Even with a so-so performance in Week 3, the ACC is still doing
pretty well as a league with a 2-2 record against the SEC (including two
wins over ranked teams) and a 9-1 record over FBS teams in non-BCS
leagues and 9-0 against the FCS. Not every league can say that,
certainly. There are three teams in the top 25, and Georgia Tech is
right on the cusp of getting in too.
But Week 3
was kind of mediocre to disappointing, with some ACC teams narrowly
escaping embarrassing losses. Still, every team but Wake Forest (a loss
at home to Louisiana-Monroe) will take the end result - wins. But where
does everyone stack up now?
1. No. 3 Clemson (2-0) Last week: Off
Clemson
wasn’t perfect against South Carolina State, but the Tigers still won
handily. And they got the win the ACC needed in Week 1 over Georgia,
still the ACC’s biggest this year. They also get a pass for Tajh Boyd
missing most of the game with an injury. The Georgia win is enough for
now, but Florida State is nipping at their heels with the emergence of
Jameis Winston. Thursday night at N.C. State will be a good test of
where Clemson’s defense is - it’s better overall, but still vulnerable
to the big play. All it takes is a few on the road in a hostile
environment for that game to get a little to close for comfort.
2. No. 8 Florida State (2-0, 1-0 ACC) Last week: W 62-7 over Nevada
Biggest
reason for concern? Penalties. It’s going to be a problem, as the
Seminoles are perennially one of the more penalized teams in the league,
and they’ve committed 13 for 115 yards in two games. Other than that,
though - and two straight slow starts against Pitt and Nevada - not much
to nitpick from Florida State. QB Jameis Winston has completed 40-of-45
passes for 570 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Yet, he says
he came out “too crunk” early and had to calm down. Oh. Hate to see him just crunk enough then.
3. No. 16 Miami (2-0)Last week: OffDERP score: 16
The
prevailing narrative after Miami’s win over Florida last week was that
the Gators’ giveaways (three fumbles, two interceptions) were what led
to the Hurricanes’ win. There’s some truth to that, as Miami’s offense
couldn’t move the ball against Florida’s excellent defense and might not
have scored but for the turnovers. But the Hurricanes’ defense is
pretty good too, and the offense will be fine. The 13 penalties for 125
yards in two games are a concern, but the offense will get it together
against less-stout defenses. One would think.
4. Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0 ACC) Last week: W 38-14 at Duke
Only
head coach Paul Johnson could say this after a road ACC win: “I’m not
sure we played a great game, but we hung in there.” The Yellow Jackets
won by 24 and put up 469 yards of offense. So there’s that. Georgia
Tech, but for a somewhat soft schedule (compared to Miami), still
might’ve made the top three in the ACC. But they couldn’t manage to kick
a field goal against Duke (1-for-3 with one blocked) and committed six
penalties for 46 yards. So...maybe that’s what their head coach was
upset about?
5. Maryland (3-0)Last week: W 32-21 at Connecticut
Maryland’s
first - and probably only - real moments of struggle this season came
at Connecticut in the Edsall Bowl on Saturday night, as the Terps had
three turnovers on offense and the defense let a struggling UConn
offense put up 374 total yards. But what's more important is that the
Terps suffered a few injuries on the defensive side of the ball, and one
- Dexter McDougle - is out for the season, which is a huge loss.
6. Virginia Tech (2-1)Last week: W 15-10 at East Carolina
Virginia
Tech’s defense has responded, holding opponents to 106.3 yards passing a
game adding 12.0 sacks, seven interceptions, a forced fumble and 33
quarterback hurries. Problem? Hokie QB Logan Thomas has completed 47% of
his passes for 517 yards in three games (three touchdowns and four
interceptions). And his wide receivers keep dropping the ball. The
passing game is such a mess that even though this defense might be the
best in the ACC, the Hokies are here.
7. North Carolina (1-1)Last week: Off
Mistakes
kept the Tar Heels from making it a game in Columbia in Week 1, but a
lot of teams are going to lose at South Carolina. But against Middle
Tennessee State the next weekend - a frisky opponent, but one the Tar
Heels should dominate - they still struggled to run the ball and the
defense was spotty at best. Also, they kicked off twice. Seriously.
