ACC Power Rankings: Clear division leaders have emerged on both sides
The top of the ACC Atlantic division is pretty firmly established now after another weekend of games between top contenders. Clemson moved to 4-0 with a win over Boston College, taking pole position on that side of the ACC and remaining atop our weekly ACC Power Rankings again following Week 6.
Meanwhile, the middle of our rankings saw significant shifting as a handful of teams continued recent trends — both in a positive and negative direction.
Let’s dive headfirst into all of the ACC’s weekend action.
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Today we reorder the ACC Power Rankings following Week 6 games.
2022 ACC Power Rankings – Week 6
The Tigers are still coming out of the gates a touch slow in games, and Boston College managed to stick around and make it a game for a half. Then Clemson’s depth began to wear in the line of scrimmages and Boston College eventually folded in a 31-3 result. The Tigers can essentially wrap up the division in the next two weeks with wins at Florida State and against No. 18 Syracuse.
Another weekend, another win for the Demon Deacons, this time over Army 45-10. And probably more wondering what might have been if not for that double-overtime loss to Clemson. Wake Forest appears to be the clear next-best team in the conference after Clemson, but the Demon Deacons will need help in the division race at this point.
For the second time this season, NC State was helped mightily late in a game by its opponent making mistakes. Florida State, in makeable field goal range trailing 19-17, opted to take a shot to the end zone via the air and gave the game away with an interception. The Wolfpack have gotten the results, but it hasn’t always been exceptionally convincing.
- North Carolina (+2)
North Carolina now sits alone atop the ACC Coastal with a 2-0 league mark, dispatching Miami 27-24 on the road in a tight affair. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke shredded the Tar Heels defense for 496 yards and the ‘Canes still came up short, with UNC intercepting Van Dyke with eight seconds remaining. North Carolina travels to Duke next weekend and has slowly worked its way up our ACC Power Rankings.
The Orange were off this weekend and will have needed every bit of the break for the stretch on the schedule that’s coming up. Here are the final seven games for Syracuse, starting next week: No. 15 NC State, at No. 4 Clemson, Notre Dame, at Pittsburgh, Florida State, at No. 14 Wake Forest, at Boston College. That’s a rough, rough stretch.
- Florida State (-2)
One of the few contending teams in the ACC Atlantic yet to face Clemson, Florida State blew its chance to keep its fate in its own hands when it fell to NC State yesterday. Now with two conference losses the Seminoles would need help even if they can upset the Tigers next week. It’s impossible to deny Florida State’s improvement under Mike Norvell, but decisions like throwing late well within makeable game-winning field goal range on Saturday night start to get coaches questioned.
- Pittsburgh (+2)
Virginia Tech managed to jump out to an early 16-7 lead over Pittsburgh on Saturday. Then the Panthers just keep feeding running back Israel Abanikanda the football. He made it count. Abanikanda ran 36 times for 320 yards and six touchdowns, pushing the Panthers to a 45-29 win. Next up for Pitt are back-to-back road games against Louisville and North Carolina.
- Duke (-1)
Duke fought hard late against Georgia Tech to make it interesting, scoring a touchdown to tie it up with eight seconds to play, pushing the game to overtime. But a costly offensive pass interference call in overtime backed up the offense after Georgia Tech had opened the scoring with a field goal, and the Blue Devils missed a 52-yard field goal attempt to knot it up and send it to a second overtime, falling 23-20.
- Louisville (+1)
Louisville survived without starting quarterback Malik Cunningham, even after replacement Brock Domann got off to a slow start. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong had three costly turnovers for Virginia and Domann ran for 71 yards and a score while throwing for 275 and another. The Cardinals get an extra week now to get Cunningham fully recovered from a concussion.
- Georgia Tech (+2)
The Yellow Jackets couldn’t come up with a stop at the end of regulation but managed to stiffen up in overtime in the 23-20 win over Duke. Interim coach Brent Key suddenly has Georgia Tech playing at a much higher level, putting together back-to-back wins over Pittsburgh and Duke the past two weeks to get out of the basement in the ACC Power Rankings.
- Miami (-3)
Van Dyke went crazy with 496 passing yards and it still wasn’t enough to outduel Drake Maye and the Tar Heels. Maye threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding 53 yards on the ground. The Tar Heels did just enough to hang on late after building a 10-point cushion with about four minutes to play in a 27-24 win.
- Boston College (-1)
Boston College fought hard against Clemson for the first 30 minutes, but DJ Uiagalelei and the Tigers eventually wore the Eagles down. Realistically there’s only so much Boston College can get done behind one of the worst offensive lines in the Power 5. That’s just the unfortunate reality for veteran quarterback Phil Jurkovec and company.
Virginia Tech had its chances but ultimately let Pittsburgh and Abanikanda run wild. The Panthers scored 24 unanswered points from the middle of the second quarter to the middle of the third, taking full control in the game. A pair of Abanikanda scores midway through the fourth quarter iced the 45-29 win over the Hokies for good. Virginia Tech hosts Miami next before a bye week and then a trip to No. 15 NC State.
Armstrong simply turned it over at the wrong times and the Cavaliers fail to find much offensively outside of the dual-threat quarterback. Louisville managed to survive with a backup quarterback on the road, and it’s hard to see where another conference win comes for Virginia at this point (perhaps the season finale at Virginia Tech?).
Want to see how this week’s power rankings compare to our previous edition? Check out the 2022 Week 5 ACC Power Rankings here!