Chris Mitch Pat
1. Florida State 1. Florida State 1. Florida State
2. Virginia Tech 2. Virginia Tech 2. Virginia Tech
3. Maryland 3. UNC 3. Maryland
4. UNC 4. Georgia Tech 4. UNC
5. Georgia Tech 5. Maryland 5. Georgia Tech
6. UVA 6. UVA 6. UVA
7. Clemson 7. Miami 7. Clemson
8. Wake Forest 8. Clemson 8. Miami
9. NC State 9. Wake Forest 9. NC State
10. Miami 10. Boston College 10. Wake Forest
11. Boston College 11. NC State 11. Boston College
12. Duke 12. Duke 12. Duke
Composite Rankings
1. Florida State (LW 1) (2-0)
Mitch: They are not who we wanted them to be. They have a good, deep defense and a solid offense but the QB decision making is poor and the run block non-existent. However, we have yet to seen any designed runs for EJ Manuel or any read options either. Maybe the blandness is on purpose. Maybe we aren't that good. I predict a defensive game until Oklahoma pulls away late in the first half and early in the fourth quarter.
Pat: Wow! Yeah, maybe they’re playing Charleston Southern. And maybe they’re playing Charleston Southern at home. But the key here is they’re playing Charleston Southern at home and only allowing 8 yards of total offense in the first half. Meanwhile, they posted 34 points by halftime. This is a dangerous team, nationally. I could not be more excited for this Saturday at 8 on ABC. I’m not going out on a limb (if you could even call it that) and saying Oklahoma will get Tomahawked in a hostile environment in Tallahassee. But I am saying that this will be the best game of the season thus far, and if Oklahoma wins, then they are the real deal because this Seminole squad is a serious threat to anyone they face up against.
Chris: This felt like an "old" Virginia Tech football game. Old as in just a few seasons ago but it was a style of win that I have missed at Virginia Tech. It was too close but a win is a win (cliche I know). Tough defense and a tough running game were the keys to this win. Logan Thomas struggled and that's to be expected this was only his second start. Virginia Tech ran for 241 yards as a team, led by David Wilson who had 138 yards on 26 carries. Josh Oglesby scored two touchdowns on the ground for Virginia Tech and runs hard. I really love Oglesby. He's been a backup his whole career at Tech, moved to fullback last year due to the crowded running back situation and has moved back to tailback this season. Runs hard, plays hard.
Mitch: I am not surprised Virginia Tech had more trouble with East Carolina than with Appalachian State. ECU is a better team. Plus, have you seen their mid-field logo? Pretty sure it swallowed up a few Hokies during the game, giving the Pirates a better chance. In other news, the Tech schedule is good and they have to work out the kinks against Arkansas State and Marshall before playing an athletic Clemson team.
Pat: Chalk this win up to an aggressive defense, an aggressive defense and coaching. Although the defense could be characterized as a little too overzealous in this match-up, with 6 penalties, resulting in 53 yards for Eastern Carolina. But that’s a natural characteristic of Beamerball, right? In turn, the Hokies held the Pirates to only 112 yards total offense, and completely cut off East Carolina’s running game holding them to -15 yards total rushing yards for the game. Where’s Chris Johnson when you need him? Drew Donovan’s fantasy team. I can’t say that this game revealed many flaws in the Va. Tech team, but it was a little too close for comfort.
3. Maryland/UNC (Maryland LW 4/ UNC LW 3) (Maryland 1-0/UNC 2-0)
Mitch: This is a well coached team. I love watching a new coach have his players believe in his system. I am not sure they have the talent to be better than my top four teams but they will be representing the ACC in a bowl somewhere. I hope they work their way through the bottom 3/4 of the conference and leave the top two teams alone.
Chris: Maryland gets the benefit of having the week off and we don't get to see if we saw the real Maryland against Miami. We don't even know who the Miami team is that they beat on Labor Day. We still have a lot of questions about Maryland but we should get some answers this weekend when West Virginia comes to town. This should be a good game and could come down to quarterback play where I believe Maryland has the advantage with Danny O'Brien over West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith. It also doesn't hurt that Maryland's new coach, Randy Edsall, spent the last few years coaching against WVU as the head coach at Connecticut. I don't know if this would be a huge upset but I think Maryland pulls it out at home this weekend.
Pat: Sometimes, you have to fight it out to beat the tough teams. And that’s exactly what happened here. Carolina beat themselves. When you’re faced up against a talented team like Virginia Tech, Clemson or even Virginia next week, 5 turnovers, 3 of which come on your side of the field, won’t lead you to a victory. As well, the defensive back trouble is starting to show; 3rd or 4th and 15 should be automatic after two great downs, but indicative of the UNC style, 5 times did the Scarlet Knights convert on 3rd or 4th with 8+ yards to go. This could, however be a reflection of the tired defense who, because of all the turnovers and short drives, stayed on the field much longer than necessary. They’re going to need to work out some kinks going forward if they want to keep this winning streak alive. Is this a reflection of the developing coaching staff or a developing offense?
Chris: There's been a lot of talk between Pat and I about the best fight song in the country but I want to talk about the best song that deals with a state. There's "California Girls" (The Beach Boys) and "California Gurls" (Katy Perry) for the state of California, "New York, New York" (Frank Sinatra) and "Empire State of Mind" (Jay-Z) for New York and the song "All My Exes Live in Texas" (George Strait) for the state of Texas. Obviously there are plenty of other songs that deal with states but North Carolina has the best song dedicated to their state, Petey Pablo's "Raise Up". As evidence I present it below for a short power ranking break.
