The ACC did not have a good Week 2. Miami, FSU, and Georgia Tech beat up on small schools. Meanwhile, SMU, Duke, and Virginia Tech all lost to Power 4 teams at home. At the same time, Clemson looked uninspiring in their home win over Troy. A lot can change in a week!
Without further ado, let’s get to the rankings.
1. Miami – 2-0 overall, 0-0 conference
The Canes didn’t mess around at home last week against Bethune-Cookman, winning 45-3, as was
expected. Miami welcomes #18 USF to town fresh off their upset of the Florida Gators in The Swamp. If Coach Cristobal truly has the team he thinks he does this year, the Canes will take care of business in this game. I attended last year’s matchup. USF kept it close in the first half, but couldn’t keep up with Miami’s talent and speed in the second half. A similar result this season would be just fine with me.
2. FSU – 2-0, 0-0
The Seminoles squeaked out a win over East Texas A&M last weekend, 77-3. Just kidding. FSU put the game away early, leading 49-0 at halftime. New offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has the offense humming again. Quarterback Thomas Castellanos is running around and throwing the ball all over the field. Things are looking up again in Tallahassee. The Seminoles have their first bye this week, then Kent State at home before traveling to Virginia on 9/26. That will be their first Power 4 opponent since Alabama. A road conference game will be a good test for Mike Norvell’s squad the week before hosting Miami.
3. Georgia Tech – 2-0, 0-0
I am no Yellow Jackets fan, but they should be ranked in the top 25. GT followed up their Week 1 win at Colorado with a home blowout of Gardner-Webb, 59-12. Starting quarterback Haynes King didn’t play, which was probably a good move with Clemson coming to town this weekend. That is a huge game for both teams. The good news for GT is, if they beat the Tigers, they will definitely be ranked in the top 20 on Sunday afternoon. With how Clemson’s offense has looked through two weeks, the Yellow Jackets have to be feeling confident. Plus their coach can still play the underdog card with Clemson being favored.
4. Clemson – 1-1, 0-0
Speaking of the underwhelming Tigers, they beat Troy 27-16 last week. Clemson had several issues in this game. They got completely outplayed in the first half, trailing 16-3 at the break. There was a long weather delay which can throw off the rhythm of a game, but still. Another issue was Tigers’ quarterback Cade Klubnik’s play. He looked sketchy and unsure of himself at times. Also, the play calling wasn’t very inspiring. There just seems to be something off with Clemson in 2025. That said, if they go into Atlanta and beat Georgia Tech, they will be feeling good about their next six weeks: vs Syracuse, bye, at UNC, at Boston College, vs SMU, bye, vs Duke. Dabo Swinney’s squad could easily be 7-1 going into their matchup with FSU in November.
5. Louisville – 2-0, 0-0
I may have had Louisville on Friday night against James Madison as the first leg of a four-team-money-line-parlay I bet last weekend. In this hypothetical scenario, it was a very stressful experience. The Dukes kept hanging around, while Cardinals’ quarterback Miller Moss kept missing throws and not looking nearly as good as Tyler Shough from a season ago. Thankfully Louisville scored a defensive touchdown to take the lead, then running back Isaac Brown put the game away with a 78-yard touchdown run with 3:31 left in the game. Brown is explosive and should be the focus of Miami’s defensive game plan when they meet next month.
6. NC State – 2-0, 1-0
The Wolfpack got the first ACC win of 2025 with their home victory over Virginia, 35-31. Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey looked good, throwing for 200 yards and a touchdown, while running for 44 yards and two more scores. Too bad he doesn’t play defense, because Virginia put up 514 yards of offense: 257 on the ground and 257 in the air. That’s..not good. I like CJ Bailey, but he needs help on the other side of the ball if the Wolfpack are going to be taken seriously in the ACC this season.
7. Pittsburgh – 2-0, 0-0
The Panthers got another Group of 5 win last week, this time over Central Michigan, 45-17. Pitt’s offense looked good, putting up 340 passing yards, and 464 total yards. The Backyard Brawl is this weekend, with Pitt traveling to West Virginia. This could still be a close game as it is a heated rivalry. That said, WVU’s loss at Ohio last weekend doesn’t bode well for their chances of a big home win. The Panthers have a bye before hosting Louisville in Week 5. That matchup should be a litmus test for both teams.
8. SMU – 1-1, 0-0
(Sigh). The Mustangs broke my heart last Saturday. Not really, they just cost me money, but still. Rhett Lashlee’s squad had a 14-point lead with 8:30 left in the game. Baylor scored 14 unanswered points, SMU missed THREE field goals, including one in overtime, and the Bears from Waco pulled out a gritty road win, 48-45. It appears the Mustangs do not have the same feisty, opportunistic defense they had last season.