The UNC offense isn’t as explosive as we thought it might be, but
there’s still time to turn it around. Oh wait, UNC goes to Atlanta this
weekend to play Georgia Tech? Welp.
8. N.C. State (2-0)Last week: Off
N.C.
State actually played a relatively clean game in the opener against
Louisiana Tech, but the Week 2 near-win over Richmond was
mistake-filled: four turnovers (most on Richmond’s end), and ten
penalties for 89 yards, most of which extended Richmond drives. The
Spiders had 300 yards passing and nearly pulled off the upset, but
turned around this week and lost to Gardner-Webb, 12-10. Can’t go
transitive property in college football. But it should be a concern for
new head coach Dave Doeren that his team went backwards in Week 2. At
least he’ll have a bye week to get it all sorted out before Clemson
comes to town on Thursday.
T-9. Duke (2-1, 0-1 ACC)Last week: L 14-38 to Georgia Tech
Duke
gets a little bit of a break because of how good the Blue Devils looked
with starting quarterback Anthony Boone healthy. And it’s hard to judge
where a team is based on how it does against Georgia Tech. Still, Boone
may not be back for awhile and the offense is starting to look more and
more inconsistent as the opponents get tougher. Also, Duke drops a few
spots just because of this.
T-9. Virginia (1-1)Last week: Off
UVa’s
opening win over BYU certainly looks a little better after the Cougars
pounded Texas the next week. Then we realized that’s just who Texas is
now. A lot of teams are going to lose to Oregon, and by transitive
property, Virginia is as good as Tennessee, which lost to Oregon by
nearly the same score this past weekend (59-14). And UVa’s turnover luck
is still as bad as ever - the Cavaliers have committed six turnovers
compared to just one by their opponents. They’ve obviously faced two
pretty good defenses, so it remains to be seen where they are against
the rest of the league.
11. Pittsburgh (1-1, 0-1 ACC)Last week: W 49-27 over New Mexico
Pitt’s
two opponents so far are legit, especially Florida State. No shame in
losing to the Seminoles, and the Panthers bounced back to beat New
Mexico 49-27 at home this week and rack up 527 total yards of offense.
But they have six turnovers committed to just one forced on the year,
and the defense still looks a bit shaky. At a banged-up Duke this
weekend will be a good indicator.
12. Syracuse (1-2)Last week: W 54-0 over Wagner
Oklahoma
transfer Drew Allen had gotten most of the snaps for Syracuse this
season, and he did again versus Wagner. Syracuse went three and out its
first three drives, and then backup Terrel Hunt got his chance. Hunt
finished 15-of-18 for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Not too shabby. It
was just Wagner, yes, but the Orange offensive became explosive and
perhaps more importantly, didn’t have any turnovers. But the first two
games still happened, so they’re here.
13. Boston College (2-1, 1-0 ACC)Last week: L 35-7 at Southern Cal
Any
concerns BC fans or observers had about the Eagles this year after they
struggled with FCS Villanova at home were assuaged by their utter
dominance of Wake Forest last week. Then we continued to watch Wake
Forest play. And BC went to a USC team in turmoil and got annihilated on
Saturday, losing 35-7. It’s hard to score on USC’s defense, but the
offense was a hot mess until the Eagles came to town, evidently. And
next week...Florida State. Yikes.
14. Wake Forest (1-2, 0-1 ACC)Last week: L 21-19 to Louisiana-Monroe
It’s
not that the Deacs lost at home to Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, or
even that they lost at BC the week before that. It’s the way it’s
happening. ULM ran 104 plays (!!!), which in hindsight makes their 424
yards of offense seem pedestrian, and the Deacs had 15 yards of rushing
and reached the red zone once. The Deacs have hardly played any
world-beaters this season, and still they’ve managed 259 yards rushing
on 108 attempts. Also, eye test. Eye test is bad. LOOK AWAY from the
Deacs’ offense right now.
