Editor’s Note: As Hillsboroughsports.com expands its umbrella into middle school sports, we’re also opening our doors to college sports commentary. Each week, Curran Campbell will provide his insight into ACC football and basketball, Curran graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2018. He is the former play-by-play voice of the Red Wolves who is now a freshman at Syracuse University.
It is 5 weeks into this college football season, and we are officially into conference play in the ACC. For the remainder of this season, I will be giving you my no holds barred thoughts on where every ACC team stands on a weekly basis. Every team that played a game the previous week will get a blurb, and at the end I’ll have my power rankings and predictions for this weeks ACC slate. Now that you know the rules, here we go!
Clemson
While still the top dog in the conference after a close call with the Tar Heels, Clemson had some weaknesses exposed in their trip up to Chapel Hill. The Tigers struggled with crowd noise in a rowdy Kenan Stadium, committing 5 false start penalties on the day. Clemson also had trouble dealing with the North Carolina pass rush. The Double A Gap blitz employed by Jay Bateman’s crew frequently led to a lot of hits on Trevor Lawrence. If the Tigers are going to repeat as national champs, they’re going to need to have better blitz recognition and learn how to deal with noise in a hostile road environment.
Duke
Duke continues to roll along after their inevitable season opening loss to Alabama, the 45-10 drubbing of a disheveled Virginia Tech team their most recent victory. Quarterback Quentin Harris has been excellent in taking care of the football for the Blue Devils and also leads the team in rushing yards. For Duke, the team is going to go as far as Harris can take them, and so far, it looks like they can be a competitor for the Coastal crown.
Wake Forest
Dave Clawson’s bunch barely held on against Boston College to win 27-24 on the road, but a road win in the ACC is a road win in the ACC nonetheless. The “holding on for dear life at the end” thing has been a theme for this Wake team all season long, and the Demon Deacons have played such disciplined football, I see no reason why it can’t carry them to a 9 or 10 win season. They are without a doubt the second best team in the Atlantic as of today. Also, if you don’t know about Sage Surratt already, you should now. Surratt leads the conference with 515 reception yards and is tied with his teammate, Scotty Washington, for most receiving touchdowns with 6. Yeah.
Syracuse
Quarterback Tommy DeVito and his fantastic receiving corps of Trishton Jackson, Taj Harris, and Sean Riley beat FCS Holy Cross 41-3 on Saturday. I don’t have a whole lot to say about Syracuse this week, as they did exactly what was expected of them. Going into the bye week, the Orange just need to focus on getting star safety Andre Cisco, who had a tie for the most interceptions in college football last year (7), healthy.
North Carolina
Mack is back. That has been the story for the Tar Heels all season, and their performance, despite losing 21-20, against Clemson is another indicator of the strides North Carolina has made this season. Under Fedora, the tough loss to Appalachian State snowballs into a prolonged streak of poor play. Brown clearly has his team playing disciplined football, which has been sorely lacking for 3 years in Chapel Hill. The key for Carolina is the play of their trio of tailbacks; Michael Carter, Antonio Williams, and Javonte Williams. If those three keep playing at the level they have so far this season, I expect the November 2nd matchup against Virginia in Chapel Hill to decide the Coastal division.
Virginia
There is no shame in the Hoos 35-20 loss on the road at Notre Dame. Similar to Duke, U.Va. will go as far as their QB can take them. Bryce Perkins is a freakishly good, dare I say, Newtonesque athlete. As mentioned earlier, the November 2nd matchup at North Carolina will be their biggest game of the season.
Florida State
The Noles have rallied well after a rough start, with a solid comeback win over Louisville and most recently a dominant 31-13 win over NC State. The FSU defense has the ability to be dominant, and Cam Akers may be the best tailback in the ACC. The question mark for Florida State comes at the QB position. James Blackman has a fantastic arm, but the team seemingly plays better for Alex Hornibrook, who has thrown 5 TDs to zero picks in a game and a half as the Seminole starter. Will FSU go back to Blackman, or will they stick with Hornibrook? Either way, the Seminoles are definitely trending up right now.
Pitt
Pitt barely survived against FCS Delaware, squeaking by in a 17-14 game at Heinz Field, albeit with starting QB Kenny Pickett out with an injury. Pitt is a competitor for the Coastal title, only if Pickett can get healthy again. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long season for the Panthers, as backup Nick Patti is certainly not Pitt’s version of Kyle Allen.
Boston College
This is not a good football team up at Chestnut Hill. Steve Addazio’s teams in the past have been known to boast a strong defense. Despite playing decent against Wake Forest in their 27-24 defeat, giving up 28 points in a win over Va Tech and 48 in a loss to Big 12 bottom dweller Kansas is a sign of major concern for the Eagles. It’s hard to see BC going to a bowl game this season.
NC State
I’m sorry Wolfpack fans, I know there are definitely a few of you reading this, but this NC State team has been dreadful. Almost all of the blame however, can be placed on the offensive side of the football. Matthew McKay and Bailey Hockman have both been underwhelming at quarterback, and because of that, receivers Emeka Emezie and Thayer Thomas haven’t been able to make the difference they are capable of. With Ricky Person sustaining an injury in the 31-13 loss to Florida State, that leaves Zonovan Knight as the only reliable tailback. And unless the Wolfpack defense can hold their opponents to less than 20 points, I have a hard time seeing the Pack having much success against ACC competition.
Virginia Tech
The Hokies are a team that have quit on their coach, and on their season. If it wasn’t already obvious after the close call with Furman, it is after the 45-10 beatdown at home against Duke, the worst home loss in 45 years. I see 2, maybe 3 wins left on the schedule. One of those wins left is FCS Rhode Island, which a win against would not count towards bowl eligibility. There is almost no way that Justin Fuente comes back next season as the head man for the Hokies.
Georgia Tech
Yes, Georgia Tech is the worst team in the conference, and a 24-2 loss, yes, 24-2 loss to Temple doesn’t help their case at all. I strongly believe that Georgia Tech will not win any more games this season. That being said, this is Geoff Collins’ first year with the Jackets, and he is still stuck with Paul Johnson’s players. Because of that, Collins’ is stuck using players recruited to run the triple option in a spread scheme. It’ll be a while before Georgia Tech is competitive again.
Power Rankings1. Clemson2. Wake Forest3. Virginia4. Florida State5. North Carolina6. Duke7. Syracuse8. Miami9. Pitt10. Boston College11. NC State12. Louisville13. Virginia Tech14. Georgia Tech
Predictions
Boston College at Louisville (-4.5): Louisville, 28-24
Virginia Tech at Miami (-13.5): Miami, 21-10
North Carolina (-10.5) at Georgia Tech: North Carolina, 31-7
Pitt at Duke (-5): Duke, 28-14