ACC Round Up and Power Rankings - Week 10

The early slate of games on Saturday had UNC and Miami sweating early with their slim margin of making the conference title game on the line. It’s unlikely that Clemson falls again but the possibility remains a small hope for the two.

Miami looked to have no answers for Virginia Tech’s pass rush as they came early and often scoring six sacks on the day. Miami trailed only by a point at the half but it seemed Hendon Hooker was too much for the Miami defense as they went up by 11. It would be all VT could muster though as the offense sputtered and Miami rallied back by relying more on the RPO to nullify the pass rush.

There wasn’t any defense played in Carolina’s match up with Wake Forest. Both traded punches but Wake scored a few more by the time halftime rolled around. Sam Howell was unstoppable though with 550 passing yards and 6 touchdowns. UNC’s defense did just enough in the second half to give them a 59-53 win.

Virginia became another weekly benefactor of Louisville’s sloppy play of turnovers and penalties. Louisville did out gain the Cavaliers by over 100 yards and put up a solid 319 yards rushing. They just couldn’t perform where it mattered most in the red zone including a pick-six that UVA returned for 85 yards.

The rest of the slate went as expected with Notre Dame starting sluggish but eventually burying the Eagles later in the game and NC State drubbed a Seminole destined to finish at the bottom with players exiting the program weekly.

Power Rankings

The Gold & Orange Standard (Notre Dame and Clemson)

Clemson took a break after suffering their first loss to Notre Dame and the Irish kept their spot at the top secure by trouncing (Rival?) Boston College. Unless some truly shocking upsets happen these two are secure at the top of the league.

Living Dangerously (Miami and UNC)

It’s hard to gauge how much these two are above the rest of the conference. Their record certainly says they are but they sure do love to keep it close and UNC has to still be wondering how FSU stole a win away from them. These two will settle who is the better in two weeks though (we hope.)

Coastin Through The Chaos (BC, VT, NC State, Wake)

Boston College stands at the top of this group despite their conference record having an extra loss. They have given better teams a good fight while the others have avoided or were put down by Clemson. NC State has a non-con this week though against the undefeated Liberty Flames. A win there should vault them up as VT couldn’t stamp them out. Maybe Liberty should get an invite to join after Notre Dame runs off after this season. They could have more ACC wins than half the conference.

Twilight Zone (Virginia and Pitt)

Still hovering just out of reach being bad lies Pitt and Virginia. It may be tough for Pitt to maintain though as they learned star safety Paris Ford has opted out of the rest of the season. Virginia should pick up a few more wins with a manageable schedule though.

At Least We Have Each Other...to beat (GT, Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, FSU)

At this rate, FSU keeps losing players they have a good chance to lock up the bottom of the garbage bin. Duke and GT along with Syracuse and Louisville will have a match up over the next few weeks to help sort out the order of despair.