Clemson losing to Power Four competition at home is hardly a shock anymore but seeing them get beat from start to finish by the team that entered ranked 16th in these rankings was startling. The big stunner though was the lack of competitiveness between SMU and Wake Forest as the Deacons went to Dallas and made quick work of the Mustangs.
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17. California (Prev 15): Cal has
no run game and now Jaron-Keaewe Sagapolutele is struggling. A 36-7 loss to struggling Virginia is quite the feat. Sagapolutele was just 16/30 with 2 picks. I’d like to know more about how JKS struggles as he would still be interesting as a transfer candidate and now maybe not so overpriced.
16. Clemson (Prev 7): The Tigers took their worst loss arguably since the 2004 loss to one-win Duke. Georgia Tech is abysmal, and without Tait Reynolds or Christopher Vizzina for these next two games, they perhaps should be even lower than 16th place. Yes, they’ve beaten UNC and Syracuse, but the Tar Heels have improved. Syracuse just beat NC State and with Clemson’s injuries, the Orange would be likely to avenge their loss in a rematch — especially if they could avoid an incorrect call leading to a defensive TD.
Clemson has fallen to the point that they may be worse than any of Coach Bowden’s Clemson teams and are certainly less fun to watch. The only good news is that rock bottom may have broken Dabo Swinney’s insistence that they’re building it back “the right way” and that he has some special insight into how to do college football the old way and win in the new world. Even with South Carolina losing to Arkansas, I don’t expect the Tigers to be particularly competitive against the Blue Devils or Gamecocks to close the season. With further regression from last year’s poor 7-5 regular season while being so demonstrably wrong in every area he cut against the grain (QB needs, OL needs, unorthodox OC hire), perhaps humility will lead to action.
15. NC State (Prev 17): NC State’s offense put up 31, but their paltry defense allowed 34 in a home loss to Syracuse. They’re just itching to start the Philip Rivers era. Rivers will make $3.25 million in his first year, so there’s no massive hometown discount to spark donations and player payments. It’s a bit of an odd hire.
14. Georgia Tech (Prev 16): The Yellow Jackets have now beat Duke and Clemson in a season where they’ll likely only have three wins. They fired several coaches last week and responded by being the physical team that won in the trenches. It’s a failed season in Atlanta, but they can at least enjoy a big win and hope that some coaching adjustments and a big portal class can turn things around quickly.
13. Pittsburgh (Prev 13): The Panthers entered 6-3 but lost the Friday night ACC game at Florida State, 16-10.
12. Boston College (Prev 12): Mason McKenzie threw for 51 yards in a 41-7 loss to Notre Dame. They are now 4-6.
11. Virginia (Prev 14): When Virginia can run the ball, good things happen. QB Beau Pribula led the way with 67 rushing yards and 9.6 YPC. Solomon Beebe had 58 at 9.7 YPC and Virginia finished with 201 on the ground compared to Cal with just 42. They won the turnover battle 3-0 and time of possession 34:48 to 25:12.
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10. Virginia Tech (Prev 5): The Hokies HOSTED Stanford on the East Coast and lost 40-22.
9. Stanford (Prev 11): Stanford was just 4-5, but came ready to play. Micah Ford ran for 149 yards as a Stanford rushing attack that hasn’t had a great year proved overwhelming for the Hokies. They also won the turnover battle 3-0, which set-up the upset. They’re now 5-5 with Cal next. Virginia Tech is 6-4 with Miami next. They’ll likely finish with the same record and Stanford getting the head-to-head win on the road.
8. Syracuse (Prev 10): Syracuse won the turnover battle 2-0 and that was just enough to beat NC State 34-31 in Raleigh. Syracuse is now 5-5 with Boston College and Notre Dame remaining. After a 2-4 start with wins over New Hampshire and UConn, they’ve rallied.
7. Florida State (Prev 9): The Seminoles are a flawed team who played a challenging schedule. Replacing Mike Norvell was necessary, but they look good at times. With a good hire like Manny Diaz or Jake Dickert, I could easily see them playing for an ACC Championship next season. They’re 5-5 and will likely finish with the same record as Clemson. They are well above them despite the head-to-head loss because of Clemson’s QB injuries. They also — and this doesn’t impact the rankings but matters much more than them — have a clearer path to resurgence.
6. North Carolina (Prev 8): The Tar Heels aren’t good, but they’re 6th in these rankings and that’s a commentary on the ACC as much as it is them. They were competitive with Louisville and are 5-5. They have a toss-up game against Virginia which could flip them with Virginia in the rankings. That’s how tight spots 6 through 11 are.
5. SMU (Prev 4): The Mustangs got completely outclassed at home by Wake Forest. Kevin Jennings was good enough, but Wake Forest dominated offensively and defensively in the rush.
4. Duke (Prev 6): Duke only trailed Miami 13-10 at halftime and lost by just 11. Darien Mensah was outstanding and the difference in the game, but Duke was the better team on the ground. Nate Shepard ran for 131 yards. If they split with Clemson and Wake Forest to close the season, Duke will finish 8-4. Manny Diaz is an outstanding coach.
3. Louisville (Prev 3): The Cardinals and Tar Heels were about even in yardage, but Louisville won the turnover battle 2-0 leading to a 16-14 win. Louisville is 7-3 with Pitt next before a very challenging matchup against Kentucky. They could bring back Keinholz at QB and build around him for a bigger 2027 season.
T-1. Wake Forest (Prev 2): The ACC team of the week is easily the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. They are No. 2 in the ACC with 492.4 yards per game and 43.9 points per game trailing only Miami on those metrics. They’re No. 1 defensively allowing just 306.5 yards per game and 15 points per game. In their first four games, they barely beat Purdue, lost to Miami, and then beat Louisville by just 3 points. Since then, they’ve won every game by a margin of 24-77 points. They deserve the No. 1 spot, but I’d still pick Miami to beat them (barely) so I’ll put it as a tie.
T-1. Miami (Prev 1): Darian Mensah is the best QB in the game. They paid a big price, and it has been worth it. Duke averaged 7.6 YPC compared to Duke’s 4.7, but Mensah was 30/41 for 382 passing yards and led the Hurricanes to a 36-25 home win. Other than Notre Dame and Georgia, Miami is an even matchup or better against anyone in the nation including Utah, Alabama, UCLA, Texas, or Indiana.
