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

In fairness to Bobby Petrino and company, 1-1 is exactly where we expected their record to be at this point in the season. They were never going to beat Alabama and they were always going to defeat Indiana State at home.

That’s why their Power Ranking stays exactly the same this week. The Cardinals will have plenty of chances to move up in the future, but we’re not giving them any plaudits for handling the Sycamores. This was a nondescript win for a program that’s still struggling to form its identity after the departure of Lamar Jackson.

This was a sneaky opportunity for the Yellow Jackets to grab a nice road win. While Georgia Tech’s triple option was firing on all cylinders against the Bulls, their defense was powerless to stop the South Florida attack.

The confounding thing for the coaching staff is that they gave up big chunks of yardage on the ground and through the air. In particular, Blake Barnett hurt them in this one. He threw for 202 yards and ran for 91 more on his way to four touchdowns.

If the defense can find a way to improve then Georgia Tech should be on their way to a bowl game. If not, they could slide even further down the ACC standings.

If we’re being completely honest, we believed Pittsburgh had a legitimate chance to knock off Penn State. Clearly, we were 100% wrong. The one-sided defeat is going to do a lot to damage this team’s confidence.

The most disappointing aspect of the game for Pat Narduzzi was the sub-par play of his defense. His blueprint for the program is to run the ball and stop the opponent from scoring. Quadree Ollison and the ground game did their job. It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh’s defense can respond in the coming weeks.

Sleep on David Cutcliffe’s team at your own peril. On the heels of a quality win against Army, the Blue Devils traveled to Northwestern and scored a solid win over the Wildcats. This team is going to be a really tough matchup for teams ahead of them in the ACC standings.

The ability to survive quarterback Daniel Jones’ injury may define the Blue Devils’ season. He was excellent against Northwestern but suffered a broken clavicle during the game. The team has ruled him out indefinitely.

If Quentin Harris can keep the offense moving while Jones is out, they could be headed back to a bowl game. If he can’t, this might be as high as the team gets in the Power Rankings this season.