Week 2 Power Rankings
Clemson 1-0 (1-0)- Clemson looked a lot like the 2021 version of the Tigers for most of the first 3 quarters last night. The offense just wasn’t in sync and the defense dominated. They’re going to need to play like they did in the 4th quarter more consistently if they want to keep that little 4 or 5 next to their name.
Miami 1-0- The Canes dominated Bethune-Cookman on every level. They didn’t even need Van Dyke to do anything. They get another tune-up against next week against Southern Miss before taking on Texas A&M in College Station.
Wake Forest 1-0- Mitch Griffis looked great and I think he’ll be good enough to keep the Wake program near the top of the ACC for years to come. That TD pass to Taylor Morin was an incredible throw. But Sam Hartman is back! He has been medically cleared to play after having surgery on a blood clot a month ago. Hopefully this isn’t something he will have to deal with throughout his life, but I am glad that we get to watch him play football again.
Florida State 2-0- Don’t say FSU is back, LSU isn’t that great. Don’t say FSU is back, LSU isn’t that great. Don’t say FSU is back, LSU isn’t that great. I have to keep telling myself this because I really want to overreact to that outcome. The Noles look great so far this year. This game shouldn’t have even been close. Fix the mistakes and they could have a special year.
Pitt 1-0- That was an impressive win (even if it took a lucky bounce) over what I think will turn out to be a pretty good West Virginia team. While I hate that Pitt has gone back to the ground-and-pound offense, it looks like they’ll still be able to put points on the board and Slovis will be good enough for them. They need to fix that run defense though.
NC State 1-0- NC State didn’t win this game, they survived it. They turned the ball over twice inside the 10-yard line, threw an interception, and watched ECU miss 2 kicks. And that was all in the 4th quarter. Survive and advance. They’ll get right against Charleston Southern next week.
Syracuse 1-0 (1-0)- The Orange is first in the ACC! And they looked really good on Saturday. Sean Tucker is incredible. He had 183 total yards and 2 touchdowns. The Syracuse defense looks to be really good, too. They completely shut down Malik Cunningham. I definitely had the Orange too low in my initial rankings.
Virginia 1-0- We didn’t learn a whole lot about UVA with this result. The run defense was bad (although the D-Line actually looks better than last year), the pass defense wasn’t much better, and Brennan Armstrong and the passing weapons are really good. One bright spot- I think the Hoos have finally found a capable running back in Perris Jones. The former walk-on rushed for 104 yards yesterday.
North Carolina 2-0- Holy crap Carolina’s defense is bad, but it certainly will make their games exciting this year. Drake Maye is really good and can keep up with the amount of points their D will give up. App State and UNC combined for 62 points in the 4th quarter alone yesterday. The Heels are must-watch TV right now.
Louisville 0-1 (0-1)- Outside of a long run by Tiyon Evans, Louisville’s offense was completely shut down by Syracuse on Saturday. It’s always tough to play in Syracuse, but it becomes even harder when you lose the turnover battle 3-0. Now they have to go on the road to UCF, where they’ll be favored to lose that one too. This may not end up being a bowl team, and Scott Satterfield’s seat is getting warmer.
Duke 1-0- What a great start to the Mike Elko era. The defense pitched a shutout and Riley Leonard put up a real nice stat line (80% completion percentage for 328 yards and 2 TDs and added 64 yards on the ground). Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come in Durham.
Boston College 0-1- That was an ugly loss, too. Not only did you lose to Rutgers, you lost to a Rutgers without their starting QB, a Rutgers that used 3 different QBs on their opening drive, and a Rutgers that had to punt on 4th and goal at one point. BC squandered multiple chances to put this thing away put this was the results of their drives in the 4th quarter: Interception, punt, punt.
Georgia Tech 0-1 (0-1)- That was a great effort by the Yellow Jackets. They hung with Clemson for 3 quarters, but eventually they ran out of gas and the better team coasted to a win.
Virginia Tech 0-1- Oooof. The one thing I said about Grant Wells was that he needed to limit the interceptions. Well, that was not a good start. He threw 4 picks, and that along with that field goal attempt disaster doomed the Hokies. On a bright note, Pry’s defense looked pretty good. They only gave up 6 points for the first 59 minutes and 27 seconds.
ACC Survival Pool Update
We had 28 participants sign up this year, and after week 1, there's already been 3 people eliminated. Most people advanced be picked Wake Forest, Duke, or UVA, but unfortunately, 2 people picked Virginia Tech and 1 person went with Boston College.