Things are beginning to shuffle at the top and new contenders emerge
Glory is fleeting, just like Georgia Tech’s time in the Top 25 rankings. It wasn’t a particularly bad performance. Georgia Tech still hasn’t allowed a sack through three games, the penalties were down, and they took care of the ball. Yet the defense had little answers for Kyle McCord and his receivers, and the offense couldn’t stay consistent enough to sustain long drives. It’ll be a tough pill to swallow as a win would have had Tech sitting nicely with VMI up next, but the season is long, and Tech has plenty of opportunities to stay in the running for the ACC championship game.
There were some really good wins this week by other members in the non-conference slate. Duke got things started on Friday by claiming a win over Northwestern on the banks of Lake Michigan in overtime. Manny Diaz has his Blue Devils off to a nice 2-0 start. Pittsburgh looked like they were going to unravel against Cincinatti being down 27-6 late in the third but clawed their way back for a 28-27 win. Cal scored the big upset with a 21-14 win over Auburn with an assist of Auburn’s QB throwing 4 interceptions. Virginia Tech also shook off the loss last week and easily disposed of Marshall who has been known to give some Power teams fits. Clemson also rebounded nicely by hanging 66 on App State.
On the disappointing side, SMU looks less than stellar against BYU as the Mustangs have seemed to go all in with Ken Jennings at QB. It still didn’t save SMU from suffering their first loss of the season and things don’t look too hot for them in their first season in the ACC. NC State was bludgeoned by Tennessee but that feels more like Tennessee is ready to contend for a deep playoff run. The Wolfpack will still want to clear up some defensive issues and get QB Grayson McCall on track before their ACC run though.
The other game between ACC foes was Wake Forest and Virginia with Virginia storming back in the 4th to snag the one-point victory over the Demon Deacons with only two minutes left in the game.
Power Rankings
- Miami – There was little drama for Miami this week as they stomped Florida A&M 56-9 and Cam Ward racked up more Heisman worthy numbers. They’ll probably have similar results next week against Ball State.
- Clemson – The offense came firing out the gate for the Tigers as they scored 35 points in the first quarter in a 66-20 beatdown of App State. QB Cade Klubnik tossed 5 touchdown passes in a game he needed to reassure the fans he is the right QB for the job. The UGA game could be just considered a one off if they continue against NC State.
- Louisville – The Cardinals haven’t faced the stiffest competition so far, but they haven’t shown any weaknesses against Austin Peay or Jax State. They’ll get an extremely early bye in Week 3 before facing Georgia Tech who will be going into their 5th game by then.
- Syracuse – Kyle McCord looked like he couldn’t miss a pass this week as he picked apart Georgia Tech’s coverage with a 69.5% completion rate. The defense stiffened up as well after getting gashed by Ohio the previous week. Now all Fran Brown has to do is make up lies about every coach he faces the rest of the season disrespecting his team.
- Boston College – The Eagles played an underwhelming Duquesne team and came away with a 56-0 victory. They’ve looked good so far with their win over FSU but will be put to the test with their matchup at 6th ranked Mizzou. A win would serve notice to the rest of the conference that Boston College is a contender.
- Georgia Tech – It was a rough weekend for the Jackets who tried their best to make a come-from-behind win against Syracuse late in the game but couldn’t quite get the ball back for a chance at a tying field goal or go-ahead touchdown. They’ll hopefully be able to jump out quick against VMI this week and get their starters so much needed rest after 4 games before heading to Louisville.
- Cal – Beating Auburn on the Plains was a great win for the Bears. The only critique was being gifted with 5 turnovers and only being able to win by one score. Jaydn Ott was supposed to be a premier back in the ACC but has instead only averaged 2.5 yards a carry.
- Virginia – The Hoos are one win away from matching last year’s win total with a conference victory over Wake Forest. It wasn’t pretty on the defensive side as they allowed over 400 yards passing to Wake. Virginia gets Maryland next and a win there could have them eyeing a chance at returning to a bowl this season.
- Duke – You can’t ask for better than 2 wins in 2 games, but Duke has relied heavily on their defense as the offense has taken time to get going in both so far. They did manage to beat Northwestern in overtime but both teams were stagnant and error prone on offense.
- North Carolina – It’s a shaky 2-0 start for the Tar Heels who were a missed field goal from losing to Minnesota in Week 1 and an ok performance against an outmanned Charlotte team. They’ll have another easy one though with NC Central this coming week.
- Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh looked left for dead about midway through their matchup with Cincinnati. Give them credit for battling back and stealing the win, but it leaves you guessing where the strengths truly lie with this team so far.
- North Carolina State – The Wolfpack faced a Tennessee team that could really wreck some teams this year, and wrecked is what happened to this defense. Things didn’t look great last week against Western Carolina either. The team will have to use Louisiana Tech to get right before facing Clemson and an NIU squad that just upset Notre Dame.
- Virginia Tech – QB Kyron Drones isn’t performing up to the standard the preseason hype claimed him to be. It took a plodding run game to slowly pull away from Marshall late. It doesn’t look like The Hokies will be too competitive in the ACC this year with this offensive performance.
- Wake Forest – Wake is going to be kicking themselves for letting Virginia steal the win after outplaying them in most facets of the game. There is probably little faith they can hang very long with Ole Miss next week as well.
- Stanford – Stanford won comfortably against Cal Poly but didn’t show anything that would make you think they’ll compete much in conference play. They’ll get a bye week before their first cross country to Syracuse.
- SMU – The Mustangs haven’t entered ACC play yet but seem already out of the conference race with the benching of QB Preston Stone and two very lackluster games against Nevada and BYU. At least their first ACC game will be against cellar-dweller FSU in two weeks.
- Florida State – The Seminoles got an extra week to lick their many wounds from playing Georgia Tech, Boston College, and the National Media. Memphis might add fuel to the fire this week.