Ranking The ACC After Week One of College Football Action

It was an ugly week one for the ACC, and that's putting it mildly. NC State, Virginia, Duke, and Maryland all had miserable performances. Wake Forest and Virginia Tech also lost providing some shakeup to the pre-season ACC rankings.

The Florida State-Miami game was by far the game of the week. What a thriller!

1) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-0, 0-0) - Last Week 3

Georgia Tech opened with a 37-17 win over Jacksonville St. It was 31-7 at the half and the Jackets just cruised.

They rolled up 497 yards of offense and 335 on the ground. Sounds good right? Nope.

Coach Paul Johnson was not happy with the effort. The Jackets had five fumbles losing three. That's not going to cut it for Johnson. Expect a tough week of practice before playing Clemson on Thursday night.

2) Virginia Tech Hokies (0-1, 0-0) - Last Week 1

The Hokies have nothing to be ashamed of in a 34-24 loss to a very good Alabama team. They are still very much one of the ACC's top teams. There were a few things though that have to concern Frank Beamer.

The normally stout Hokie defense gave up 498 yards of offense to Alabama. The secondary look susceptible to the deep pass, and Virginia Tech got manhandled up front giving up 268 yards rushing.

On the other hand the Crimson Tide are probably one of the country's five best teams, so they will be doing that to a lot of teams.

3) North Carolina Tar Heels (1-0, 0-0) - Last Week 4

North Carolina did exactly what they were supposed to. They dominated from start to finish in an easy 40-6 victory over the Citadel.

Keep an eye on the Tar Heels' defensive front seven. I think they are ACC's best and they played like it. The Citadel only had 30 yards rushing and only 153 total.

Shaun Draughn had 118 yards rushing for the Heels. A road game next week at Connecticut could be interesting.

4) Miami Hurricanes (1-0, 1-0) - Last Week 8

The Canes' season looks a whole lot different now. Miami quarterback Jacory Harris might have come of age in this one. A classic 38-34 win over the Noles, and now the Hurricanes have everyone's attention.

The Canes racked up 476 yards in total offense. You think Randy Shannon is happy about replacing former offensive coordinator Patrick Nix with Mark Whipple? Miami's offense hasn't looked that good in years.

Next Thursday night is a another big-time showdown. This time it's Georgia Tech.

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5) Clemson Tigers (1-0, 0-0) - Last Week 6

The Clemson Tigers have the signature ACC out of conference win of the season over the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders? Ugh...

The defense looks athletic, fast, and aggressive under new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. Kyle Parker looked comfortable starting his first game as quarterback. The offensive line still needs work, and the receivers outside of Jacoby Ford struggled dropping passes, but overall the Tigers played pretty well.

6) Florida State Seminoles (0-1, 0-1) - Last Week 2

Hello, where was the defense? The Noles defense made Jacory Harris look like Tom Brady. Harris is talented, but 386 yards through the air? The secondary looked awful. There was not much of a pass rush either.

The offense and Christian Ponder are fine, but defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews has some work to do. This was a huge loss for the Noles, and one I didn't see coming.

7) Boston College Eagles (1-0, 0-0) - Last Week 10

Boston College might have been the one ACC team that played better than expected and surprised in a good way beating Northeastern 54-0. It was only an FCS school, but FCS schools beat two other ACC schools this week, so it was still a nice performance.

Montel Harris had 113 yards rushing. The quarterback situation is still cloudy. Dave Shinskie and Justin Tuggle both played played reasonably well. With Kent St. next the Eagles should started 2-0.

8) North Carolina State Wolfpack (0-1, 0-0) - Last Week 5

A 7-3 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks is not what I expected at all from the Wolfpack. I don't know if the Pack started believing their press clippings calling them dark horse contenders for the ACC title or if South Carolina is a lot better than people thought.

Whatever it was NC State did not look ready to play. Russel Wilson did not look like an All-ACC quarterback either. With Murray State and Gardner-Webb to play before Pittsburgh, NC State head coach Tom O'Brien has time to figure out what went wrong.

9) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (0-1, 0-0) - Last Week 7

The 24-21 loss to the Baylor Bears isn't as bad as it looks. The quarterback for Baylor Robert Griffin would be a household name if he played just about anywhere else. He's one of the nation's best offensive players.

What I would be worried about if I were a Wake Forest fan is the nearly 200 yards of rushing they gave up. Riley Skinner threw three interceptions. You won't see that very often from the Wake quarterback.

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10) Maryland Terrapins (0-1, 0-0) - Last Week 9

The Terps lost 52-13 to the California Bears this past weekend. Is Maryland that bad or is California that good? Cal is really good. I would have been surprised if the Terps could have kept it within single digits.

California's backfield is as explosive as any in the country, and they rolled up 244 rushing yards. They also had 298 passing yards. Totaling it all up the Terps gave up 542 yards of offense.

I wouldn't write the Terps off just yet, but they aren't going to win the Atlantic either.

11) Duke Blue Devils (0-1, 0-0) - Last Week 12

How can you lose to an FCS school and move up? This just underscores what a bad week it was for the ACC. At least the Richmond Spiders are the defending FCS champions, I guess.

Duke QB Thaddeus Lewis threw for 350 yards but it wasn't enough in a 24-16 loss. Two missed FG's and a blocked punt were the difference in the game.

12) Virginia Cavaliers (0-1, 0-0) - Last Week 11

What can you say about what transpired in Charlottesville in a 26-14 loss to William & Mary? Are you kidding me? The Cavs committed seven turnovers.

Look Cavs, cut your losses and starting looking for a new coach. Al Groh is done. That was flat out embarrassing. The Cavaliers lock down last in this week's ranking with a DOUBLE DIGIT loss to an FCS team.

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