4. Wake Forest

Last week: 7

The Demon Deacons move up three spots after defeating Florida State for the first time since 2011. More impressively, Wake did it with a backup QB at the controls — which is why I’m not concerned about all of the field goals.

3. Pittsburgh

Last Week: 3

The Panthers won’t earn any “style points” for their performance on Friday night, but they still picked up a “W” at Syracuse, which is a difficult place to play. The Pitt pass rush harassed Orange QB’s all night long, recording nine sacks, while holding them to just 19 of 44 passing. Considering that the Panthers now lead the nation in sacks (5.14 per game), it wouldn’t surprise me if they end up playing in an NY6 bowl. However, they need for Virginia to lose again in order to play for the ACC Championship.

2. Virginia

Last Week: 2

The ‘Hoos rebounded from the Miami loss by throttling Duke 48-14. The Virginia defense dominated this contest, forcing five turnovers and limiting the Devils to just 2 of 14 in third down conversions. This is still the team to beat in the Coastal Division.

1. Clemson

Last Week: 1

No surprise here. Although it wasn’t perfect, Clemson throttled a very good Louisville team on the road. That’s more than enough to hold the top spot in these power rankings. It’s a shame that the media — specifically the FWAA — doesn’t give this team the respect it deserves.

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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