Ranking the ACC after Week 4 of College Football Action

Pop! That's the sound of Miami's bubble bursting after running into an absolute buzzsaw in Blacksburg. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Hokies are still the team to beat in the ACC. Georgia Tech has a nice win over North Carolina, and what the heck is up with Florida State losing badly to South Florida?

Previous Rankings

Pre-season

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

1) Virginia Tech Hokies (3-1, 1-0) - Last Week 1

That was impressive, Virginia Tech. Scratch FSU's win over BYU as the ACC's best performance this year, because this was better.

Miami came in red hot, with all the national hype. Virginia Tech's defense looked like its worst in years.

A 31-7 beating of the Canes later, and Hokies remain the ACC's best team, just like they've been most of the last half decade. The Hokies defense held Miami's offense to only 209 total yards, and 59 on the ground.

You can say the weather affected Miami, but Virginia Tech was on a mission today.

2) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-1, 2-1) - Last Week 5

Paul Johnson had to be pleased with the Jackets performance in a 24-7 win over previously unbeaten North Carolina. Georgia Tech churned out 317 yards on the ground, in their best game of the year.

Tech's defense only gave up 154 total yards. Johnson and DC Dave Wommack switched from a 4-2-5 defense to a 4-3-4, and simplified the defensive playcalling. It seemed to work.

Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer who had been off to a slow start, had 158 yards rushing. Next week, the Jackets step out of the conference to play Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are a team Georgia Tech can't overlook.

3) Miami Hurricanes (2-1, 2-1) - Last Week 2

It was a bad loss to Virginia Tech, but I'm willing to give the Canes the benefit of the doubt. That was a really motivated, angry Hokie squad Miami ran into. The Hurricanes will be factor all season in the ACC Coastal.

They just have to hope someone will knock off the Hokies. Not much more to add on this one for Miami. Randy Shannon should just throw away the tape and get ready for Oklahoma next week.

4) North Carolina State Wolfpack (3-1, 0-0) - Last Week 8

NC State makes the biggest move of the week. The Wolfpack had a solid 38-31 win over one of the Big East's top teams, the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Since a 7-3 loss to South Carolina that doesn't look so bad now, the Pack is averaging an astonishing 49 points a game.

NC State quarterback Russell Wilson had 322 yards passing and extended his NCAA record of passes without an interception to 364.

Suddenly, with FSU trying to find some consistency, and Clemson trying to find an offense, the Wolfpack could be the Atlantic's team to beat.

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

North Carolina has a better defense that what it showed today. They gave up 406 total yards today, and couldn't get Georgia Tech off the field.

The Yellow Jackets held the ball for 42 minutes. That didn't help an offense that didn't play well at all. The Heels had just 17 rushing yards and 8 first downs.

With Virginia coming to Chapel Hill next week, North Carolina has an opportunity to get the offensive problems corrected. I would start by continuing to get the ball WR Erik Highsmith who looks like a star in the making.

With Virginia Tech and Miami left to play down the road, the Heels are not out of the ACC Coastal race by any stretch.

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6) Boston College Eagles (3-1, 1-1) - Last Week 7

Boston College continues to be the most surprising team in the ACC. With all the off-season issues they've had and the trouble finding a quarterback, Frank Spaziani's squad could have easily packed it in this season.

Instead, the Eagles find themselves 3-1. Even though BC surrendered 496 total yards to Wake Forest, they stopped the Deacs from scoring in overtime.

QB Dave Shinskie had three TD tosses. If BC beats Florida State next week, I think you could argue the Eagles are one of the nation's most surprising teams.

7) Clemson Tigers (2-2, 1-1) - Last Week 6

No shame in the Tigers losing to a solid TCU team. Head Coach Dabo Swinney has still never beaten a ranked team, though.

A win here, I think could have given Clemson some real momentum for season, instead the Tigers have to figure out what's the problem with the offense.

QB Kyle Parker's development seems to have stalled. Jacoby Ford is the only Clemson receiver who's played with any consistency so far.

The defense is rock solid, but if the Tigers want to contend in the ACC, the offense will need to be more than just C.J Spiller and Ford. Clemson's offense should get well against an atrocious Maryland defense next week.

8) Florida State Seminoles (2-2, 0-1) - Last Week 4

What is wrong the Noles? After blowing out BYU last week, Florida State was simply a no-show against a South Florida team that just wanted it more.

The Noles only had 19 rushing yards. That's completely unacceptable for a team that was supposed to have one of the ACC's best offensive lines.

I was totally wrong about the Noles. I thought they were on the verge of returning to the Seminoles of old. There's talent at Florida State, but these guys just don't play with any sense of urgency or heart at times.

If Noles played as hard as BC did, they'd be 4-0. It'll be an interesting game next week when the two hook up.

9) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-2, 0-1) - Last Week 9

It's not real clear which way the Deacs are headed. Wake Forest has wins over Elon and Stanford and closes losses to Baylor and BC.

Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner had 354 yards through the air against BC, and Wake Forest had 142 on the ground.

It was a pretty good effort on the offensive side of the ball, until Wake fumbled inside the BC five in overtime. Next up for Wake is an NC State team that is rolling on offense.

10) Duke Blue Devils (2-2, 0-0) - Last Week 10

Duke evened its record to 2-2 with a 49-14 win over FCS school North Carolina Central. Duke had 487 yards of total offense and the defense held the Eagles to 181 yards.

Freshman running back Desmond Scott had 100 yards rushing. The Blue Devils get a major step up in competition when Virginia Tech comes to Durham next week.

11) Maryland Terrapins (1-3, 0-0) - Last Week 11

Wow, Maryland is awful. I thought it would be a rough season for the Terps, but I can't believe a Ralph Friedgen-coached team is this bad.

You have only 28 yards rushing against a mediocre Rutgers team and you have Da'rel Scott as your running back? The defense is downright one of the worst in Division 1 football. It's going to a long season in College Park.

12) Virginia Cavaliers (0-3, 0-0) - Last Week 12

How's the Cavs' coaching search is going? They get to play an angry UNC team next week.

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