Miami was already the team to beat in this ACC, and Saturday night in Clemson showed just how big the gap is from the Hurricanes and the rest of the conference.
1.Miami (5-0, 3-0 ACC)
There is not much of a case left for anyone else at the top after the Hurricanes went into Death Valley as a heavy favorite and secured a 41-13 win over Clemson. Darian Mensah threw for 227 yards and scored twice, Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for two touchdowns, and Miami held the Tigers offense in check.
The Hurricanes now lead the ACC in scoring at 49.6 points per game and in scoring defense at 9.8, and three of their five wins have come on the road, including all three conference victories.
2. Pitt (5-0, 2-0 ACC)
Trailing Virginia Tech 14-0 in Blacksburg, Pitt staged a comeback win 35-33 even after losing starting quarterback Mason Heintschel early in the second half. The Panthers are 5-0, have allowed only 13.4 points per game, and move up to No. 2.
The Panthers will have their work cut out for them, though, with Heintschel being ruled out for the season.
3. Duke (4-0, 1-0 ACC)
Duke remains unbeaten, with a road win at Illinois, a 35-7 ACC win over Stanford, and the conference's second-best scoring defense at 11 points per game. The Blue Devils' next game comes at Georgia Tech.
4. Wake Forest (4-1, 2-1 ACC)
Wake Forest's only loss is to Miami, and the Demon Deacons are quietly putting together a respectable resume.
They won at Louisville and then destroyed Stanford 57-3, the largest margin of victory in an ACC game in school history, with Gio Lopez accounting for five touchdowns and the offense going over 500 yards. This is starting to look like one of the ACC's legitimately good teams.
5. SMU (4-1, 2-1 ACC)
Boston College held their own, but SMU still won 25-16 and the defense recorded five sacks for the game. The 27-24 road win over Florida State also looks better after what the Seminoles just did to Virginia. SMU stays behind Wake Forest because of common opponents, since Louisville beat SMU 41-31 and the Demon Deacons went to Louisville and won 30-27.
6. Virginia Tech (4-1, 1-1 ACC)
Virginia Tech does not deserve much of a drop for losing 35-33 to an unbeaten Pitt team, but losing on a missed 36-yard field goal as time expired is a rough way to punch in their first loss of the season. They remain one of the ACC's better statistical teams, averaging 41.2 points and allowing 19.8.
7. Florida State (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
Florida State is the biggest riser of the week after the Seminoles hammered Virginia 38-7 while holding the Cavaliers to 205 total yards (37 rushing yards) and recording 10 sacks. Ashton Daniels ran for five touchdowns, an FSU quarterback record, and the losses are now a three-point game against SMU and a 50-36 road loss at Alabama, which is a respectable.
8. Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC)
Clemson's two games against elite opponents have ended in a 51-10 loss to LSU and 41-13 loss to Miami. The Tigers still have ACC wins over North Carolina and California, but they are averaging only 19.4 points per game, last in the ACC among teams that have played five games, and the gap between Clemson and Miami looked enormous Saturday night.
9. Virginia (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
Virginia stays ahead of NC State because of a 34-8 head-to-head win, but the Cavaliers are barely holding the spot after being overwhelmed at Florida State. They went 0-for-4 on fourth down while Beau Pribula was pressured throughout the afternoon, and they have now lost two of three after starting 2-0.
10. NC State (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
NC State is moving the other way, following the win over Appalachian State by beating Louisville 31-28 behind a career-high 373 passing yards from CJ Bailey. The Wolfpack produced 493 yards and have scored at least 31 points in four straight games.
11. Louisville (2-3, 1-2 ACC)
Louisville may be the ACC's best 2-3 team, but close games eventually have to become wins, and the losses have come by three points to Ole Miss, three to Wake Forest and three to NC State.
The Cardinals also own a 41-31 win over SMU, which keeps them from falling much farther, though consecutive ACC losses still have to count against them.
12. North Carolina (2-2, 0-1 ACC)
North Carolina hung around against No. 3 Notre Dame before losing 37-26. UNC has now lost consecutive games to Clemson and Notre Dame, and unbeaten Pitt is next.
13. California (2-3, 1-1 ACC)
Cal's slide continued when the Golden Bears followed the Clemson loss by going to UNLV and losing 39-31, leaving them with losses to UCLA, Clemson and UNLV and only one FBS win (the 21-18 victory at Syracuse).
14. Syracuse (2-2, 0-2 ACC)
Syracuse finally got an FBS win, although it took overtime and a two-point conversion to escape UConn 42-41. Amari Odom threw for 335 yards, accounted for five touchdowns and ran in the game-winning conversion in his first start.
15. Boston College (2-3, 0-2 ACC)
Boston College stayed in the game against SMU, but the Eagles remain winless in conference play and have losses to Cincinnati, Virginia Tech and SMU. The offense is averaging only 19 points per game, second worst in the ACC ahead of Stanford.
16. Stanford (2-3, 1-3 ACC)
Beating Georgia Tech keeps Stanford from being last in the power rankings, but the Cardinal got blown off the field in a 57-3 loss to Wake Forest. Stanford was held to 197 yards and has now lost to Miami, Duke and Wake Forest by a combined 121 points, while averaging 17.4 points and allowing 38.2, both worst in the ACC.
17. Georgia Tech (1-3, 0-1 ACC)
Georgia Tech was off this week, but the Yellow Jackets' only win on the season is against Mercer. The loss to Stanford looks worse after Wake Forest beat that same Stanford team by 54, and Duke coming to Atlanta next week could be trouble.
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