9. Duke – 1-1, 0-0
Ah, Manny. The Blue Devils hung with Illinois through three quarters, then the flood gates opened for the Illini, as they scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to cap off a 45-19 win. Duke’s defense couldn’t get stops when they needed them, while the offense could only muster 6 points after halftime. Illinois might be really good this year, but Duke fans have to be disappointed in what was by far their biggest non-conference matchup of the season. Coach Diaz can’t let his team get down, because they travel to Tulane this Saturday and are underdogs as of now. A 1-2 start in Durham in 2025 would be not be as well received as it was in the past.
10. Cal – 2-0, 0-0
The Golden Bears beat up on Texas State last Saturday night, 35-3. Cal did most of its damage on the ground, rushing 34 times as a team for 181 yards and 3 touchdowns. With Cal playing many of their home games late at night on the east coast, coupled with their unexciting road schedule, I might not watch any Cal football in 2025. In the words of the great Jerry Seinfeld, that’s a shame. Minnesota comes to Berkley this weekend for Cal’s biggest test of the short season.
11. Boston College – 1-1, 0-0
The Eagles came so close to pulling off the road upset against Michigan State last Saturday. BC kicked a field goal with just over a minute left in regulation to tie the game. Unfortunately, they couldn’t convert their two-point attempt in the second overtime. MSU scored a touchdown, then converted their two-point attempt for the walk-off win. Still, that is a solid performance in a raucous environment. Bill O’Brien will have his team ready to play each and every week. BC travels to Stanford this weekend. That should be a win for the Eagles unless the time change is too much to overcome.
12. Wake Forest – 2-0, 0-0
Here come the Demon Deacons! The boys from Winston-Salem are 2-0 after wins over Kennesaw State and Western Carolina. Those teams are a combined 0-4, but Wake football will take what they can get nowadays. They do host NC State this weekend, which gives Wake a chance to prove that they are are no longer the laughingstock of the ACC.
13. Syracuse – 1-1, 0-0
I may have had Syracuse as the second leg of my four-team-money-line-parlay. I was busy watching the SMU game, so I was just checking updates on my phone. Needless to say, I thought my parlay was cooked. The Orange could not get anything going offensively at home against UConn, and was trailing 17-6 with less than six minutes left in the game. Syracuse somehow scored 14 points in five minutes before allowing a last second field goal by the Huskies to push the game to overtime. The Orange pulled it out against their former Big East foe, 27-20. Their coach Fran Brown was so mad after the win, he made his team run on the field. Respect.
14. Virginia – 1-1, 0-1
After putting up 31 points and over 500 yards of offense against NC State last weekend, Virginia coach Tony Elliott seems to regained his offensive mojo. It’s also possible NC State’s defense is bad. Like most things in life, it probably rests somewhere in the middle. Still, transfer quarterback Chandler Morris has looked good so far this year. With home games against William & Mary and Stanford, the Cavaliers should be a one-loss team when they host FSU later this month.
15. UNC – 1-1, 0-0
Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick got his first win in college football last weekend, beating Charlotte 20-3. UNC really needed that game due to the fact that Charlotte’s team is what football experts describe as..bad. I didn’t watch a second of this game, the TCU slaughter last Monday night was enough for me. The Tar Heels host Richmond this Saturday before traveling to UCF, which should be another tough test for Belichick and his team.
16. Virginia Tech – 0-2, 0-0
Oh man. Poor Hokies fans. They had to have hoped for more last season and to begin 2025. Instead, Va Tech limped to a 6-6 record in 2024. And they are now 0-2 this year, with both losses coming to SEC teams. The Hokies had a ten-point lead over Vanderbilt at halftime AT HOME, then proceeded to give up five second-half touchdowns while getting shut out. Yikes. Those are two very different halves of football. Va Tech hosts Old Dominion and Wofford before beginning conference play. ODU has beat the Hokies in the past, so Brent Pry better have his team ready, or they could be 0-3 and left wondering what could have been.
17. Stanford – 0-2, 0-0
It’s looking like another rough year for football in Palo Alto. The Cardinal fell to BYU in Provo last weekend, 27-3. Stanford avoided a shutout by kicking a field goal in the fourth quarter. Yay. If I am not going to watch a decent Cal team, there’s no way I am catching any of Stanford football this season. What’s that? They play at Miami in late October? I can’t wait to get into Cardinal football!
See you next week!
