ACC Football Power Rankings: Does Clemson have a challenger?

New head coach Geoff Collins is installing a completely new offense down in Atlanta. This is the epitome of a zero year for the Jackets. They were an option team last season, and have to learn a completely different offensive philosophy this season. Everything is different this year. They have to re-learn how to block, they need a quarterback that can throw, and receivers that can catch.

You hear all the “one day at a time” or “we like our progress” clichés from the Yellow Jacket offense. They might not be that bad on defense, but don’t look for the Jackets to compete this season. How do you measure your progress in game situations? Play last season’s national champions. The Yellow Jackets have a long way to go.

This was clear by their 14-52 loss to the Clemson Tigers. They played three quarterbacks and had only seven completions on the day; that’s an indicator that Collins and his staff have a long way to go. Until their offense begins to produce anything, the defense is going to be fatigued all season.

To say the Scott Satterfield inherited a mess at Louisville is an understatement. Bobby Petrino’s tenure got so bad, he couldn’t find assistants to work with him. One thing coach Satterfield brings with him is the ability to win. He and App State won at the FCS level, moved up to FBS and still won. It might take some time, but he’ll win at Louisville.

You saw some seeds of the Satterfield era in their 35-17 loss to the Irish on Monday night. They looked prepared and ready to play. Satterfield and offensive coordinator did a wonderful job of playing to the strengths of their personnel.

Dwyane Ledford gave quarterback Jawon Pass more responsibilities in the run game, and made sure speedster Javian Hawkins touched the ball as much as possible. However, it’s year one and it showed. They fought the Irish tooth and nail until their lack of depth and mistakes finally caught up with them. Pass didn’t live up to his last name either completing only 44 percent of his passes on Monday night, losing three fumbles in the game as well.

The Cardinals left with a lot of answers, and a good idea of where they need to get better.

This was a toss-up between Pitt and Duke, but the Blue Devils played the far superior opponent, and should have been blown out. The Panthers, however,  were shut out in the second half of a 30-14 home loss to the Virginia Cavaliers. It took Panthers starting quarterback Kenny Pickett 41 pass attempts to amass a meager 185 yards in the loss.

The offense was a concern coming into the season for Pitt. They made one big play (59-yard reception by AJ Davis), but had difficulties sustaining drives all game long. The defense played well allowing only 310 total yards and 3.9 yards per carry on the ground, but the Panthers need to figure out how to generate some offense to go along with what should be a pretty good defense, or it’s going to be a long year in the Steel City.