ACC Football Power Rankings, Week 7: Pitt making serious noise

It is very cliché, but you really can’t measure progress with wins an losses all the time. Yes the Yellow Jackets lost…again; yes they gave up a lot of yards on defense, but they had their best offensive performance this season. They put up 20 points for the second time this season, and got in the neighborhood of 200 yards passing. We’ll look past the 23.3 QBR and the completion percentage under 50% and the two interceptions and…you know what coach? We’ll take it one day at a time; we’re going to get better every single day. They go to Wallace Wade to play the Blue Devils this weekend, so let’s see if they’ll improve a bit more.

If there were ever a sure thing in the ACC is the physical gritty defense of the Boston College Eagles. Except that gritty physical defense was absent on Saturday against the Hokies. The Eagles surrendered almost 700 yards to the Cardinals. To make matters worse, Boston College will be without starting quarterback Anthony Brown who left the game with an injury, and came back on the sidelines with crutches. His season is up in the air, and with it their seven win average under head coach Steve Adazzio. The Eagles have a bye, and we’ll know more about Anthony Brown’s injury status.

The Hokies must have split personality. One week they lay down and die against the Blue Devils, and the next they play like they are ready to usurp the throne from the Clemson Tigers. The win wasn’t perfect, and they were exposed in a lot of areas–especially the defense. Maybe the issue was as simple as replacing the quarterback. Sophomore Hendon Hooker gave them a spark leading the Hokies in both passing and rushing. Their lack of defensive depth was glaring as the Hurricanes came back in the second half. They play Rhode Island next week, which should be a walk over, but they struggled with Furman, and we don’t knot which team will show next week.