Week 7 was rather quiet in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with seven teams on a bye. Of the teams that played, Pitt had the best day, upsetting FSU in Tallahassee as a double-digit underdog. Some other
Week 7 highlights: SMU remained unbeaten in conference play, Georgia Tech looked dominant in their home win vs Virginia Tech, and Clemson smoked Boston College in Chestnut Hill.
Without further ado, let’s get to the rankings.
1. Miami – 5-0 overall, 1-0 conference
The Canes are coming off their second bye in three weeks. From the press conference yesterday, it sounded like it was a productive week of practice and rest for the current top ranked team in the ACC. I am pumped for the Louisville game on Friday night. I love watching this Miami team play. They are exciting on offense and defense, with playmakers at multiple positions. With FSU’s mini fourth quarter comeback a couple weeks ago, Coach Cristobal has the ammunition he needs to keep his squad humble and motivated going into a matchup with a talented and unafraid Cardinals team. Friday night football!
2. Georgia Tech – 6-0, 3-0
The Yellow Jackets took care of business last weekend in Atlanta. GT got out to an 18-0 lead and didn’t look back. After how they played at Wake Forest two weeks prior, it must have been a good feeling to have the victory sealed before the last play of the game. Brent Key probably coached his squad up pretty hard during their first bye. Georgia Tech is ranked high at #12 and is fully in the mix for a spot in this year’s CFP. Their hardest remaining road test comes this Saturday at Duke. The Yellow Jackets might just be building to peak at the right time. We’ll see.
3. Virginia – 5-1, 3-0
Tony Elliott’s squad moved up one spot in the rankings to #18 after their bye. Nice. They also have wins over two of their toughest three conference opponents this season. Very nice. The Cavaliers host Washington State on Saturday night. The Cougars can’t be overlooked after putting up a great fight at Ole Miss last weekend. After that, it’s at UNC, at Cal, and vs Wake Forest. That’s very manageable. If Virginia can make it to their game at Duke on 11/15 without a conference loss, they will have CFP aspirations. And if Virginia loses a couple games before then, Miami and GT fans will be pumping their fists.
4. Duke – 4-2, 3-0
It’s more challenging than I thought it would be to write about seven teams that had byes last week. Having a game to reference from the previous week makes it much easier! Anyway, Manny Diaz has his squad looking good after a couple non-conference losses early this season. I’ve also seen Diaz mentioned as a possible replacement for James Franklin at Penn State. To be honest, I don’t see it. And I really like Diaz. He’s just not meant to be the head coach at a program like Penn State..or Miami. But the head man at Duke or a defensive coordinator at schools like the two he succeeded at I just mentioned? Hell yeah. We’ll see what Diaz can dial up against Georgia Tech this Saturday at noon.
5. Pitt – 4-2, 2-1
Finally, another team that actually played last weekend. Pitt rolled into Tallahassee as a double-digit underdog with their freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel and were not intimidated in the least. The Seminoles actually led this game at halftime, 21-14. That makes the loss even worse for FSU. Whatever, this is about the Panthers. They seem to have found something with Heintschel, and the timing couldn’t be better. I know I’ve talked about their schedule before, but they need to win their next three games at Syracuse, vs NC State, and at Stanford. After a bye, Pitt closes with #13 Notre Dame at home, at #12 Georgia Tech, and vs #2 Miami. That’s a wild final six games.
6. SMU – 4-2, 2-0
The Mustangs picked up their second home win in a row against an inferior conference opponent. Rhett Lashlee’s squad mauled Stanford, 34-10. Former Miami running back Chris Johnson Jr. had an 87-yard touchdown run and a 42-yard touchdown reception. Not bad. I’m glad to see Johnson have a performance like that as it seemed he wasn’t a big part of the offense for a few weeks. I always check SMU box scores and highlights because of the number of ex-Canes that have transferred to play for Lashlee. The Mustangs face their biggest test of conference play so far with a matchup at Clemson this Saturday afternoon.
7. Louisville – 4-1, 1-1
Another team coming off a bye. Argh! The Cardinals got a metric ton of praised heaped on them on Monday afternoon at the weekly Miami Hurricanes coaches press conference. Fine with me. Also, I tend to agree. Louisville does not lack talent, especially on offense. Miller Moss has struggled at times this season, but he is more than capable in getting the ball to his playmakers. Running back Isaac Brown and wide receiver Chris Bell are both really good and scare the crap out of me when they have the ball in their hands. Head coach Jeff Brohm will have his team motivated after a loss and wanting to pull off the big upset in Coral Gables.
8. Cal – 4-2, 1-1
The Golden Bears played no one last weekend, just like everyone else in the ACC. Cal’s freshman quarterback JKS has had some rough outings after his hot start to the season. In their two losses to San Diego State and Duke, he threw only one touchdown pass, with five interceptions, and was sacked eight times. Not great. That said, a bye can help JKS and his offense regain their rhythm. Also, they play UNC and Virginia Tech the next two weeks. The Golden Bears should be 6-2 with only one conference loss going into their huge home game against Virginia in Week 10.
