The ACC had some interesting games last weekend and some proved why the conference is legit while others certainly didn't help the case. There were some cupcake blowouts as expected and then there were some last minute escapes. Here's the rankings for the conference reflecting all of that.
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1. Florida State (1-0, 0-0) - This week: vs. Charleston Southern
The Seminoles were down 28-6 at one point against Ole Miss and mounted the greatest comeback in school history thanks to redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois. He finished with 419 yards passing and two touchdowns against a defense most people thought would swallow him whole. He outshone senior Chad Kelly and DeMarcus Walker is now a hot name to watch on defense.
RELATED: Ole Miss suffers the most epic meltdown to give FSU its greatest comeback in school history
2. Clemson (1-0, 0-0) - This week: vs. Troy
The Tigers beat Auburn, but it was pretty sloppy. The 19-13 win was not a good showing for quarterback Deshaun Watson who finished with 248 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception. The defense was solid throughout, but the offense looked stagnant at times even with Mike Williams balling out in his return from a serious neck injury.
3. Louisville (1-0, 0-0) - This week: at Syracuse
Lamar Jackson is the truth and he set a school record for touchdowns in the first half with eight! He threw six and ran the other two in to account for 405 total yards in the game on the way to a 70-14 win over a very overmatched Charlotte team. If Jackson keeps putting up big numbers the Cards may very well scare the top two teams in the conference.
RELATED: Lamar Jackson sets school record for TDs in a game...by halftime
4. Miami (1-0, 0-0) - This week: vs. FAU
Mark Richt has not yet lost control of the program with a season opening 70-3 win against Florida A&M. Quarterback Brad Kaaya didn't do much because the game got out of hand so quickly, but he did end up with four touchdowns on 12-of-18 passing. He only finished with 135 yards, but the Canes also had three running backs top 100 yards on the ground each.
5. Pittsburgh (1-0, 0-0) This week: vs. Penn State
The Panthers did beat Villanova, but it was only a 28-7 margin so it wasn't quite as impressive as people would have liked or hoped. However, James Conner came back to beat the Wildcats and his cancer diagnosis on his way to two touchdowns and a nice 69 yards of total offense. The running backs have to better though as they only averaged 2.5 yards per carry.
6. North Carolina - (0-1, 0-0) This week: at Illinois
The Tar Heels took one on the chin against Georgia in Atlanta —- basically a home game for the Dawgs —- to the tune of a 33-24 score. Running backs T.J. Logan and Elijah Hood looked solid with both rushing for more than 70 yards each. Mitch Trubisky was just just OK at QB throwing for 156 yards on 24-of-40 passing.
7. Georgia Tech - (1-0, 1-0) This week: vs Mercer
This was probably the ugliest game of the weekend and it was fortunate the game took place in Dublin, Ireland at 7:30 in the morning on Saturday. That way fewer people would have to witness this affront to college football. Someone had to win though and that was the Yellow Jackets 17-14 thanks to a late touchdown run by Dedrick Mills with 35 seconds left in the game to seal the deal. It's also nice to get an early conference win so that holds a little extra weight too.
8. N.C. State - (1-0, 0-0) This week: at ECU
The Wolfpack had a nice showing against William & Mary winning 48-14. Ryan Findley seems to be grasping the offense at quarterback as he threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns on an impressive 17-of-21 passing. Running back Matt Dayes had 156 total yards of offense with 138 of them coming on the ground to go with two touchdowns. Jaylen Samuels was impressive as well with three total touchdowns on 90 yards of total offense.
9. Virginia Tech (1-0, 0-0) This week: Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway
The Hokies got their first win under coach Justin Fuente 36-13 against Liberty. It's not as pretty as it should have been, but quarterback Jerod Evans was great. He threw for four touchdowns and 221 yards 20-of-32 passing. The running game leaves a lot to desired as it took ten different rushers to get 206 yards on the ground against an inferior opponent.
10. Duke (1-0, 0-0) This week: vs Wake Forest
The Blue Devils got a nice 49-6 win over N.C. Central and QB Daniel Jones had a solid outing. He threw for two touchdowns and 189 yards on 10-of-15 passing while running for another touchdown and 28 yards. Jela Duncan was great going for 115 yards on the ground and scoring two touchdowns as well.
11. Syracuse (1-0, 0-0) This week: vs Louisville
The Orange offense under Dino Babers will finally be fun to watch as the team racked up 554 total yards of offense against Colgate. They brushed off the Raiders 33-7 and had 355 yards of passing from Eric Dungey to get the season started right. The running backs left a bit to be desired as top rusher Moe Neal only managed to muster 68 yards on the ground.
12. Wake Forest (1-0, 0-0) This week: at Duke
The Demon Deacons get a nod over the last two ACC teams in the rankings since they actually won their game. Granted, it was a super ugly game as they won 7-3 despite having only 175 yards of offense against the Green Wave's 280. There are absolutely no positives about this game to speak of otherwise.
13. Boston College (0-1, 0-1) This week: UMass in Foxboro
The Golden Eagles couldn't even get a win in Ireland of all places against the triple option running Yellow Jackets. They had almost 100 more total yards than GT, but the three turnovers killed them and their chances at winning. Hopefully they right the ship against a MAC team like the Minutemen.
14. Virginia (0-1, 0-0) This week:
The Cavaliers posted the second-worst loss by a Power 5 team to an FCS opponent in the past 10 years, falling to Richmond 37-20. Richmond had over 200 more total yards than the Cavs and UVA committed four turnovers. Even against an inferior FCS opponent that is too much adversity to overcome for a win.
