We have a big riser in this week’s ACC power rankings! There was also some movement in the bottom tier as conference play kicked into gear this past weekend. Here are the Week 5 ACC power rankings, from 1-17.
1. Miami
Photo Courtesy Miami Athletics
Another easy week for Miami as they cruised to a 52-3 win against Central Michigan. They had 572 yards of offense, sacked CMU 4 times, and forced 2 turnovers. Miami travels to Death Valley Saturday to play Clemson in their second early season test.
2. Wake Forest
Photo Courtesy Wake Forest Athletics
In last week’s article, I mentioned that a win at Louisville would be huge for Wake Forest in regards to the ACC title race. The Demon Deacons did just that, defeating Louisville 30-27. Wide receiver Carlos Hernandez was one of the reasons Wake Forest came out victorious, as he had 194 yards receiving along with a 77-yard touchdown. Gio Lopez is continuing to play well as he went 12/19 for 225 passing yards and a touchdown without any turnovers. The defense sacked Louisville 3 times and also won the turnover battle. Wake Forest solidified themselves as 2nd second best team in the ACC for now, but the only concern is that even the 2nd best team in the ACC lost by 13 to Miami. The Hurricanes may just be that good. Wake Forest looks to keep up the momentum when they host Stanford Saturday.
3. Louisville
Photo Courtesy Louisville Athletics
As favorites at home, Louisville fell short of victory against Wake Forest. The Cardinals went 8/15 on third downs and held Wake Forest to a 1/10 third down conversion rate, but what did them in was only converting touchdowns on 2 of 4 red zone trips and missing two game-tying field goals. This is another disappointing loss for a highly ranked Louisville team, as it seems Jeff Brohm can never get his squad over the hump with a good team. They travel to NC State Saturday for their next matchup.
4. Virginia Tech
Photo Courtesy Virginia Tech Athletics
The reason Virginia Tech slips this week is because of a poor performance on the road at Boston College. They escaped with a 21-14 win, but Ethan Grunkemeyer was inefficient passing, going 22/35 with 147 yards and a touchdown. Two bright spots were how the defense performed and the monster game from Jeffrey Overton Jr. The defense held Boston College to 261 total yards and forced 3 sacks, while Overton ran for 209 yards along with 19 receiving yards and a go-ahead 76 yard touchdown. The offense will need to improve in the passing game as the Hokies prepare for a Friday night matchup against undefeated Pittsburgh.
5. SMU
Photo Courtesy SMU Athletics
SMU had a scare against Missouri State, who is coached by former SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods, but they survived, winning 34-24. Despite a huge offensive performance, which included a 464 passing game from Kevin Jennings and 8/12 converting on third down, the Mustangs missed on two touchdown opportunities in the red zone and threw a pick six which made the game closer than it should have been. They play Boston College Saturday looking to win their fourth game of the season.
6. Virginia
Virginia beat the brakes off of a solid Delaware team 42-3. Although Delaware’s starting quarterback left the game with injury, the Virginia defense held them to 160 yards of offense and forced 2 interceptions. Offensively, they recorded 556 yards of offense and were able to utilize a plethora of different players in the blowout win. Their next game is Saturday against Florida State, where they are likely to have similar success offensively.
7. Duke
Duke played a buy game against FCS William Mary and won 62-7. They put up 638 yards of total offense, and Nate Sheppard had another 100+ yard rushing game. Redshirt freshman quarterback Dan Mahan impressed as he threw for 3 touchdowns in his mop up role. The Blue Devils go into a bye this week.
8. Pittsburgh
To top both Virginia and Duke, Pittsburgh had an even better offensive outing as they recorded 766 yards of total offense in their 59-0 win against Bucknell. Mason Heintschel bounced back and went 29/37 passing for 403 yards and 6 touchdowns. They travel to Virginia Tech Friday for a pivotal ACC matchup against two undefeated teams. A win Friday will shoot them up the power rankings.
9. Clemson
Mark the performance against California as the one that saved Dabo Swinney his job and got Clemson back on track. Tait Reynolds, despite a statline of 13/21 passing for 108 yards and an interception, looked much calmer as the game went on and did his job to win the game. The defense looked electric and forced 2 interceptions. Bryant Wesco Jr also changed the game with a 65 yard punt return touchdown that put Clemson in front in the 3rd quarter. All Dabo Swinney needs is momentum, and it looks like he has it back as Miami comes to town Saturday.
10. Florida State
In a 34-7 win against FCS Central Arkansas, the Seminoles could have been better. The defense was on the field for way too long which resulted in the offense only having around 21 minutes of possession. This meant that Florida State only got to play one offensive drive with their backups, which featured Kevin Sperry as the backup quarterback. However, Jayvan Boggs had a career day receiving as he caught 6 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. The defense will be in a tough spot next week against Virginia if they cannot find ways to get off the field and help the offense get in rhythm.
11. California
It was a rough night for California all around, starting with offensive struggles. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele never got things going and only threw for 119 yards while throwing 2 interceptions. Piling on, star running back Adam Mohammed left the game due to injury which affected the ability to run the ball effectively. Cal tried to get creative, with offensive packages featuring a reserve quarterback, but they did not help. The defense played well, but could not hold their ground as the offense continuously stalled. Going into Saturday at UNLV, the offense needs to work out their issues to improve in the power rankings.
12. Syracuse
Syracuse was on a bye this week and they stayed still in the rankings. They travel to UConn Saturday for their next game.
13. NC State
NC State escaped an upset bid from Appalachian State and won 41-31. Duke Scott put up 148 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns, which was the highlight of the game. The defense has to figure out how to stop the other team from scoring, because Louisville will embarrass them Saturday if they replicate the performance they had against Appalachian State.
14. Stanford
Stanford rises in the rankings after a win over Georgia Tech 34-27. Davis Warren threw for 366 yards in the win and the defense forced crucial turnovers to seal the deal at the end. They travel to Wake Forest Saturday looking for a major upset win.
15. North Carolina
North Carolina is coming off of a bye week and will host Notre Dame Saturday.
16. Georgia Tech
Another disappointing game for Georgia Tech. The offense was not good enough and the defense allowed 466 yards to Stanford, who has not been great on offense themselves this season. It does not look great the rest of the year for Brent Key and the Yellow Jackets after multiple good seasons. They land as the second to worst ACC team this week going into their bye week.
17. Boston College
Despite putting up a fight against Virginia Tech and making it close, it was not enough to get them out of the basement of the conference. The offense has not shown any ability to keep drives going and score points consistently. Mason McKenzie went 11/23 for 111 passing yards but also ran for 138 yards on 23 carries. That is a large load for the signal caller, and it seems to be their only way of producing any rushing threat. Virginia Tech’s mistakes kept them in this one. Heading into Saturday against SMU, I do not see the defense being able to stop the explosive SMU offense.
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