Clemson won without an offensive touchdown, Wake Forest scored 77, and Duke beat a conference rival by 38. Besides that, this was a normal week of ACC football.
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17. NC State (Prev 15): NC State trailed 31-3 at home vs. Duke and didn’t score in the second half. CJ Bailey was bad (15-24 for 123 yards, 0 TD), but their rushing offense was worse (32 yards, 1.3 YPC). Their rush defense,
which let Nate Sheppard run for 217 yards and 3 TDs, may be the worst though. This team has mailed it in. Their next hire will be fascinating. Jamey Chadwell (Liberty) and Glenn Schumann (Georgia) are some of the more interesting names. Philip Rivers seems like he needs experience at the college level (he is a high school coach) before that hire makes sense, but it sounds like that may be the way they go. It would certainly be fun and likeable even if unwise.
16. Georgia Tech (Prev 17): The Yellow Jackets were blown out at home by Louisville, 44-17. They are likely headed for a 2-10 season. The offseason autopsy will be interesting. Everyone expected some regression, but this collapse is hard to totally understand.
15. California (Prev 16): 3-6 Cal was off this week and head to Virginia next week.
14. Virginia (Prev 14):4-5 Virginia is also off this week prior to hosting Cal.
13. Pittsburgh (Prev 13): 6-3 Pitt is another ACC team with an open date. They host FSU in the Friday night ACC game next week.
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12. Boston College (Prev 12): The Eagles had a tough, close home game against FSU. Both teams were 8-14 on 3rd down and had 320+ total yards, but Boston College had one more interception and one fewer 4th down conversion leading to their 31-24 loss to the Seminoles.
11. Stanford (Prev 11): The Cardinal will take their 4-5 record across the country to Virginia Tech following this week’s open date.
10. Syracuse (Prev 9): File this away in the “ACC is crazy” folder for 2026. A week after scoring 30 in a win over SMU, the Orange were hapless against Clemson’s dominant defense and special teams. Steve Angeli missed a few throws, Clemson’s secondary won one-on-one battles, and they averaged just 3.5 YPC. I picked Syracuse to win 21-19. Clemson didn’t even reach the 19 points but still managed to beat Syracuse 18-13. Bowl games don’t matter a ton anymore, but the Orange can still make a bowl if they win their next two contests. They go to NC State and to Boston College. I’d favor them in both games. They close with Notre Dame.
9. Florida State (Prev 10): After firing Coach Norvell, Florida State went up to Chestnut Hill and trailed 17-7 early, but they rallied. The ground game — which was absent vs. Clemson — churned for 202 yards and 4 TDs (45 carries, 4.5 YPC). That led them to a narrow 31-24 win. FSU Interim Coach Rich Stockstill, a former FSU player (and former Clemson assistant), called it an emotional win.
8. North Carolina (Prev 7): Billy Edwards is slinging it! After torching Miami last week, he continued by going for 255 yards and 3 TDs (1 INT) in a 38-21 win at UConn. The 17-point win matched the underlying stats. UNC outgained them on the ground, in the air, and won the turnover battle. They do not deserve to drop, but Duke is hot and forced their way up the rankings.
7. Clemson (Prev 6): I was wrong in that I picked Clemson to lose, but I was completely right in that I didn’t see Clemson scoring more than one offensive touchdown with Tyler Brown, Gideon Davidson, and Harris Sewell injured. In fact, Clemson didn’t score an offensive touchdown, but they didn’t need it. K Nolan Hauser was 4-5 including a 54-yard FG (his miss was from 57). Jaheim Lawson recovered a backward pass and returned it for a TD (failed 2-pt conversion) and that was enough.
The Tigers offense is painful to watch and it is a sin that they’ll waste this defense and special teams because both units are the absolute best in the conference. Unfortunately, the offense is the worst in the ACC. CB Ashton Hampton was excellent and clinched the game with an interception.
Up next, Clemson hosts Georgia Tech for an early senior day. The Yellow Jackets are really bad, but also somehow beat Duke and Clemson has been atrocious at home for two years. I haven’t personally watched Clemson win a big home game since COVID (I missed the Notre Dame win in 2023). Fellow STS writer Mark Gordon is coming, and I hope we get rewarded with a blowout Tigers win. We shall see. Nothing would surprise me.
6. Duke (Prev 9): Duke made the short trip to Carter-Finley Stadium and dismantled NC State, 41-3. Running back Nate Sheppard should be a Heisman invitee if not the actual winner. He has carried this Duke squad to a 7-2 record. After his 217 yards Saturday, he has already eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. For reference, Travis Etienne’s career-highs at Clemson were 1,658 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. Sheppard will get close while having not nearly the supporting cast.
QB Walker Eget has exceeded expectations, adding insult to injury for Clemson fans who would have loved to see the Tigers bring in practically anyone to bolster their quarterback room. He threw for 208 and a TD in this game. Manny Diaz is just an exceptional coach and absolutely should be one of the first couple calls that Florida State makes to fill their coaching vacancy. I think we either hear Diaz is getting a raise or we hear him going to his alma mater – FSU.
5. Virginia Tech (Prev 4): A Friday night loss at Dallas ends any hopes of a special type of season, but the Hokies have nevertheless turned the program around. They should still beat Stanford and Virginia to reach eight wins, even if Miami clobbers them.
4. SMU (Prev 3): A week after losing to Syracuse, SMU blew the doors off a rock-solid (Hokie-Stone-solid?) Virginia Tech squad. QB Ethan Grunkemeyer was good, but Kevin Jennings was better. Jennings threw for 350 yards and 4 TDs as he’s really found his stride. SMU also ran for 219 in a 51-28 Mustang win. SMU is 7-2 and hosts Wake Forest next week. If they win that, they’ll pull into a three-way tie with Wake Forest and Louisville. With Malachi Toney out, it’s conceivable that SMU or Wake could upset Miami. There’s still hope out there for SMU, but not much.
3. Louisville (Prev 3): The Cardinals went to Atlanta and promptly blasted Georgia Tech. They jumped on them early and didn’t relent. Unfortunately, Louisville is the perfect example of why the 12-team playoff format is the worst possible combination. It is big enough that the bowls don’t matter and Louisville’s battle to upgrade from the Duke’s Mayo Bowl to the Gator Bowl feels pretty worthless, but it is too small to give the now 6-3 Cardinals any hope of ending hot, going 9-3 and sneaking in as one of the last power-conference teams in. Bohm’s Cardinals are characteristically inconsistent, but are a solid squad.
2. Wake Forest (Prev 2): The Demon Deacons were without star QB Gio Lopez, but it didn’t matter against FCS Merrimack. Wake eclipsed the 70-point mark in their dominant win. They are 8-1 and go to SMU next. The Mustangs very well could win. I’d call it a toss-up, but if Wake Forest wins, they absolutely need to be ranked inside the top 10 of the College Football Playoff poll.
1. Miami (Prev 1): No. 1 Miami went to Notre Dame as an underdog without superstar WR Malachi Toney. They fell behind early, couldn’t convert at the goal line and seemed dead in the water. Darian Mensah is a super star for a reason though and Cooper Barkate, although not Toney, is an excellent receiver. They stormed back (pun intended) and had the ball in the final minute with a chance to win. I still believe Miami is a top 5 team that could legitimately win the National Title if healthy.