(Grandma don't listen to that song)
5. Georgia Tech (LW 7) (2-0)
Chris: The passing game of Georgia Tech should scare the rest of the ACC. Mitch is about to argue against this but any growth in the passing game is great for GT. They passed for 214 yards and were able to run for another 382 yards. I know I am nervous that Georgia Tech is getting confident in the passing game and this will translate to the rest of the season.
Mitch: A tough call for my number three spot but UNC took it over Georgia Tech. People have been excited about the passing game, however they played Western Carolina and Middle Tennessee University. Granted Tech is known for the triple option but any QB could have done well against the defenses the Jackets faced. Good for them. The real challenge is week 4 against the Heels.
6.UVA (LW 8) (2-0)
Pat: With 10 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, this game looked over, but then both teams started trading turnovers. One of these turnovers helped Indiana take the lead in the 4th quarter at 24-23. The Cavaliers regained composure and finished what they had started. But this begs the question, how did they get into this situation? Did they begin to relax a bit after stretching out to a 3 possession lead to begin the second half? Regardless, Indiana is too bad of a football team to be catching up that late in the game. As I’ve expressed so far this football season, I’m sold on the Wahoos, as far as they are compared to the rest of the ACC. Am I wrong or is this just another year where only 4 or 5 teams in the ACC are the only ones that deserve notoriety in the NCAA? They’ll have a good early season test next week in Chapel Hill.
Chris: UVA is establishing a running game and it is lead by Kevin Parks who has 5 touchdowns in the first two games. He is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and is just a Freshman. The improved recruiting by Mike London is already paying off for Virginia.
7. Clemson (LW 6) (2-0)
Pat: What happened here? Sorry to say, this game was pretty evenly matched throughout. Did Dabo have too much control during the game or practice? Like I said, I can’t completely jump on a talent-laden team like Clemson until they find someone to organize and lead the team from the sidelines. They better pick up the play before its time to start playing Division 1 teams. Clemson loses their next 3 by a wide margin.
8. Miami (LW 9) (0-1)
Chris: Miami is still such a question mark. We have only seen them once this season and that was without 8 players that will play this season. We learn who they are this weekend when Ohio State comes down to Sun Life Stadium. Miami could take a huge jump in the Power Rankings after this weekend.
Pat: Miami is leading the best of the ACC teams with losses. Probably because they (like Maryland) did not play this week. Every season I put my full confidence in a newly rejuvenated, headline-making ACC, and by week 2 I’m disappointed that my favorite team must compete, and more-often-than-not, lose to the sad display of college football that resides in the ACC. Miami lost last week, and will lose next week. But, for now, they’re showing against Maryland grants them access to the best of the worst.
9. Wake Forest (LW 11) (1-1)
Chris: Wake Forest beat NC State last weekend and now I struggle with how to rank them. I don't really believe that Wake Forest is better than NC State but they beat them. Only time will tell about Wake but I don't expect this season to be good for them. They have a great coach but there is a talent difference and Wake just doesn't have the talent it did a few years ago.
Mitch: My wife is a Wake Forest alum. I am so happy for her and the Deacs. Finding ways to win, or rather taking advantage of teams who find ways to lose, are unifying moments in a season. The Wolfpack opened the door and the Deacons walked through. Well done....trying not to get a Russell Wilson/Tom O'Brien dig in...trying not....
10. NC State (LW 5) (1-1)
Mitch: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah....has anyone been watching what Russell Wilson is doing in Wisconsin? Hahahahahahahahahahahah you lost to Wake Forest.
Chris: NC State has taken a huge tumble in the Power Rankings as they started the preseason at the third spot. I believed they could challenge FSU for the top of the Atlantic Division but I think that's done. You can't have silly loses to a bad Wake Forest team and hope to be ahead of FSU at the end of the year. I am not trying to say NC State's season is over, far from it, but this team has a lot of work to do.
11. Boston College (LW 10) (0-2)
Pat: This team isn’t the worst in the ACC, but they’ve had significant loses to somewhat decent teams. Thus far into the season, it is not fair to doubt whether or not they’ve had the toughest competition, they have. But, they aren’t doing much to compete, especially not this week. Hey, at least you guys didn’t lose to Richmond like Duke did, again…
Chris: Boston College's problem is on offense. Through two games Boston College has 620 yards of total offense while their defense has let up 846 total yards. They aren't scoring, they aren't moving the ball and in turn they are really bad. This team might be worse than Duke. Hey we don't have to spend too much time debating who is worse they play this weekend!! ACC Football! Catch the Fever!
12. Duke (LW 12) (0-2)
Chris: Duke lost to Stanford in about the fashion we expected. Not a lot to say here it's actually their loss to Richmond from the week before that keeps them here.
Mitch: Losing to Stanford is not an embarrassment. Stanford is a solid program. I hope Duke can do with their program what Stanford has done with theirs. Smart people can play football too, but until then, Duke will remain at the bottom of the pile. I thought about Boston College being here, but BC has better players so if these two teams played Boston College would have more "power" and that's why the Devils get the lower ranking in The Sports Party Power Rankings (TSPPR).
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