ACC Blogger Power Poll – Week Nine

Posted by Brandon Rink on October 31, 2011 under ACC Football | Comments are off for this article

ACCBlogger.com ranks the ACC after week nine…

Rank..(LW)..Team…………………………………Record
1)..(1)..Clemson Tigers………………….8-1 (5-1 ACC)
ACC’s national title hopes? Poof – gone. Georgia Tech took it to the Tigers – holding Clemson to under 400 yards for only the second time of the season and running up 383 rushing yards. Clemson takes a much-needed week off to rest and rehab (especially running back Andre Ellington who missed the GT game) before taking on Wake Forest in Death Valley for their second-trip to the ACC Championship Game.

2)..(2)..Virginia Tech Hokies………………8-1 (4-1 ACC)
Dominating – it was not. The Hokies scuffled to a 14-10 win at Duke, repeatedly not shutting the door on the Blue Devils’ hopes, giving them four fourth-quarter chances  – two in the red zone to take the upset. Virginia Tech definitely has some issues to work out before the Thursday game at Georgia Tech in two weeks – most likely deciding the division.

3)..(T-6)..Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets…………..7-2 (4-2 ACC)
Complete. Domination. That’s how you play with a nationally-televised game and a top-5 BCS team in town, but if they don’t take care of business in two weeks versus Virginia Tech in Atlanta – it’s all for naught.  

4)..(T-6)..Florida State Seminoles………….5-3 (3-2 ACC)
The Seminoles rolled up NC State 34-0 with E.J. Manuel hitting 25-of-34 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns. They get the dreaded-short week before the trip to BC on Thursday, who showed some signs of life at College Park last week.

5)..(T-3)..Wake Forest Demon Deacons…5-3 (4-2 ACC)
Wake Forest’s defense was improved coming in, and allowed 562 total yards and 49 points at UNC. Good news? Like Clemson’s loss at Georgia Tech, it has no bearing on the Atlantic Division title game in Clemson in two weeks. Pretty incredible to think Wake is in this spot after the 3-9 effort last season.

6)..(7)..North Carolina Tar Heels…………6-3 (2-3 ACC)
UNC running back Gio Bernard rushed for three touchdowns and quarterback Bryn Renner had a career-high 338 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 49-24 drilling of the Deacs.

7)..(9)..Virginia Cavaliers…………………..5-3 (2-2 ACC)
The roller coaster ride that is UVa went up this week with a 28-21 road win at Miami. Virginia running back Perry Jones passed for 37-yard touchdown and caught a crucial 78-yard touchdown to seal it.

8)..(T-3)..Miami Hurricanes………………………4-4 (2-3 ACC)
If you were on a roll coming into this week, that most likely ended, and Miami kicked off the weekend that way after impressive wins over UNC and Georgia Tech – laying an egg on a Thursday 28-21 loss to Virginia, putting a nail in the coffin of any late-run to Charlotte.

9)..(8)..North Carolina State Wolfpack ………..4-4 (1-3 ACC)
Back to the drawing board for the Wolfpack after getting shut out 34-0, and hosting a hot UNC offense coming in.   

10)..(11)..Duke Blue Devils…………………………3-5 (1-3 ACC)
Close, but no cigar is the official motto of the 2011 Blue Devils, as they just couldn’t punch in that last score no matter the amount of opportunities Virginia Tech gave them. You look at this season – Duke should’ve been bowling with the amount of close games they’ve played, and instead, just a lot of disappointment.

11)..(12)..Boston College Eagles………………2-6 (1-4 ACC)
BC is on the board with an FBS win with a dominating win in College Park – racking up their most yards (404) since the opener against Northwester. Eagles running back Rolandan Finch had a career-game as a workhorse with 243 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries.

12)..(10).. Maryland Terrapins………..2-6 (1-4 ACC)
Welcome to the cellar, Maryland, after a third home loss of the season, and just never being really in it against previous bottom-of-the-barrel-team BC, 28-17.

Ballots

Brandon Rink: 1) Clemson 2) GT 3) VT 4) Wake Forest 5) FSU 7) UNC 8) Virginia 9) Miami 10) NC State 10) Duke 11) BC 12) Maryland

Griffin Wong: 1) Clemson 2) VT 3) GT 4) FSU 5) UNC 6) Virginia 7) Wake Forest 8) Miami 9) NC State 10) Duke 11) BC 12) Maryland

J.J. Greenstein: 1) Clemson 2) VT 3) GT 4) Wake Forest 5) FSU 6) UNC 7) Virginia 8) Miami 9) NC State 10) Duke 11) Maryland 12) BC