ACC Blogger Power Poll: Week Four

Posted by Brandon Rink on September 27, 2010 under ACC Football | Comments are off for this article

The only thing we seem to know at this point – is that we know just about nothing right now with a wild, weird start to the ACC season. My lead for my ACC wrap-up on Southern Pigskin this week…

All those previews I spent hours upon hours writing – just throw them out the window (you did print them out, didn’t you?).

NC State, as it stands now through a month of football, is the best team in the ACC. FSU has a top 25 defense in the nation through 4 games. Boston College, considered the DarkSleeperHorse in the ACC, has no offense to speak of. Virginia Tech, the team that lost to James Madison a couple weeks ago, shutout an ACC opponent on the road, but the offensive playcalling is still a little curious and the defense really wasn’t tested.

Speaking of defenses not really being tested – I give you the Pittsburgh Panthers. Wow, they were awful, but Miami took advantage to a 31-3 road win.

Oh yes, it can get worse out-of-conference – thanks, Duke. But UNC kept up the perfect record against the Big East with the 17-13 road win in Jersey. Maryland went back-and-forth with FIU until blowing them off the field late with big runs by Scott and Meggett. <See rest of my thoughts here>

But I think we do have a clearer field for ranking this week and here’s what I’ve got (be sure to check ACC Rivals for the complete poll too!)…

Rank..(LW)..Team…………………………………Record
1)..(2)..North Carolina State Wolfpack………..4-0 (1-0 ACC)
Last week, we were a little wary of ranking NC State at 2nd – they proved their worth and more against Georgia Tech Saturday. Wilson torched Georgia Tech’s D and the running game was working too. The improvement on defense for the Pack really won the game though as they disrupted the Jackets all game – now, they have 3 ACC home games and a chance to grab a big advantage in the Atlantic through October.

2)..(1)..Clemson Tigers………………2-1 (0-0 ACC)
Had the bye week to prep for the ‘Canes coming to TigerTown Saturday. No pressure, Dabo – only the difference between coming out on top and being a favorite in the Atlantic – losing and being the talk of Clemson sports radio with folks calling for your head.

3)..(5)..Miami Hurricanes………………………2-1 (0-0 ACC)
Miami had the least impressive 4 TD road BCS victory I’ve ever seen at Pitt – which is good and bad I guess. The coaches have things to yell at ‘em about going into Clemson, but they did get the big road win regardless.

4)..(6)..Florida State Seminoles………….3-1 (1-0 ACC)
FSU dominated Wake Forest on both sides of the ball – the score was 31-0, but it felt like 56-0. The ‘Noles continue the slow uphill climb in the ACC at Virginia this week in a “white-out.”

5)..(3)..Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets…………..2-2 (1-1 ACC)
Yes, it’s time to hit the panic button. The offense isn’t running smoothly – the defense is struggling to stop anybody, buuuuuuut give credit to NC State for being the better team – maybe Georgia Tech will fare better in the Coastal.

6)..(11)..Virginia Tech Hokies…………………2-2 (1-0 ACC)
Well of course Virginia Tech went on the road in the ACC and shutout BC – makes perfect sense after their start. It’s more a case of the Eagles playing poor than the Hokies dominating, but hey, they’re undefeated in the ACC and no one in the Coastal is really stepping up to the table either.

7)..(7)..Maryland Terrapins……………………3-1 (0-0 ACC)
Maryland took care of business against a tricky FIU squad. The Terps play the struggling Blue Devils to open ACC play next week, and have a bye before going down to Clemson.

8)..(4)..Boston College Eagles………………….2-1 (0-1 ACC)
So, that went well. I feel bad for all the ESPNU telecasts this season without the ability to talk about “Uncle” Dave Shinkie now. Good news, it’s only game 1 of 8 in the ACC – still time to fix things, but they now have to hold the home field the rest of the season and grab some big road wins to take the Atlantic.

9)..(9)..North Carolina Tar Heels…………1-2 (0-1 ACC)
Defense – no matter how depleted it was – led the way against Rutgers in the 17-13 win. Big stops and turnovers kept the Heels in it to win it in Jersey. UNC plays the guns-blazin’ ECU Pirates in Chapel Hill this weekend.

10)..(10)..Virginia Cavaliers…………………..2-1 (0-0 ACC)
The ‘Hoos rolled over VMI 48-7. VMI is like Virginia’s Presbyterian so not much to go on except Virginia avoided the dreaded FCS loss in ’10. The ACC season starts this week for the Cavaliers with Florida State.

11)..(8)..Wake Forest Demon Deacons…2-2 (1-1 ACC)
The Deacs were contained by a surprisingly dominate FSU D, but it was basically the same story for Wake – little to no defense. They will face a swarm of angry bees Saturday night with Johnson’s Jackets coming out of an embarrassing home loss.

12)..(12)..Duke Blue Devils…………………………1-3 (0-0 ACC)
Renfree leads the ACC in passing (barely) over Russell Wilson, but he did his team no favors against Army with 3 INTs (two to start the game that led to 2 Army TDs right off the bat) and a fumble in the 35-21 beatdown. How about that team Coach K has this year – they’re gonna be good.

How would you rank ‘em? Opinions on this weekend’s game? Matchups you’re looking forward too next week?