Ranking the ACC After Week 6 of College Football.

Georgia Tech won a wild one in Tallahassee over the reeling Florida State Seminoles. Virginia Tech looked impressive in blowing out Boston College.

This sets up one of the ACC's biggest games of the season next week.

Virginia Tech is looking to get into the national title chase, and Georgia Tech wants to get back in the thick of the Coastal Division race.

The Virginia Cavaliers suddenly are playing a whole lot better, and smoked the Big 10's Indiana Hoosiers.

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1) Virginia Tech Hokies (5-1, 3-0) - Last week 1

The Hokies are starting to look scary good. That was a decent Boston College team they thumped 48-14 this past weekend.

Tyrod Taylor continues to improve as quarterback and led the Hokies to 441 total yards of offense, with 206 yards in the air and 235 on the ground. Ryan Williams had 159 rushing himself.

The defense, looking like a typical Bud Foster defense, held BC to only 163 total yards. Next week is an ACC showdown with offensively red-hot Georgia Tech.

2) Miami Hurricanes (4-1, 2-1) - Last Week 2

The Canes finally played a non-ranked opponent this week. Miami did what good teams do. Against Florida A&M they got up early then just cruised in the 48-16 win.

Miami also put up 470 yards of offense. Jacory Harris had an efficient game and was 16-for-24 with 217 yards passing and two touchdowns. Central Florida next week should be another breather for Miami, as the Canes will root big time for the Yellow Jackets to beat the Hokies.

 

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

Paul Johnson and the Yellow Jackets wanted a legitimate shot at the ACC Coastal Division. Next week they get that opportunity against Virginia Tech.

Win and they are tied with Miami and Virginia Tech in the loss column, and the Coastal race would just be getting started. Oddly enough, Virginia would be the first place team.

Josh Nesbitt is playing outstanding football at quarterback. His recent ability to throw the ball will help open things up for the running game. The Jackets took everything the Noles had and still won 49-44.

The defense has to be concern though. Dave Wommack better figure something out on the defensive side of the ball. His defense has been downright awful at times this year.

4) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-2, 2-1) - Last Week 6

It's a big drop from the No. 3 team Georgia Tech to the No. 4 Wake Forest team. The Atlantic division is pretty bad, and the Deacs have as good a shot as anyone to win it. They came away with a 42-32 win over Maryland.

Riley Skinner had another big game throwing for 360 yards and four touchdowns. If Jacory Harris wasn't having such a good season, Skinner is probably your All-ACC First Team quarterback. Wake Forest is second in the ACC in total offense averaging 426 yards a game. A pivotal game is next week at Clemson.

5) North Carolina Tar Heels (4-2, 0-2) - Last Week 7

The Tar Heels are a tough team to figure out. How good are they really? The offense still has plenty of issues. In spite of beating Georgia Southern 42-12, the Heels only had 289 yards of total offense and punted six times.

North Carolina's defense is ranked No. 1 in the ACC and No. 5 in the nation. If the Heels are to make any noise in the ACC Coastal this year they can't fall to 0-3 in conference.

They face FSU on a Thursday Oct. 22. I still think this can be a really good team. The defense is great, they just need a little offense to go along with it.

6) Boston College Eagles (4-2, 2-2) - Last Week 4

The Eagles never had a chance in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech. They were down 34-0 at the half.

Coach Frank Spaziani might just want to forget this one and move on. BC only had 45 yards rushing and 118 yards passing. If Boston College can comeback and defeat NC State next week at home, they'd still be in very solid position to contend for the Atlantic Division title.

7) Clemson Tigers (2-3, 1-2) - Last Week 9

In the Atlantic Division, if you don't play, you move up in the rankings. If the Tigers can find any semblance of an offense, they can still be a big factor in the Atlantic.

They cannot afford a loss to Wake Forest Saturday. I'd suggest getting the ball into the hands of C.J. Spiller as much as possible.

8) Virginia Cavaliers (2-3, 1-0) - Last Week 11

What has gotten into the Cavaliers? A 47-point, 536 yard explosion against Indiana was not something I expected.

This offense came in ranked 117th in nation. Jameel Sewelllooks locked in at quarterback, and Mikell Simpson had four touchdown runs. The Cavs have a winnable home game at Maryland next week.

That gives them a decent chance to get to 3-3, and 2-0 in the conference. A Virginia Tech loss, and the Virginia Cavaliers would sit atop the Coastal Division. This was unthinkable a month ago. Question for Cav fans ... If the Cavaliers make it to a bowl, do you want Al Groh to stay?

9) Florida State Seminoles (2-4, 0-3) - Last Week 8

How do you lose scoring 44 points, gain over 500 yards on offense, and score touchdowns the first five times you have the ball?

When you play defense as badly as Florida State, that's how.

I never thought I'd see a Mickey Andrews defense ranked 108th in the nation and dead last in the ACC. Still, this team hasn't lost a game by more than 10 points, and isn't that far from being 4-2, or 5-1.

The Noles only have two more home games. Outside of a game at Florida, there isn't a game left for FSU they can't win. A 5-1 finish wouldn't shock me, but neither would 1-5. Christian Ponder is as good as advertised at quarterback.

More hard questions are going to hit Bobby Bowden about his future this week. Next game is with UNC in just under two weeks.

10) Duke Blue Devils (3-3, 1-1) - Last Week 12

The Blue Devils went to NC State and pounded the Wolfpack 49-28 to even their record at 3-3. Just another indication of how much better the Coastal Division is over the Atlantic Division.

Thaddeous Lewis had a monster game throwing for 459 yards. I guess he didn't like how head coach David Cutcliffe was starting to split the QB duties with backup Sean Renfree.

I bet the Blue Devils wish they could have back that loss to Richmond. That could be the difference between Duke going to a bowl game or not. The Blue Devils are going to give teams headaches all year with that solid passing offense they have.

In two weeks, they get Maryland at home.

11) North Carolina State Wolfpack (3-3, 0-2) - Last Week 6

This was supposed to be a darkhorse ACC title contender? Are they really the ACC's 11th best team?

After getting creamed by Duke at home, how can I have them higher? Other teams are just playing better.

They have now lost two games in a row, and in the stats mean nothing category, they are ranked second in the ACC in defense. The Blue Devils just dropped over 500 yards of offense on them.

This team has got work to do to get bowl eligible. Other than a home win over Pittsburgh, they have no other wins of note. Their next two games are on the road at Boston College and at Florida State. Two wins and they can win the Atlantic, two losses and they probably won't go to a bowl game.

12) Maryland Terrapins (2-4, 1-1) - Last Week 10

Well the Terps were back to being the Terps. Wake Forest scored 42 points and ran up over 500 yards of offense on them.

Did some ACC defenses just take the week off?

Maryland's 102nd ranked defense has been taking most of the season off. They get surging Virginia at home next week.