Louisville couldn’t be stopped in a crucial ACC win against SMU as Lincoln Keinholz was dynamic. Clemson looked like the worst team in the ACC until they flipped a switch and came back against UNC. Virginia disappoints against West Virginia and holy cow what happened to NC State in Nashville?
17. Stanford (Prev 17): A 35-7 blowout at Duke isn’t a great look.
16. Boston College (Prev 16): BC hosted the Maine Black Bears and only won 22-16. That sounds bad, and it is, but they led 16-0, and it didn’t get down to a single-digit game until the final few minutes.
15. Syracuse (Prev 13): Steve Angeli threw two more interceptions on Thursday to Pitt. It now appears Clemson made him look better than he was last season. I thought he was really spectacular, but I’m coming to grips with just how poor Coach Swinney has been at roster construction and resource allocation in the new era of college football. In any case, Syracuse lost 27-13 despite surrendering just 123 passing yards. Pitt controlled the ground game.
14. NC State (Prev 12): NC State suffered the kind of painful, improbable loss that just takes your breath away. The Wolfpack led 17-0 and it seemed like a blowout was coming. They remained up 10 points with under 10 minutes remaining. Then Vanderbilt worked the ball downfield and scored on a 43-yard completion to make it 31-28. They were within three, got a stop and got the ball back with under two minutes remaining.
QB Jared Curtis surgically picked apart NC State’s defense. Right when it looked like the Commodores would punch it in for the game-winning TD or at least make a game-tying FG, Curtis threw an interception. NC State ran the ball three times and took the clock down to 0:06 but didn’t clinch the game with a first down. On fourth down, leading by three, they elected to burn as much of those six seconds as possible and take a safety. This would leave them up by one-point, and barring a kickoff return following the safety clinch an NC State win. Only one problem: CJ Bailey fumbled in the end zone, and Vanderbilt recovered for a TD to deliver a 35-31 win.
13. Georgia Tech (Prev 14): The Yellow Jackets beat Mercer 44-11, but it wasn’t all rosy. They had a slow start and led just 14-3 with under two minutes left in the first half. They scored 10 points in those final two minutes to take control of the game. They finally got it going on the ground with high-priced transfer Justice Haynes, who ran for 141 yards.
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12. North Carolina (Prev 9): This one has got to sting for UNC fans. They led Clemson 17-3 in the second quarter and 17-6 at halftime. They ran the ball down Clemson’s throat and were dominating in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Something flipped shortly before halftime. After they went up 17-3, they punted four times, lost a fumble, had a turnover on downs, and threw an interception. For the first time all season, QB Billy Edwards Jr. left the Tar Heels needing a little more. UNC had 39 runs and 30 passes, and it should have been even more lopsided. That’s a strong rush attack, but now UNC is 2-1 and has a brutal stretch after the open date: Notre Dame, at Pittsburgh, and at Duke.
11. Florida State (Prev 15): FSU lost the turnover battle at Alabama 3-0 and still only lost by 14. They were severely outgained on the ground and asked Ashton Daniels to try to carry the offense through the air. That’s a recipe for disaster. To his credit, he finished with 377 passing yards but had 3 costly interceptions. If this team can stay together and continue playing hard, they could be dangerous.
10. Clemson (Prev 11): What a roller coaster of a game in Death Valley. From the start, Clemson was bullied in the trenches. The Tigers couldn’t set the edge and the defensive tackles lost at the point of attack. UNC leaned on the run for two quick touchdowns. When the Tigers had the ball, Clemson’s guards got manhandled. Ronan O’Connell got beat by a crafty spin move from a defender. The fans rightfully had enough and rained boos down on the paltry offense after what felt like their 100th three-and-out in a row. It truly felt like last year’s Syracuse loss on repeat.
Something clicked. I’m not entirely sure what, but all of a sudden Clemson’s offensive line looked competent. Ronan O’Connell was excellent. He was pulling and making critical blocks. Harris Sewell, who I criticized aplenty before the season, looked great. Thurman and Jacobs looked so much better that Clemson started running behind them. Gideon Davidson, who had looked slow, now looked patient. All of this made UNC respect the run and gave Tait a real chance to thrive.
