ACC Football Week 7 Power Rankings: Clemson and then everybody else

Just a few weeks ago, Duke was inching their way towards the top group of the ACC. Now, the Blue Devils are coming off back-to-back losses. They were absolutely dominated by Miami before showing up in Charlottesville last weekend and having a load of trouble on offense before figuring it when it was too late. They’ll look for a big win over Florida State but the Blue Devils may have been fools gold early on this season.

The Eagles have climbed out of the ACC cellar for the first time this season after a tough defensive performance against Virginia Tech. While the offense is still among the worst in the county with no fix coming in the foreseeable future, they may be able to pick up a victory or two the rest of the season thanks to their defense which kept Clemson to just 14 points through three quarters just a few weeks ago.

Pittsburgh’s loss to Syracuse was “something” to say the least. The Panthers not only blew a fourth-quarter lead but had to burn a redshirt on a freshman quarterback. The Panthers defense was slightly better than usual but their offense is still spinning in the mud for the most part. It’s going to be a long season for the Panthers and it’s only half way over.

On review, it’s head-scratching that the Tar Heels were ranked 11th a week ago. While they’re still a team that can beat Boston College and Pittsburgh, there’s no doubt that at this point the Tar Heels are the worst team in the ACC. The injuries keep piling up for the Tar Heels whose backups are simply not ready to compete with high-level teams.