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ACC power rankings, Week 10: Clemson gives Florida State historic loss

By Rucker Haringey

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 27: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers celebrates after the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. Clemson won 59-10. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 27: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers celebrates after the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. Clemson won 59-10. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 13: Pittsburgh Panthers running back Qadree Ollison (30) runs to the outside during the college football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Pittsburgh Panthers on October 13, 2018, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 13: Pittsburgh Panthers running back Qadree Ollison (30) runs to the outside during the college football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Pittsburgh Panthers on October 13, 2018, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Panthers are a little unlucky not to move up this week. Beating Duke at home was a solid win, but there teams just ahead of them in our power rankings too. Pittsburgh upped their stock, but not enough to move past No. 12.

Rushing for 484 yards is an excellent blueprint for victory. The Pittsburgh rushing attack absolutely shredded the Duke defense in this one. Both Qadree Allison and V’Lique Carter went over the century mark. That offensive outburst covered up another ugly day for the Panthers’ defense.

Paul Johnson’s team put in the most surprising performance of the weekend. Walking into Lane Stadium and rushing for 465 yards doesn’t happen very often. Incredibly, the Yellow Jackets only needed to attempt one pass to knock off the Hokies.

In case you were wondering, Georgia Tech didn’t complete that pass. That doesn’t mean freshman quarterback Tobias Oliver didn’t win the starting job. He ran the ball 40 times for 215 yards against the Virginia Tech defense. He was the difference in a big ACC win for the Jackets.

Florida State’s worst season in recent memory only got worse in front of a surprisingly good crowd in Tallahassee on Saturday. Early on it looked like Willie Taggart’s team might be able to push Clemson, but then his team folded under an avalanche of pressure from the Tigers.

To say the Seminole offense struggled at the line of scrimmage would be a giant understatement. They finished with -21 yards rushing against the star-studded Clemson defensive line.  Florida State’s problems go deeper than that, but the offensive line would be a good place for Taggart to start his rebuild.

Duke’s defense forgot to make the trip to Pennsylvania. Giving up over 600 yards of total offense will get you beat almost every week. This loss dropped the Blue Devils to a disappointing 1-3 mark in the ACC.

On the plus side, Daniel Jones continued to make his case that he deserves to be an early round selection in April’s NFL Draft. He threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns in the losing effort. The Duke offense was terrific, this week’s loss was all on David Cutcliffe’s defense.

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