By Will Vandervort.
Where does 19th-ranked Clemson stand in the ACC power rankings heading into tonight’s showdown at Wake Forest? The Clemson Insider breaks down the ACC and more as the league gets ready for Week 11. There was not much moving in the rankings this week as all but one of the favorites won.
1. Florida State (8-0, 5-0 ACC), last week No. 1: Quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns—all in the second half—to rally the No. 2 Seminoles from 21-points down to beat Louisville on Thursday night, 42-31. FSU also got 110 yards from Dalvin Cook and two long TD runs. Winston hit Travis Rudolph, Ermon Lane and Freddie Stevenson for TDs of 68, 47 and 35 yards. The win keeps FSU’s hopes for a berth in the College Football Playoff alive. The Seminoles host Virginia at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
2. Clemson (6-2, 5-1 ACC), last week No. 2: Thanks to FSU’s rally on Thursday night, the Tigers are still in line to claim the ACC’s automatic berth in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31, assuming the Tigers finish out the season without another loss. Clemson needs FSU to remain unbeaten and win the ACC and continue winning itself to earn a second consecutive berth in the Orange Bowl.
3. Duke (7-1, 3-1 ACC), last week No. 3: The Blue Devils beat Pitt in double overtime last week to remain in sole possession of first place in the ACC Coastal Division. Quarterback Thomas Sirk powered his way into the end zone from five yards out on Duke’s second overtime possession. Duke visits Syracuse in the Carrier Dome at 12:30 on Saturday.
4. Louisville (6-3, 4-3 ACC), last week No. 4: Louisville had leads of 21-0 and 24-7 slip away against FSU Thursday night as the Seminoles snapped their 22-game home winning streak under Bobby Petrino. The Cardinals vaunted defense, which led the nation heading into last night’s game, allowed 574 total yards to FSU as well as 35 second half points. The Cardinals will try to avoid a letdown this week when they travel to Boston College in a key Atlantic Division Showdown. The winner of this game will more than likely finish third in the division.
5. Georgia Tech (7-2, 4-2 ACC), last week No. 5: Georgia Tech’s Justin Thomas is the only FBS quarterback this season with a 200-plus passer rating in four games. He posted a 275.3 rating in the season opener vs. Wofford and has recorded three straight 200-passer rating games against UNC, Pitt and Virginia. He threw three touchdown passes in the Yellow Jackets win over the Cavaliers last week. Tech visits NC State on Saturday.
6. Miami (6-3, 3-2 ACC), last week No. 6: Duke Johnson rushed for 177 yards, including touchdown runs of one and 90 yards, as the Hurricanes earned bowl eligibility and remained in the Coastal Division chase with their third consecutive win. Johnson, who now has 3,080 career rushing yards and passed Edgerrin James for second place on Miami’s all-time list. He also raced 37 yards for another touchdown on a screen pass from quarterback Brad Kaaya, who finished his day with three touchdown passes. Miami is off this week as it host No. 2 Florida State.
7. Boston College (6-3, 3-2 ACC), last week No. 7: The Eagles recorded their second consecutive ACC road win to earn bowl eligibility for a second year in a row under head coach Steve Addazio. Quarterback Tyler Murphy threw for two touchdowns and put Virginia Tech away with a 57-yard scoring run with 3:09 remaining. Murphy connected on scoring throws of eight yards to redshirt freshman wide receiver Charlie Callinan and two yards to freshman Marcus Outlow. BC hosts Louisville on Saturday.
8. North Carolina (4-5, 2-3 ACC), last week No. 8: The Tar Heels two-game winning streak came to an end at Miami when the Hurricanes blew them away 47-20 in South Beach. Quarterback Marquise Williams did have a pair of touchdown runs, and linebacker Cayson Collins returned a fumble 39 yards for a score for North Carolina. But Miami limited the Tar Heels to just six net yards rushing and 258 total yards — their lowest output under third-year head coach Larry Fedora. UNC is off this week and will host Pittsburgh on Nov. 15.
9. Virginia (4-5, 2-3 ACC), last week No. 9: The Cavaliers continue to struggled and have now lost three straight games. They will need to win two of their last three games to be bowl eligible and one of those games is against No.2 FSU in Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday.
10. Pitt (4-5, 2-3 ACC), last week No. 10: The Panthers might not want to play at home anymore this season. Pitt is 2-4 at home after losing in back-to-back weeks to Georgia Tech and Duke at Heinz Field. The Panthers have lost five of their last six games. James Conner rushed for 263 yards on 38 carries with three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 51-48 double overtime loss to Duke.
11. Virginia Tech (4-5, 2-3 ACC), last week No. 11: Is Frank Beamer done at Virginia Tech? That question will not be answered for a few more weeks. The Hokies have lost three straight games and are off this week before visiting Duke on Nov. 15.
12. NC State (5-4, 1-4 ACC), last week No. 13: The Wolfpack ended a 12-game ACC losing streak in last week’s win at Syracuse and for that they moved up one spot to No. 12, the only movement in this week’s power rankings. The ‘Pack will host Georgia Tech on Saturday for Homecoming.
13. Syracuse (3-6, 1-4 ACC), last week No. 12: The Orange has no offense. They struggled again in the loss to NC State and it will not be easy this week with Duke coming to the Carrier Dome.
14. Wake Forest (2-6, 0-4 ACC), last week No. 14: After falling behind early, Wake did show some life offensively in its loss to BC – its fourth straight overall. The Demon Deacons are averaging just 9.2 points per game in ACC contests and 14.8 overall. They rank last in the ACC six different offensive categories, including total offense, scoring offense and rushing offense.