Clemson’s blowout win over South Carolina allowed them to go wire to wire atop our ACC power rankings. Can the Tigers finish off their perfect season?
South Carolina tried to make things interesting for a while, but ultimately they were swallowed up by the avalanche that is the Clemson Tigers. Dabo Swinney’s team began the season as our No. 1 team and nothing they did during their regular season campaign did anything to change our minds. Now it’s up to Dabo Swinney and company to further their perfection in the ACC Championship Game and beyond.
Even though no ACC team came into the week with a real shot of catching the Tigers, plenty of programs had a lot at stake in Week 13. Pittsburgh wanted to build some momentum on the way to Charlotte but got embarrassed at Miami.
On a more positive note, two programs took big steps towards bowl eligibility with big wins this weekend. Virginia Tech staged a miraculous comeback to knock off Virginia. The Hokies still need to defeat Marshall to make the postseason, but a loss to the Cavaliers would have effectively ended Justin Fuente’s season.
Wake Forest posted the most surprising result of the weekend by thrashing Duke in Durham. The Deacons’ 59-7 drubbing of the Blue Devils represented the worst loss of David Cutcliffe’s tenure in terms of point differential. More important for Dave Clawson and company, it made Wake Forest bowl eligible for the third straight season. This is only the second time in school history that’s happened.
Without further delay, let’s proceed to our last ACC power rankings of the regular season. Predictably, the team that checks in at No. 15 is one of the two conference programs without a head coach at the moment.
The Cardinals came into their season finale with high hopes of pulling off a big home upset against Kentucky. In the end, the Wildcats simply had too much talent to let that happen.
Louisville’s defense just couldn’t do anything to stop Kentucky on the ground. Three Wildcats rushed for over 79 yards in the romp. That allowed Kentucky to rush for 343 yards in a pretty easy win. Louisville can now turn its full attention to finding a coach capable of reviving this program.
A deflating overtime loss at home to NC State proved to be the final nail in Larry Fedora’s coffin. There have been rumors about his job security all season long, but a big win over the Wolfpack might have been enough to keep him safe. Ultimately, the Tar Heels made the move to ax Fedora within hours of the home defeat.
Fedora’s final loss followed the same script as many of its predecessors. Carolina moved the ball well against the Wolfpack defense, but their defense couldn’t get a big stop when they needed it most. Those defensive issues will be someone else’s problem in 2019.
Willie Taggart’s program found a new low to hit on Saturday. Losing decisively to Florida wasn’t altogether unexpected, but it does prevent Florida State from going to a bowl game for the first time since 1981. Perhaps Taggart and his staff can use their free time to find some talent to infuse into the program.
One of Taggart’s top priorities should be to find a quarterback who can properly execute his offense. Deondre Francois’ struggles were on full display against the Gators. 14 for 29 for 154 yards and two touchdowns isn’t good enough to beat a team of Florida’s caliber. The signal-caller position has plagued the Seminoles all season long.