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ACC power rankings: Clemson, Florida State survive; North Carolina hits rock bottom

By Rucker Haringey

COLLEGE STATION, TX - SEPTEMBER 08: Clemson Tigers quarterback Kelly Bryant enjoys a clean pocket to pass downfield during first half action during the college football game between the Clemson Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies on September 8, 2018 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLLEGE STATION, TX - SEPTEMBER 08: Clemson Tigers quarterback Kelly Bryant enjoys a clean pocket to pass downfield during first half action during the college football game between the Clemson Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies on September 8, 2018 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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ACC Power rankings
TALLAHASSEE, FL – SEPTEMBER 8: Quarterback Deondre Francois #12 of the Florida State Seminoles on a passing play during the game against the Samford Bulldogs at Doak Campbell Stadium on Bobby Bowden Field on September 8, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. The Seminoles defeated the Bulldogs 36 to 26. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

Clemson survived a scare from Texas A&M to stay atop the ACC Power Rankings this week, but there are a lot of changes after the Tigers.

Jimbo Fisher did his best to throw the ACC Power Rankings into disarray but his Aggies came up just short against Clemson. In the end, the game was a terrific teaching moment for Dabo Swinney. Expect the Tigers to gain some confidence from their narrow victory.

The news wasn’t nearly as good for the rest of the ACC. There were some really ugly losses this week. North Carolina losing at ECU represents a new low point for Larry Fedora. Virginia also missed a big chance to gain a non-conference win at Indiana.

The biggest loser this week has to be Pittsburgh though. They got a chance to take on Penn State in front of their home fans and laid an egg. Losing to the Nittany Lions is one thing, getting blown off the field by 45 points is an entirely different manner.

As you might expect, there are a ton of changes in our Power Rankings this week. We start with a new team checking in at the bottom of the ACC.

Losing to a team that lost to North Carolina A&T the week before is a pretty bad look for an ACC team. That’s exactly what the Tar Heels did this weekend.

It’s not as if Fedora was able to keep his team in the game. Losing in Greenville can happen upon occasion, but you can’t be blown out by one of the weaker Pirate teams in recent years.

If things don’t get better in a hurry for this team you’re going to hear lots of talk about Fedora getting the ax. At this point, UNC fans might welcome that outcome.

The Cavaliers hung in the game at Indiana, but they couldn’t make the one play they needed to defeat the Hoosiers. In some ways, this represents progress for Virginia, but it’s also a reminder of just how far they have to come as a program.

One big concern for this team moving forward is its total reliance on Bryce Perkins for offense. The talented quarterback was responsible for 229 of Virginia’s 294 total yards in the game. That speaks well of Perkins, but he’s going to struggle to carry that kind of load against superior defenses. The Cavaliers have to find some more offensive weapons in the future if they want to find their way into a bowl game.

Beating Wagner at home generally isn’t good enough to move up in the Power Rankings, but it worked for the Orange this week. This is not a great compliment for Syracuse.

After all, they managed to beat a pretty bad FCS team at home. Credit to the administration for scheduling an easy win for their program, but the Orange’s performance didn’t tell us anything about how they will play in the coming weeks.

It still goes down as a banner day for Eric Dungey at quarterback. It’s pretty unlikely he’ll throw five touchdown passes in another game this season.

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