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[Horizontal red lines indicate tiers]
1. Clemson (last week: BYE)
Previous Rankings: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
Dabo spent the week off being incredibly annoying, as per usual. The Tigers host Florida State this week in the Bowden Bowl 3:30pm Saturday kickoff.
2. Wake Forest (last week: BYE)
Previous Rankings: 5, 3, 3, 2, 3
The Deacons are the only ACC school not named Clemson to still be sitting unbeaten. They begin a three-game homestand by welcoming Louisville, before facing off with Florida State and then NC State.
3. Virginia (last week: BYE)
Previous Rankings: 3, 2, 2, 5, 5
The Wahoos are the only Coastal Division team to remain unbeaten in conference play (2-0). They come off the bye week with a road trip to the Miami McGrubers.
4. North Carolina (last week: 38-22 W @ Georgia Tech)
Previous Rankings: 8, 6, 4, 9, 4
The Tar Heels snapped their three-game skid with a 16-point win over the worst team in the conference. North Carolina ran 97 plays to Georgia Tech’s 53... The Yellow Jackets offense is so incredibly terrible. GT still managed to ever so slightly out-gain UNC on a per-play basis, 6.06 yards/play to 6.05 yards/play. The Tar Heels are on a bye this week before heading to Virginia Tech.
5. Florida State (last week: BYE)
Previous Rankings: 10, 12, 9, 7, 9
Willie Taggart’s group is currently 3rd in the Atlantic Division. They host Clemson this week. Here’s a fun fact about the game:
Clemson is a 27-point favorite over Florida State on Saturday. That is the the most points the Noles have been an underdog by in the last 40 seasons. The only other time they were a 20-point dog was in '09 to Florida. via @ESPNStatsInfo
— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) October 8, 2019
6. Louisville (last week: 41-39 W vs Boston College)
Previous Rankings: 11, 7, 10, 11, 11
The Cardinals ended a nine-game conference losing streak last weekend, beating BC on a 41-yard FG with just over a minute to play. Louisville rotated between SO Malik Cunningham and FR Evan Conley at QB, with both playing well - especially Cunningham. The two combined to go 23-of-34 for 428 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 TOs. Cunningham also ran 6 times for 43 yards and another TD. Louisville is a scary team right now, and they face Wake this week on the road.
7. Pittsburgh (last week: 33-30 W @ Duke)
Previous Rankings: 12, 9, 7, 3, 10
That was a stupid game that both teams deserved to lose. Ten combined turnovers (4 for Pitt, 6 for Duke), and Pitt had 15 penalties in the game. Kudos to Pitt and QB Kenny Pickett for going on a 4-play, 82 yard drive in 47 seconds to notch the go-ahead score with 38 seconds to go, but let’s not forget that they were up 26-3 with under 3:00 to play in the 3rd quarter and blew that lead to even be in the game-winner scenario. Seriously, stupid game (but entertaining). The Panthers are on a bye before heading to Syracuse.
8. Duke (last week: 30-33 L vs Pittsburgh)
Previous Rankings: 13, 8, 5, 4, 2
The Blue Devils probably should have won that game, but they also had no business being in a position to win it being behind by so much so late in the game. Coastal Division football, amirite? QB Quentin Harris had just an 18.3 QBR in the game while tossing a pair of picks. He also averaged a hair over 2.0 yards per carry on 18 totes. Not great. Duke does get a golden opportunity to bounce back as they host Georgia Tech this weekend.
9. Syracuse (last week: BYE)
Previous Ranking: 6, 14, 12, 6, 7
Thursday night in Raleigh, it’s Syracuse versus...
10. NC State (last week: BYE)
Previous Rankings: 2, 4, 8, 8, 12
... in a battle of 3-2 (0-1) teams, both coming off bye weeks.
11. Boston College (last week: 39-41 L @ Louisville)
Previous Rankings: 4, 5, 13, 10, 8
The Eagles should be ranked higher, but they likely just lost QB Anthony Brown to another season-ending knee injury, and his backup wasn’t nearly as crisp. It’s always a joke that BC’s offense is A.J. Dillon and nothing else, but it actually might be that for real now. Dillon, if you’re wondering, went for 118 yards on 22 carries, and hauled in one pass for 36 yards. He’s averaging 5.2 yards/carry on 24 carries/game. That usage is likely about to skyrocket.
12. Virginia Tech (last week: 42-35 W @ Miami)
Previous Rankings: 7, 11, 11, 12, 13
The Hokies found themselves up 28-0 early in the 2nd quarter thanks to Miami being really bad at that thing where you don’t give the ball to the other team. Even being helped to that four TD lead, VT had to put together a late TD drive to break a tie game and secure the win. Sophomore QB Hendon Hooker (from Greensboro) played well in his first career start, going 10-of-20 for 184 yards and 3 TDs passing and rushing 16 times for 76 yards and another score. All three of Hooker’s TD passes went to TE Dalton Keene, and just look at this dude:
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13. Miami (last week: 35-42 L vs Virginia Tech)
Previous Rankings: 9, 10, 6, 13, 6
Manny Diaz is definitely having some first-time-as-a-head-coach issues, but N’Kosi Perry came off the bench and nearly led the come-from-behind victory. The Hurricanes averaged almost 2.0 full yards/play more than the Hokies, but it kinda makes things difficult when you give the ball away five times and the other team doesn’t do that at all. Such is life. Dah You plays host to Virginia on Friday night.
14. Georgia Tech (last week: 22-38 L vs North Carolina)
Previous Ranking: 14, 13, 14, 14, 14
On the bright side, as noted above, the Yellow Jackets actually managed to out-gain an opponent in yard-per-play. The downside, they let the opponent run 44 more plays. On the bright side, again, GT scored the 2nd most points in a game this season. On the downside, again, they didn’t score until midway through the 3rd quarter. Tech heads to Durham to face Duke this weekend.