Clemson’s loss to Georgia Tech wasn’t the only thing that shook up these rankings. Stanford beat Boston College and Cal knocked off Minnesota. Where does it all stand now? Take a look below:
TIER: ACC Lower Class
17. Virginia Tech (Prev 13): Here’s what I said last week. “They get Old Dominion next which honestly could be a disaster brewing. If they start 0-3 the season, the Brent Pry era is essentially over.” Of course, the Old Dominion Monarchs beat them soundly. They have a great fan base and I feel
bad for them. They need a hard restart and it is already being reported that Brent Pry is stepping down. They get Wofford next.
16. Wake Forest (Prev 16): The Demon Deacons held a late lead but eventually lost to NC State on Thursday night.
15. Boston College (Prev 11): The Eagles lost to Stanford. I’m a little shocked by it. QB Dylan Lonergan threw for 333 with a TD and an INT, but they still lost because it seems the passing offense is all they have going for them.
14. Stanford (Prev 17): Stanford held serve at home by running for 223 on Boston College. Stanford can grind on the ground, but their passing attack is quite weak.
TIER: ACC Middle Class
13. North Carolina (Prev 15): It was only Richmond, but the Tar Heels finally had a blowout in their favor.
12. Duke (Prev 7): I gave Duke the benefit of the doubt when they lost to Illinois. Illinois is very good. This week they lost to Tulane, the team whose QB they poached through the portal. It’s good to see that stealing doesn’t pay.
11. Pittsburgh (Prev 9): West Virginia lost at Ohio (not State) last week, but they upended the Pittsburgh Panthers this week. They did so by holding Pitt to 1.4 YPC because Pitt isn’t good.
10. Virginia (Prev 10): Virginia ran for 359 against William & Mary. A 55-16 win is exactly what the doctor ordered after their non-conference loss to NC State. They get the ACCN night game next week when they host Stanford which is a must-win for UVA.
9. Syracuse (Prev 12): Last week, Syracuse barely beat UConn and ran sprints for loafing in the game. They responded by blowing out Colgate.
8. Clemson (Prev 4): This season has felt a lot like 2021. In both years, the team garnered offseason hype, then had their offense was shut down by an SEC foe in the opener. In each case, we convinced ourselves that the opener was more about how good that SEC team was rather than our own problems, until a deeply concerning rain delay game shifted the focus to Clemson problems. Then a long, painful season was underway.
On Saturday, Clemson lost 24-21 in Atlanta and nobody was really that surprised. In fact, this was the first time I picked the score exact in years. It felt like the offense would get stuck in the mud and that’s exactly what they did. Klubnik had a terrible lost fumble as well an interception. Wesco had a critical drop. The offensive and defensive lines showed no real advantages against the Yellow Jackets. Aside from a long TD by Wesco — a former 5-star — it wasn’t obvious that Clemson has out-recruited Georgia Tech for years.
A few players deserve positive mention and exception to the criticism. On offense, Adam Randall was outstanding. He had 80 yards on 15 carries for 5.3 YPC. A lot of those carries consisted of him turning a 0-yard gain into two or three. His 30-yarder run on third-and-long gave Clemson life. His blocking on the edge was also outstanding.
Bryant Wesco had 126 yards and a TD. While his drop was crucial, he is also Clemson most dynamic playmaker. Nobody else on offense really stood out.
On Defense, the story is a little better. Sammy Brown was great at linebacker. He had a sack and two TFLs. DeMonte Capehart had six tackles. Hanafin led the team with 10 tackles. Will Heldt had 2 TFLs and was impactful. Beyond them, there was a lot of disappointment. They missed the injured Khalil Barnes at safety. The lack of cornerback depth behind the starters got exposed. TJ Parker made no impact and was consistently losing to sophomore left tackle Ethan MacKenny.
This year, there was a lot of expectations for Clemson because we all assumed returning players would get incrementally better with another year, but instead, far more players look worse than look like they’ve developed. This team is likely to be 7-4 heading to Columbia.
7. California (Prev 14): The Bears scored a home win over Minnesota in front of some 30,000 fans. They haven’t had a winning season since 2019. They lost a lot through the portal including their QB and RB, but rebuilt their team through that very same portal and appear fine. The Bears, Vanderbilt, LSU, and others are proving that you can build a team in one year and be better than programs like Arizona State and Clemson that spend three-and four-years developing talent all to crescendo in one big year for the roster cycle.
6. NC State (Prev 8): NC State hasn’t looked amazing. They were really in dog fights each week against mediocre to average opponents (ECU, Virginia, and Wake Forest), but they’re 3-0 against FBS teams. Notre Dame is 0-2. I’d rather be 3-0.
5. SMU (Prev 6): A 28-10 win over Missouri State isn’t the most glorious thing, but it is better than losing to Georgia Tech so they move up one.
TIER: Playoff Contenders
4. Louisville (Prev 5): Louisville had an open date, which again, is better than losing to Georgia Tech so they move up one.
3. Georgia Tech (Prev 3): Georgia Tech scored a major victory, breaking a nine-game losing streak to Clemson. Haynes King played and I thought looked very inaccurate as a passer. He bailed out the Clemson defense with misthrows to open receives at least three times. They gave him easy throws though which allowed him to finish 20-28 and he ran for over 100, most coming later in the game when they needed it most. He avoided the critical mistakes that Cade Klubnik did not. The defense has no sacks or TFLs and they still held Clemson to 21 points. With Duke and Pitt losing this week, GT’s remaining schedule before Georgia looks extremely easy. At NC State may be their toughest test remaining before hosting UGA. 10-2 should be the minimum expectation.
2. Florida State (Prev 2): FSU was off this weekend and hosts Kent State next.
1. Miami (Prev 1): Notre Dame lost which takes some shine of their best win, but Miami went out and pummeled a ranked USF team that had already beat Boise State and Florida. Miami didn’t surrender a touchdown until the fourth quarter. When the Hurricanes and Seminoles play, it may be for the ACC title because I very much could see the winner of that game blowing out Georgia Tech in Charlotte.
