ACC Football Power Rankings, Week 6: Can someone wake Clemson up, please?

The Gooch was the nemesis of Arnold Jackson in the classic television series Different Strokes. Like most bullies, the Gooch was bullied. The Orange have become the Gooch of the ACC. They got bullied by Maryland and Clemson, now they’ve bullied Western Michigan and Holy Cross in back-to-back weeks.

I sold my Syracuse stock after the Maryland game, but maybe the bullying of a MAC team and an FCS Patriot League team is just what the doctor ordered for Dino Babers and the Orange. They were out of sync on both offense and defense. We’ll see what they look like in conference play. The Orange travel to Raleigh to take on an equally-confusing North Carolina State team Oct. 10.

The Wolfpack got a whiff of what it smells like when the Seminoles play a complete game. It wasn’t pretty, mind you, but they didn’t let their lead slip away. The Wolfpack, however, left the game with questions at the most critical position on the field: quarterback.

Matthew McKay, who started the first five games, was pulled after completing three passes on NC States first three possessions, and only one pass against Ball State in the previous game. He got pulled for Florida State transfer — how ironic — Bailey Hockman played most of the game with Devin Leary seeing snaps as well.

The defense played well, limiting Florida State running back Cam Akers to 83 yards and sacking Seminoles starting quarterback Alex Hornibrook eight times. They have until Oct. 10 when they invite Syracuse to Carter-Finley for a Thursday night game to figure out who’s playing quarterback.

The legend of Sam Howell took a detour this week as he almost pulled off the impossible, and defeated the Clemson Tigers in Chapel Hill Saturday afternoon.

When Trevor Lawrence was asked about the game, he replied, “What game? I was asleep and woke up in full pads in the visitor’s locker room about 20 minutes ago. Coach said we played a game, but I don’t remember anything but going to sleep the night before.” OK, but seriously, North Carolina had a fantastic game plan they executed well. They just came up a bit short.

For all those wondering, yes, they should have gone for two. They aren’t deep enough to go extra periods with Clemson, and Trevor and company might have come out of their sleep walking trance.

North Carolina is going to win a few more they shouldn’t before their season is over. They have two road scrimmages against the Yellow Jackets and the Hokies before they play the rival Duke Blue Devils. Every team they play for the rest of the season had better be on upset alert because the man, the myth, the legend Sam Howell and the Heels are coming.