ACC Football Power Rankings: Week 5
Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech dropped after losses this Saturday. Check out our Week 5 ACC Football Power Rankings.
The ACC Football Power Rankings for week five are here and there has been some movement. Georgia Tech, after back to back losses to Notre Dame and Duke, has spiraled out of the top-five. See where the rest of the conference is in this week’s ACC Football Power Rankings.
1. Clemson (3-0, 1-0)
Reason: Clemson had a bye week after a good win on the road against Louisville. The Tigers have had 15 days to get rested up and prepare for a colossal match up with Notre Dame Saturday night.
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2. Florida State (3-0, 1-0)
Reason: The Seminoles beat Boston College 14-0 and then got a bye the same as Clemson. Yes, their offense look putrid against the Eagles, but they did enough to win and their defense looks really good.
3. Miami (3-0)
Reason: Miami moves to number three after starting the season out undefeated. They will play at Cincinnati Thursday, but looked really good against Nebraska a week ago.
4. Duke (3-1, 1-0)
Reason: The Blue Devils are now the favorite to win the ACC Coastal. They beat Georgia Tech handily on Saturday by a score of 34-20. Duke’s defense was able to hold the injury-ridden Yellow Jackets to just 20 points and held control of the game from start to finish.
5. N.C. State (4-0)
Reason: They’re undefeated. Yes I know their schedule is cupcake city and September doesn’t get much easier than games against Troy, Eastern Kentucky, Old Dominion, and South Alabama, but the Wolfpack won. Now we will see just how good they are when they take on Louisville and Virginia Tech the next two weeks. If they beat the Hokies and the Cardinals, there’s a good chance N.C. State could come into Death Valley ranked.
6. Boston College (3-1, 0-1)
Reason: Boston College bounced back after losing to Florida State last Friday night with a win over Northern Illinois at home Saturday. This was the same Northern Illinois team that only lost to number-one Ohio State by a touchdown. The Eagles’ defense looks good and they seem to be a solid lock for a decent bowl bid this season.
7. North Carolina (3-1)
Reason: Larry Fedora completely ruined Marquise Williams’ career when he tried to make him a pocket-passer. It cost him against South Carolina and he finally benched Williams Saturday. The Tar Heels ended up beating Delaware 41-14 with new quarterback Mitch Trubisky and now will look to Georgia Tech this week.
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8. Georgia Tech (2-2, 0-1)
Reason: The Yellow Jackets have had a tough two-game stretch after getting pummeled at Notre Dame (even though the score looked respectable) and then Duke the next week. They are the most injury-plagued team in America with several injuries to their running backs and wide receivers. It’s been a tough past two weeks for Georgia Tech, who will look to bounce back this week with a win over North Carolina.
9. Pittsburgh (2-1)
Reason: Pitt had a bye week after losing to Iowa last Saturday. The Panthers will be looking to pick up their first conference win of the season when they travel to Virginia Tech to take on a struggling Hokie team.
10. Virginia Tech (2-2)
Reason: The Hokies just cannot stop a mobile quarterback. Their defense is one of the best in the nation as long as there’s a pocket-passer, but a dual-threat guy will kill them every time. Virginia Tech also has one of the worst offenses in America. These two things combined explains their woeful 35-28 loss to ECU. Now, they did put up 28 points and maybe Frank Beamer can begin coaching now that the exhibition games are over, but it hasn’t been pretty for the Hokies to this point.
11. Louisville (1-3, 0-1)
Reason: FINALLY. Louisville got a victory before the month of September rolled out. After three losses to start the season (Auburn, Houston, and Clemson), the Cardinals picked up a 45-3 win over Samford as quarterback Lamar Jackson had a big game. The Cardinals will look to rebound and get a win over N.C. State in conference play this weekend.
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12. Syracuse (3-1, 1-0)
Reason: Syracuse did lose for the first time Saturday, but they did not get blown out by LSU. They, in fact, had a couple of chances to keep the game closer than what it was and just couldn’t cash in. Now the Orange will look to bounce back with a win at South Florida before beginning ACC play.
13. Wake Forest (2-2, 0-1)
Reason: The Demon Deacons almost came back to beat Indiana Saturday, but fell just short. At least they showed life, but wins will hard to come by for Wake Forest the rest of this season.
14. Virginia (1-3)
Reason: Unfortunately for Virginia, they couldn’t upset one of their three tough non-conference games in September. They did beat William & Mary, but lost to Notre Dame and got thrashed by UCLA and Boise State. The Cavaliers won’t have much more success in conference play, in my opinion, and expect to see them near the bottom for most of this season.