Week 3 Power Rankings
1. Clemson 2-0 (1-0)
Last Week: W 35-12 vs Furman
This Week: vs Louisiana Tech
Not much to take away from this game. You would rather see Clemson blow out Furman, but they were in control they whole game. DJ Uiagalelei continues to look fine, but the defense and Will Shipley are the strong points of this team anyway.
2. Miami 2-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 30-7 vs Southern Miss
This Week: @ #24 Texas A&M
It was a noon game against a Sun Belt team with a game against Texas A&M in College Station next on the schedule, so it’s understandable that Miami was losing to Southern Miss with a minute to go in the first half. They managed to score before the half and never looked back. Unfortunately, the Aggies lost to App State over the weekend, or this game would have a ton of juice on Saturday, but it’s still a spot where Miami can announce that they are a real contender.
3. Wake Forest 2-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 45-25 @ Vanderbilt
This Week: vs Liberty
Wake Forest cruised to a road win over an SEC team (Vandy still counts) in Sam Hartman’s return behind 300 yards and 4 TDs from the QB. A somewhat trap game is next against Liberty with Clemson coming to town next weekend. Take care of business, Deacs, and you could be hosting College GameDay next week.
4. NC State 2-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 55-3 vs Charleston Southern
This Week: vs Texas Tech
As expected, the Wolfpack rebounded from a shaky start to the season by hanging a fifty-burger on Charleston Southern and the defense only allowed 150 total yards. Next up, is a Texas Tech team that just knocked off a top 25, Houston. NC State is a 10-point favorite at home, but if they play like they did against ECU, Texas Tech has enough talent to beat them.
5. Florida State 2-0 (0-0)
Last Week: Bye
This Week: @ Louisville
The Noles were off last week after beating LSU in Louisiana. Now, they open up conference play on the road at Louisville on Friday night. Jordan Travis vs Malik Cunningham will be a fantastic matchup for Friday Night Lights.
6. Pitt 1-1 (0-0)
Last Week: L 27-34(OT) vs Tennessee
This Week: @ Western Michigan
Pitt not only lost a heart breaker in overtime to Tennessee, but they lost QB Kedon Slovis and his backup, Nick Patti, also was injured during the game. Patti was not great during the second half, and Pitt probably wins the game if Slovis plays. Pat Narduzzi hasn’t offered any news on the availability of either player at this point. Pitt now has another road game against a G5 opponent in Western Michigan. If you don’t remember, WMU beat Pitt with Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh last year. I hope they’ll be ready.
7. Syracuse 2-0 (1-0)
Last Week: W 48-14 @ UConn
This Week: vs Purdue
Sean Tucker may not have been the most pleased with his performance last week, but I'm certainly pleased with how the Orange have looked through 2 weeks. Syracuse has a very real chance to get to 5-0 on the season, and the fans should enjoy it while it last because after that they face a gauntlet of NC State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Pitt, FSU, and Wake Forest.
8. North Carolina 3-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 35-28 @ Georgia State
This Week: Bye
UNC's defense is still making their games extremely entertaining, but they've now picked up back-to-back road wins against the Sun Belt- East. The division considered by most to be the best in the Group of 5. Now they'll get an off week to get ready for Notre Dame, a game which looks much more winnable than it did at the beginning of the year.
9. Duke 2-0 (0-0)
Last Week: W 31-23 @ Northwestern
This Week: vs NC A&T
Mike Elko has the Blue Devils playing well in his first season. Duke went on the road and upset Northwestern over the weekend and made an incredible defensive stop to win the game.
Duke will look to get to 3-0 for the first time since 2018, which was the last time they made a bowl game, against NC A&T in front of a sold out crowd!
10. Louisville 1-1 (0-1)
Last Week: W 20-14 @ UCF
This Week: vs Florida State
Louisville bounced back from not showing up against Syracuse to winning a game against UCF in the Bounce House where Malik Cunningham looked way more like what was expected. He had 321 total yards. BUT I don’t think UCF is actually that good this year. It will be a much tougher challenge with FSU coming to town Friday night.
11. Virginia 1-1 (0-0)
Last Week: L 3-24 @ Illinois
This Week: vs Old Dominion
That was an ugly loss. With that amount of talent of offense, UVA should be able to win any game where their defense only gives up 17 points. The offense couldn’t get anything going. Armstrong only threw for 180 yards, and they team combined to go 0-16 on 3rd down conversions. UVA actually forced more turnover (4) than points scored. I really hope that was just a case of a first-year coach in his first road game. Good opportunity for a get-right game hosting ODU this week.
12. Virginia Tech 1-1 (1-0)
Last Week: W 27-10 vs Boston College
This Week: vs Wofford
As I expected, the Hokies were fired up under the lights in their first game in Lane Stadium, and pretty much controlled the game from the start of Enter Sandman to get to 1-0 in conference play. The defense continues to be stout and held BC to 155 yards Saturday night. They better not overlook Wofford this week, though. With an 11AM kickoff and West Virginia coming to town the following Thursday night, the Hokies could be looking at a sleepy start.
13. Georgia Tech 1-1 (0-1)
Last Week: W 35-17 vs Western Carolina
This Week: vs #20 Ole Miss
I had Georgia Tech in the Survival Pool last week, and I was a little nervous when I looked up and saw they were tied with Western Carolina after the first quarter. They finished the game on a 28-3 run, so it ended up not being close, but the Yellow Jackets better enjoy any win they get this year.
14. Boston College 0-2 (0-1)
Last Week: L 10-27 @ Virginia Tech
This Week: vs Maine
2 games in, and BC looks like they worst team in the conference. They need to figure out some things against Maine this week, or they might only end up being a 2 or 3 win team.