ACC Football: Week 9 Power Rankings

This week’s ACC Power Rankings feature another shift in the Top 5.

With the Virginia Tech Hokies victory 39-36 over the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Hokies become the new leader in the Coastal Division. The Clemson Tigers showed they’re not easily driven backwards by adversity, inking out a 37-34 win over Florida State. It was the Tigers first victory in Tallahassee since 2006 and their first back-to-back victories over the Seminoles since 2005-07.

This week’s ACC Power rankings are shaping up quite nicely as we approach Week 10. However, for some teams the rankings show that success is still a work in progress. The Duke Blue Devils are still winless in ACC play, so with that let’s jump right into the power rankings for the conference.

The Duke Blue Devils have taken a step back this season in David Cutcliffe’s eighth year as head coach. They begin the power rankings as the last place team. The Blue Devils are on the verge of not being bowl eligible this season after qualifying for a bowl the last four seasons.

Duke lost its fourth straight ACC game last week 38-35 to Georgia Tech. They are the only team in the ACC without a conference win. The Blue Devils defense gave up 605 total yards of offense and trailed 28-7 at halftime on Saturday.

The Blue Devils put up 21 points in the third quarter to come storming back but their 559 total yards of offense wasn’t enough. Injuries continue to bring huge stepbacks to the Blue Devils’ progress on offense.

The Blue Devils lost quarterback Thomas Sirk before the season began and now they will be without leading rusher Jela Duncan. Duncan was injured in last week’s game with a ruptured Achilles’ and will miss the rest of the season.

This Week: Virginia Tech

The Duke Blue Devils host the surging Virginia Tech Hokies next week looking for their first conference victory. The Blue Devils won last season’s meeting 45-40 in overtime.