9. Clemson – 3-3, 2-2
And we’re back with a team that played last week. Yes! The Tigers smoked Boston College on the road last Saturday afternoon after smoking UNC on the road the week prior. I must say, Dabo lucked out having those two teams in a row on the schedule. Despite the inferior competition, Clemson must have gained at least some confidence from those two performances. If this was last season’s team, I would expect them to reel off five wins in a row before their season-ending matchup with South Carolina. But with how I’ve seen this year’s team play against decent competition, the games against Duke, FSU and Louisville are anything but presumptive wins for Clemson in 2025.
10. Wake Forest – 4-2, 1-2
The Demon Deacons flew across the country and put a beating on a bad Oregon State team, 39-14. Wow. I should’ve bet on Wake as they were favored by less than a field goal. I know the Beavers are awful this season, but I like this win for Jake Dickert’s squad. They flew across the country, scored the first 32 points of the game, didn’t give up a score until the fourth quarter, and simply dominated a Power 4 team on the road. Great building blocks for Wake’s program. Next up is a bye, followed by a home game vs SMU. I guarantee the Demon Deacons will expect to win that game. That’s a big deal because I also guarantee that was absolutely not the case as recently as last season.
11. NC State – 4-3, 1-2
The Wolfpack started off okay at Notre Dame, only trailing 10-7 at halftime. Sadly, they couldn’t keep it going, as they were held scoreless in the second half. Not ideal when their offense is far better than their defense. NC State gets a much-needed bye this week. They’ll need a great week of practice with games at Pitt and vs Georgia Tech coming before their second bye. With their final three games against Miami, FSU, and UNC, the Wolfpack will be fighting for bowl eligibility this season.
12. FSU – 3-3, 0-3
Oof. You’ve seen the numbers: eight-game ACC losing streak that has gone on for 385 days and counting. The defense doesn’t look anything like it did against Alabama all the way back in Week 1. The offense is struggling with injuries to pass catchers and quarterback Thomas Castellanos. I was skeptical as to how good the Seminoles would be after how bad they looked last season. Even in today’s college football, one year is quick for a turnaround of that magnitude. Then they beat Alabama to open this season. That completely changed expectations, and Mike Norvell and his program seemed to embrace them. Whoops. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I think it’s finally time FSU fans admit the obvious: Mike Norvell is not the answer. Too bad he recently got a contract extension and has a buyout of almost $60 million. At least they get to go to Palo Alto this weekend. Could be a fun trip.
13. Syracuse – 3-3, 1-2
Head coach Fran Brown must have been looking for any kind of offensive spark during their bye last week. Backup quarterback Rickie Collins hasn’t been good, throwing for two touchdowns and five interceptions in his two starts against Duke and SMU. It doesn’t get any easier for Syracuse, as they host Pitt, plus travel to Georgia Tech Miami three of the next four weeks. Could Fran Brown be a candidate for the Penn State job? I doubt it, but who knows?
14. Stanford – 2-4, 1-2
The Cardinal got chopped down in Dallas last weekend. I completely forgot Frank Reich was Stanford’s coach until Cam noted it in his recent article about Miami’s game against the Cardinal in Week 9. It must be hard enough for Reich to keep up with what time zone he and his team are currently in with all their travel this season. It’s legitimately crazy: Dallas, Palo Alto, Miami, Palo Alto, Chapel Hill in five straight weeks. You can’t help but have some sympathy for that insane schedule.
15. Virginia Tech – 2-5, 1-2
Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones didn’t give up in the loss at Georgia Tech, as he accounted for all three of Va Tech’s touchdowns on the day. That’s about all I can glean from this game, as I didn’t watch a second of it. Much like my zero seconds of viewing time of any Va Tech game this season. Their home matchup with Miami in late November will be a nice surprise for me. The Hokies have a bye this week, then host Cal and Louisville before their second bye.
16. UNC – 2-3, 0-1
What a week in Chapel Hill. I either didn’t know or forgot that UNC’s Athletic Director was not on board with the hiring of Bill Belichick, but was overruled by university leadership, etc. Apparently AD Bubba Cunningham wanted a more proven college football coach. What a novel idea! If you have time, google some of the stories coming out of their football program. It’s crazier than you think. I honestly feel bad for the players. Most of them seem to be in a worse situation than they could have imagined. Having said all the above, there is a great chance Belichick is gone by the end of the season, and a new leader can come in and start to get the UNC football program moving in the right direction.
17. Boston College – 1-5, 0-4
BC’s season has gone off the rails. Simply put: they are a bad football team. Not that I thought they would win the ACC this season or anything, but I did think they would be a tough, well-coached team that would be a pain in the ass to play. Guess not. In their last two games against Pitt and Clemson, BC was outscored 89-17. The Eagles probably aren’t done losing for a while, with each of their next six matchups coming against teams with winning records. First up is UConn this Saturday at noon.
See you next week!
