ACC Power Rankings – Week Four

A third team has reached the top spot in this year’s ACC Power Rankings. The Louisville Cardinals have made the Atlantic Division a three-team brawl between ranked programs and it is only going to get better from here. Let’s take a look at the ACC Power Rankings after three games.

Louisville (3-0)

Lamar Jackson arguably became the Heisman front-runner after rushing for four touchdowns and throwing another as Louisville demolished the #2 ranked Florida State Seminoles. Up 25 at the half, Louisville “ran it up and left no doubt” as the lead grew to 63-10 in the fourth quarter.

Next game: at Marshall

Clemson (3-0)

After a lackluster game against Troy, the Tigers took care of business against South Carolina State. The 59-0 win by Clemson was so lopsided that the third and fourth quarters were reduced to 12 minutes each.

Next game: at Georgia Tech

Miami (3-0)

Appalachian State were not destined to be Goliath-killers this year, as the Hurricanes rolled into Kidd Brewer Stadium and won handedly, 45-10. An interception on the goal line was the only blemish on Brad Kaaya’s box score, as he passed for 368 yards and three touchdowns.

Next game: Bye

Florida State (2-1)

When Louisville-FSU score updates were announced on Saturday afternoon, Jim Ross impressions were heard around tailgates across America. Somebody needed to stop the match. Can Jimbo get the Noles back on track?

Next game: at South Florida

North Carolina (2-1)

Mitch Trubisky put himself in the Carolina record books during the 56-28 win against James Madison, throwing a record 156 (and counting) passes without a pick and a single-game record 18 straight completed passes. However, the defense still needs a lot of work before facing off against James Connor and the Pitt Panthers.

Next game: versus Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh (2-1)

Pitt lost a heart breaker on the road to Oklahoma State, as the Cowboys took the lead with 1:28 remaining in the fourth and the Pitt two-minute offense ended with an interception. There will be interesting match ups between Pitt’s run offense versus Carolina’s run defense, and Carolina’s pass offense and Pitt’s pass defense.

Next game: at North Carolina

Georgia Tech (3-0)

The Yellow Jackets dominated Vanderbilt in Atlanta with a balanced attack on offense. Quarterback Justin Thomas led the way on offense, leading the team with 84 yards on the ground.

Next game: versus Clemson

Virginia Tech (2-1)

After losing at the Battle at Bristol, the Hokies took out their anger on Boston College in a 49-0 blowout. East Carolina comes to Blacksburg this week and will be trying to keep their ACC opponent win streak alive.

Next game: versus East Carolina

Wake Forest (3-0)

Dave Clawson’s crew kept Delaware to under 100 yards of total offense in the Deacons’ win over the Blue Hens. Even with injuries on the offensive side of the ball, Wake racked up 481 yards of total offense.

Next game: at Indiana

NC State (2-1)

The seat under Dave Doeren cooled slightly as the Wolfpack beat Old Dominion 49-22 at home. With backup quarterback Jalan McClendon’s dual-threat ability, could NC State start to use more of a rotation at quarterback?

Next game: Bye

Duke (1-2)

Northwestern got their first win of the year against the Blue Devils, winning 24-13 out in the Chicago suburbs. The offensive stats were fairly even between the two teams, however Duke had some self-inflicted wounds that cost them the game.

Next game: at Notre Dame

Syracuse (1-2)

The first quarter against South Florida was all Syracuse with the Orange jumping out to a 17-0 lead. The Bulls scored four touchdowns in the second quarter to lead by 11 at the half. All Syracuse could manage until the final horn was another field goal and lost at home 45-20.

Next game: at Connecticut

Boston College (1-2)

Not much to say about the 49-0 shutout in Blacksburg. The BC defense had played relatively well up until this game.

Next game: versus Wagner College

Virginia (0-3)

Insert Sad Virginia Fan meme here. A 20-yard chip shot was needed to force overtime against UConn and the kicker pulled it to the left as time expired. To be fair, the Hoos had no timeouts and all 11 players were rushed, especially the kicker. See why Roy keeps all those timeouts? Same lesson applies.

Next game: versus Central Michigan