Tait was far from perfect. He threw an awful interception on a wide-open deep ball that he left about two yards short and a yard too far inside. Still, he didn’t let it linger. His legs made an impact, and he threw for 215 yards and a TD. He made several clutch plays (like the one below) down the stretch in what felt like a growing-up game.
This by no means dismisses the inexcusable roster decisions by Coach Swinney, and a close home win over UNC hardly makes Clemson a national contender. They absolutely should have taken a QB and a RT through the portal. Reynolds is an impressive young prospect, but he shouldn’t be thrust into this position this early. All that said, this win could be the difference between a total-collapse 3-9 season and an 8-4 one.
Vic Burley got a huge fumble recovery immediately after Reynolds’ interception that flipped the momentum back to Clemson. Wesco was electric on his way to 77 yards. Gideon Davidson ran for 105 yards and finally looked like a legit No. 1 back for the first time. Friday’s 10:30 p.m. game at Cal just got interesting.
9. California (Prev 10): Cal beat Wagner 49-7. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw for 413 yards and 3 TDs. It was 29-0 after the first quarter in a dominant Cal win.
8. Wake Forest (Prev 8): QB Gio Lopez looks like a new man in this Wake Forest offense. The Deacon’s defense could not slow Miami, but Lopez throwing for 300+ against the Hurricanes is somewhat encouraging even in a loss.
7. Virginia (Prev 3): I’m surprised West Virginia scored 38 points on Virginia. I’m surprised QB Beau Pribula had -1 rushing yards. They are still undefeated in ACC play, as this came against a Big 12 opponent, but perhaps we all overrated them after they manhandled NC State in the opener. They didn’t look like they had difference-makers at the skill positions, and they weren’t nearly as dominant in the trenches as they were against the Wolfpack.
6. Duke (Prev 7): 47 carries, 268 rushing yards, and 4 rushing TDs. That was the formula for the Blue Devils in their 35-7 home win over Stanford. Duke has become a great rushing team.
5. Pittsburgh (Prev 6): Pitt improved to 3-0 by squeezing Syracuse into orange juice. Neither team passed the ball well, but Pitt ran for 245 yards and three TDs. Coach Narduzzi’s teams find a way to grind out wins, but Mason Heintschel will throw them into some wins, too. Their next four games are winnable. A 7-0 start is feasible, even if it isn’t the projection.
4. Virginia Tech (Prev 5): The Hokies improved to 3-0 with a decisive win at Maryland. QB Ethan Grunkemeyer had another strong performance. They should continue to stack wins against this backloaded schedule. They go to Boston College next.
3. SMU (Prev 2): The Mustangs went to Louisville and gave the Cardinals a battle in what was a back-and-forth affair. Unfortunately for them, they seem to have fallen victim to the trend of a returning senior QB who entered with Heisman hype proving to be less effective than opposing first year transfers. It used to be that you’d look forward to your promising QB being a junior and senior. Those were your years to really cash in. Clemson and Penn State fans remember the big years they expected when Klubnik and Allar were seniors. This year, Kevin Jennings and Dante Moore may be experiencing a similar fate.
2. Louisville (Prev 4): Louisville should be favored in all their remaining regular season games. Unfortunately, they already lost a close game to Ole Miss which will makes an at-large bid hard to earn. Still, their offense is excellent, and they may be able to keep up with Miami in a potential ACC Championship matchup. Lincoln Keinholz wasn’t a big-name QB transfer, but he is incredibly slippery in the pocket, extends plays, and turns them into explosives. He is a fun watch and a winning QB. Jennings threw 2 INTs in this loss and now has 4 INTs in SMU’s two games against FBS opponents.
1. Miami (Prev 1): I’m wholly convinced Darien Mensah is the best passing QB in the country and have been saying it since Miami stole him away. Miami went to Wake Forest on a freaky Friday and the offense didn’t blink. Gio Lopez kept the Deacons within reach, but this Hurricanes offense is going to sling it all over ACC defenses. They’re in a league — at least offensively — with 2013 FSU and 2018 Clemson. They’re going to do some damage in this conference.