ACC Football: Week 8 Power Rankings

This was a tough week for the Pittsburgh Panthers to go on a bye week. As the Hokies are 5-2 after defeating Miami in the Coastal division, they drop a spot. To get their spot back this week, they’ll need to defeat the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Panthers meet the Hokies at home on Thursday night. The Panthers have won six of the last seven meetings.

The Virginia Tech Hokies got back to their winning ways this week and climb back in the top five of this week’s power rankings. The Hokies have allowed the least amount of points in conference play so far this season with 50 points.

They made the Hurricanes offense look average this past Thursday. The defense got eight sacks, one turnover, and held Miami to just 42 total rushing yards. Defensive end Woody Baron had 2.5 sacks and fellow end Vinny Mihota had two sacks as well. The Hokies were without starting defensive ends Ken Ekanem and Nigel Williams in the game.

The offense was led by quarterback Jerod Evans who threw for 259 yards and ran for 98 yards. He passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. Running back Travon McMillian ran the ball 18 times for 131 yards. It was his second time rushing for over 100 yards this season.

This Week: Pittsburgh

The Hokies face the Pittsburgh Panthers this week. They lead the ACC in sacks and have owned the Hokies the past few seasons. Virginia Tech has lost the last two meetings and won one in the last seven meetings.