ACC Football Power Rankings: Week 2

Understandably, most football programs scheduled a game they were nearly required to win for their season-opener last weekend, making most ACC teams 1-0 in 2018. That is, of course, not true for UNC, but we’re not going to talk about that...much.

Which ACC teams are heading into Week 2 with all the optimism in the world? Which schools got off to a bit of a rough start? How can we overreact to four quarters of football? Behold, the Week 2 ACC Power Rankings!

1. Clemson

Beating Furman handily is exactly what Clemson should do in their first game of the season, and the Tigers did just that. They are still the top team in the ACC until proven otherwise, but they will get a tougher test than Furman in the very near future.

Next up: @ Texas A&M

2. Virginia Tech

The Hokies looked good in their opening game against a ranked Florida State team. They seem like one of the only teams in the ACC that can pose a threat to Clemson’s reign at the top of the conference.

Next up: William & Mary

3. Florida State

Florida State couldn’t get their offense going in their loss to Virginia Tech but Deondre Francois should be just fine moving forward. You could basically interchange the Seminoles and the Hurricanes here, but the Seminoles get the nod at #3 for only losing to a similarly-ranked team.

Next up: Samford

4. Miami

The U wasn’t back in their game against LSU on Sunday. Miami managed to make it a closer game in the fourth quarter with two scores but it was looking fairly ugly before that. Miami should be pretty good this year...if they can execute.

Next up: Savannah State

5. Boston College

The Eagles...might be respectable? They dropped 55 points on UMass in their season-opener, and yeah...it’s UMass...but still. This might not be the kind of season we’ve seen out of BC in recent memory.

Next up: Holy Cross

6. Wake Forest

Wake Forest needed overtime to down Tulane in their first game of the season in what was a dogfight in the second half. They went on the road to do it, as well. I fully expect their ranking to be wildly different in a few weeks, though.

Next up: Towson

7. Georgia Tech

When you get an easy team on your schedule you are supposed to go out there and leave no doubt. The Yellow Jackets did just that against something called an Alcorn State. Putting up 41 points and 0 points allowed? That’ll do.

Next up: @ USF

8. Syracuse

Seeing Syracuse’s 55 points on offense is really impressive...but they needed almost every bit of it after allowing 42 points to Western Michigan in a shootout. Can they keep that offense rolling throughout the season, or can their defense tighten things up a bit? The Orange have to hope so.

Next up: Wagner

9. Louisville

The Cardinals struggled in their opener against Alabama, but that isn’t surprising. Alabama is good. Louisville did manage to put points on the board late to avoid a deeper level of embarrassment. We’ll see what happens when they aren’t playing the best team in the country.

Next up: Indiana State

10. Duke

Duke took care of business at home against Army while putting up points in all four quarters of the game. It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from that. For now, middle of the pack seems about right for the Blue Devils.

Next up: @ Northwestern

11. Virginia

The Cavaliers kicked off their football season in Charlottesville against in-state mega rival Richmond. They looked pretty good in their takedown of the Spiders with Bryce Perkins running for two touchdowns and passing for two more.

Next up: @ Indiana

12. Pittsburgh

You beat Albany and that’s fun. Pitt allowed one touchdown in the first quarter before shutting out their opponent the rest of the way through the game. Gotta beat who is on the schedule, though, and Pitt did that.

Next up: Penn State

13. NC State

Look, I know James Madison has a pretty okay football team. Sure, that’s a thing. State still played a close game with them AT HOME, and we’re having to be picky here with just one game of evidence to go on. Let me be petty.

Next up: Georgia State

14. North Carolina

I hate doing this, I really do. However, UNC was the only ACC team that lost to a team that wasn’t even ranked. Not only did they lose, but their quarterback didn’t look Division 1 football ready for a large chunk of the game. Carolina certainly has the ability to move up in these rankings if the offense can sort itself out, but it looked disastrous for three quarters in Berkeley.

Next up: @ East Carolina