September football has come to an end in the ACC and the QB hierarchy is beginning to take shape for the 2026 college football season. Let's take a look at the top 10 QBs in the ACC so far this year.
8. Davis Warren, Stanford
Warren's overall efficiency numbers are not pretty, but zero interceptions in 143 attempts certainly is pretty. He has thrown for 1,071 yards and five touchdowns, and he just exploded for a career-high 396 yards and three touchdowns in Stanford's win over Georgia Tech. That performance earned him ACC Quarterback of the Week.
Warren's game log
- vs. Hawaii: 22-of-34, 310 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
- vs. Miami: 21-of-41, 214 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
- at Duke: 18-of-32, 151 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (1 fumble lost)
- vs. Georgia Tech: 22-of-36, 396 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
7. Gio Lopez, Wake Forest
Lopez has quietly put together a strong first month with 1,112 passing yards, eight touchdowns and 104 rushing yards. This past Saturday, Wake Forest went into Louisville and beat the No. 16 Cardinals 30-27, with Lopez throwing for 225 yards and a touchdown. He also had a pretty good game against the Canes in the week before that.
His 62.9% completion rate is considerably lower than the quarterbacks above him, which keeps him out of the top six.
Lopez's game log
- vs. Akron: 21-of-32, 350 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT (7 rushes, 39 yards)
- at Purdue: 16-of-27, 225 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (14 rushes, 58 yards, 2 rush TDs)
- vs. Miami: 29-of-46, 312 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
- at Louisville: 12-of-19, 225 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
6. Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech
Grunkemeyer is 101-of-136 (74.3%) for 1,012 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions, for a 4-0 Virginia Tech team. VT has some games that will test Grunkmeyer coming up, but it looks like the Hokies will be very competitive in James Franklin's first season running the show.
Grunkemeyer's game log
- vs. VMI: 17-of-20, 224 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
- vs. Old Dominion: 31-of-42, 327 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (1 rush TD)
- at Maryland: 31-of-39, 314 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT (1 rush TD)
- at Boston College: 22-of-35, 147 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
5. Lincoln Kienholz, Louisville
Kienholz has thrown for 1,140 yards, seven touchdowns, and has six rushing touchdowns. Even though Louisville is 2-2, Kienholz has easily faced the best competition of any QB on this list, so he gets some respect for that.
Kienholz's game log
- at Ole Miss: 18-of-29, 307 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (14 rushes, 69 yards, 1 rush TD)
- vs. Villanova: 16-of-21, 332 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (6 rushes, 42 yards, 2 rush TDs)
- vs. SMU: 14-of-23, 177 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (12 rushes, 42 yards, 1 rush TD)
- vs. Wake Forest: 27-of-36, 324 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (2 rush TDs)
4. Beau Pribula, Virginia
Pribula is 66-of-86 passing (76.7%) for 793 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception on the season. He has also rushed for 125 yards, giving him 918 yards of total offense. Don't look now but Virginia is once again a top team in the ACC.
Pribula's game log
- vs. NC State: 9-of-11, 155 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (15 rushes, 110 yards)
- vs. Norfolk State: 12-of-14, 162 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
- vs. West Virginia: 21-of-33, 197 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
- vs. Delaware: 24-of-28, 279 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT (9 rushes, 24 yards, 1 rush TD)
3. Kevin Jennings, SMU
Jennings leads the ACC with 1,453 passing yards, nearly 250 more than Mensah, and is completing 77% of his passes with 12 touchdowns. His 197.3 efficiency rating is second only to Mensah among the conference's high-volume passers.
He just went for a career-high 464 passing yards against Missouri State while setting SMU career records for passing yards, completions and touchdowns responsible for. The reason he sits at three is the five interceptions he has thrown.
Jenning's game log
- at Florida State: 26-of-36, 430 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT (5 rushes, 33 yards)
- vs. UC Davis: 14-of-16, 337 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT
- at Louisville: 24-of-35, 222 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT (9 rushes, 35 yards)
- vs. Missouri State: 33-of-39, 464 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT (1 rush TD)
2. Mason Heintschel, Pitt
Heintschel has taken a big jump from his freshman season and might just be one of the bigger surprises so far this season. He has thrown for 1,191 yards, 13 touchdowns and one interception, and Pitt is 4-0.
In those games, Heintschel has already thrown six or more touchdown passes twice, becoming the first quarterback in ACC history to do that in the same season. Now, he'll have to have some production against tougher competition, but since it's early, he gets the nod for the No. 2 spot.
Heintschel's game log
- vs. Miami (Ohio): 31-of-41, 453 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT (5 rushes, 23 yards)
- vs. UCF: 18-of-29, 212 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
- vs. Syracuse: 10-of-23, 123 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (11 rushes, 41 yards, 1 rush TD)
- vs. Bucknell: 29-of-37, 403 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT (3 rushes, 33 yards)
1. Darian Mensah, Miami
Mensah's touchdown-to-incompletion ratio is starting to reach historic territory. 14 passing TDs and only 12 incompletions in the first four games is unheard of. He has 1,211 yards, his 88.7% completion rate and 228.2 passer rating lead the ACC, and Miami is averaging more than 50 points per game.
Now have they played anybody so far this season? No. But the stats jump off the page and with Clemson coming up this Saturday, Mensah has the chance to show that the offense doesn't just beat up on cupcakes.
Mensah's game log
- at Stanford: 27-of-30, 401 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT
- vs. Florida A&M: 14-of-15, 252 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT (2 rushes, 21 yards)
- at Wake Forest: 30-of-34, 220 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
- vs. Central Michigan: 23-of-27, 338 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT (4 rushes, 21 yards, 1 rush TD)
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