The ACC shuffled again in Week 6 with Miami winning at Florida State, Virginia pulling out another overtime thriller, Duke rolling in Berkeley and several middle-tier teams trading body blows. Here's how the conference stacks up after Week 6.
1. Miami (5–0)
The Hurricanes went into enemy territory and controlled three quarters in a 28–22 win over Florida State. Carson Beck threw 4 TDs (two each to Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels) with 0 turnovers, and Miami finished plus-3 in turnover margin while allowing just one sack. Miami's "state champs" resume now includes Florida, USF and Florida State. Not to mention the Hurricanes still have that opening game win against Notre Dame. Next up for the Canes is a bye and then Louisville (Oct. 17).
2. Georgia Tech (5–0, 2–0)
GT was on a bye this week and nothing happened to knock them down the rankings. If Florida State won then there might have been an argument for movement, but that certainly wasn't the case. They are a pretty distant No. 2 right now. Georgia Tech has ACC wins over Clemson and at Wake Forest with Virginia Tech coming up (Oct. 11).
3. Virginia (5–1, 3–0)
Back-to-back thrillers for UVA as they now sit at 5-1. After toppling FSU in 2OT last week, Virginia won 30–27 in OT at Louisville. The defense scored twice (pick-six and scoop-and-score) and logged 5 sacks before J'Mari Taylor's walk-off TD.
4. Duke (4–2, 3–0)
Down 21–7 at Cal, the Blue Devils ripped off 38 unanswered to win 45–21. The comeback was powered by Darian Mensah's 265 yards and 2 TD's along with a defense that produced 6 sacks and 4 INT's. Duke is 3–0 in ACC play and owns a head-to-head over Syracuse, NC State and Cal.
5. Louisville (4–1, 1–1)
Louisville took their first loss this past weekend falling to Virginia in OT after allowing two defensive TD's and 5 sacks. Louisville still looks like a competitive ACC team but head-to-head loss keeps them behind UVA for now. Next up is Miami on Oct. 17.
6. California (4–2, 1–1)
Cal led 21–7, then got swamped by Duke's avalanche. The Bears' resume is still solid (road win at BC and win over Minnesota), but the blown lead against Duke and the 34-0 loss to San Diego State is concerning.
7. SMU (3–2, 1–0)
SMU got a nice win in their ACC opener. The 31–18 win over Syracuse came with Kevin Jennings (285 yards, 4 TD's) carving the Orange. That gives the Mustangs their first win over an FBS team this season and should be nice confidence booster for them moving forward. SMU will play Stanford next weekend and have the opportunity to start making some noise within the ACC.
8. Pitt (3–2, 1–1)
True freshman Mason Heintschel threw 4 TD's and Pitt blitzed Boston College 48–7, scoring five first-half TD's. With a Big East throwback beatdown and no ACC bad losses, the Panthers come in about middle-of-the-pack. If only they could have held on last week against Louisville.
9. Florida State (3–2, 0–2)
The Noles rallied late but trailed 28–3 before falling 28–22 to Miami. With back-to-back ACC losses (UVA, Miami), they land here — for now. The schedule offers chances to climb, and every game remaining is winnable, but they now climb an uphill battle to make it to the ACC championship game.
10. Syracuse (3–3, 1–2)
Cuse has a head-to-head win over Clemson, which matters, but a 31–18 home loss to SMU following a loss to Duke drops them. The Angeli injury has changed the dynamics of this season completely, and this Syracuse team has not been able to pick up the pieces. It's a good thing they have a bye next week.
11. Clemson (2–3, 1–2)
The ACC toilet bowl matchup proved to be the best Tiger game of the season. Clemson put together a 38–10 demolition of North Carolina with a 75-yard trick-play TD on snap one and a 28–3 first quarter. They stay behind Syracuse because of the head-to-head loss to them, but they looked much better off a bye.
12. NC State (4–2, 1–2)
NC State faced an FCS program and got a 56–10 win over Campbell as CJ Bailey threw 4 first-half TD's. NC State may have lost to Virginia Tech last week but they have two more wins and the victory over Virginia is the most impressive between the two programs.
13. Wake Forest (3–2, 1–2)
Wake Forest came into the matchup against Virginia Tech coming off a one-point loss to Georgia Tech and a 10-point defeat to NC State. The 30–23 win at Virginia Tech this weekend snapped the skid, with Robby Ashford throwing for 256 yards.
14. Virginia Tech (2–4, 1–1)
VT took two steps forward and one step back as the Hokies fell 30–23 to Wake Forest. They may have the win over NC State but outside of that it's been nothing but turmoil for them this year.
15. Stanford (2–3, 1–1)
Stanford had a bye this week so they weren't able to do anything to really move up. The Cardinal's head-to-head win over BC keeps them clear of the cellar, but it doesn't help their resume — they need more quality wins.
16. North Carolina (2–3, 0–1)
Clemson came to Chapel Hill and handed the Heels a 38–10 reality check, jumping 28–3 in the first quarter. UNC's only wins are Charlotte and Richmond; there's a lot to fix and students are probably looking forward to the basketball season at this point.
17. Boston College (1–4, 0–3)
BC got routed 48–7 by Pitt and now sitts on three ACC losses. The Eagles have been in a bunch of tight ones this year, but Week 6 wasn't one of them and their only win is against an FCS team.