This week’s ACC power rankings see Clemson strengthen their hold on the top spot but they have a team on their heels.
The rest of the nation is starting to realize what ACC fans have been aware of for several weeks. Both Clemson and Notre Dame are legitimate contenders to make this year’s College Football Playoff.
That doesn’t make either team invincible, but they both looked that way on Saturday. Clemson steamrolled Wake Forest on the road en route to a 63-3 victory. That doesn’t represent great competition for the Tigers, but the margin and performance were both impressive.
Notre Dame, in sharp contrast, went to Lane Stadium to take on Virginia Tech in front of a raucous crowd. The Fighting Irish silenced the Hokies with a reasonably comfortable 45-23 win. Brian Kelly’s offense is for real.
As such, the top of this week’s power rankings is pretty stable, but there’s a lot happening overall. Read on to discover which teams are trending in the right direction as we get into the real meat of the ACC season.
The Tar Heels were off this week which gave them an extra week to prepare for Virginia Tech. Larry Fedora’s team will host the Hokies, but they will still be a prohibitive underdogs. In the meantime, they maintain their comfortable spot in the basement of our power rankings.
Bobby Petrino’s team was feeling pretty good about themselves after hanging with Florida State last week. It’s safe to say those good feelings are gone after their blowout loss to Georgia Tech. It wasn’t a pretty display on national TV in front of the home fans.
Anytime you give up 542 yards on the ground you’re going to lose. The Yellow Jackets’ triple option gives everyone problems, but Louisville’s defense looked like it hadn’t practiced assignment football all week. Jawon Pass had a decent game on offense, but this game wasn’t close.
No one really expected Wake Forest to upset Clemson, but no one thought Dave Clawson’s bunch would lose the game by 60 points at home either. As a result, the Demon Deacons tumble three spots this week.
Wake Forest’s defense continues to play really poor football. Clawson already fired his defensive coordinator, but that didn’t help things against the Tigers. Giving up 471 yards on the ground is a great way to get beaten badly in conference play. If the Deacons defense doesn’t improve significantly, they might not win another game this season.