ACC Football Power Rankings, Week 8: Clemson back on track

There aren’t enough positive words to say about the incredible job Mack Brown is doing with the Tar Heels this season. This was a team that was beat up mentally, and isn’t super talented, and his hands on approach has the Tar Heels in a three way tie for first in the ever turbulent ACC Coastal.

Everything is in front of them to make a run at the Coastal as well. With the exception of Mercer and NC State, every game remaining on their schedule is a Coastal division game. They beat Georgia Tech rather handily and Brown has them believing they can beat anyone in the ACC. By the looks of the ACC this year, he might be right.

The Seminoles had a tough one this week. They’ve been playing well, and people are still deceived by the logo on the helmet. I know that gold helmet with that garnet-colored spear used to mean something special, but their offensive line is awful and it showed against Clemson.

I chuckled when I heard a very prominent sports broadcaster — I won’t be petty and mention his name — said Alex Hornibrook’s leadership is going to help them play well against Clemson. He didn’t see his game against Michigan last season. Death Valley East is not somewhere you go to exorcise your demons of not playing well in big games. Especially when your offensive line is facing three first-round draft picks and you aren’t known for your mobility.

All isn’t lost for the Seminoles, however. There are at least three more wins for the Seminoles, but hopefully Willie Taggart is winning on the recruiting trail because he needs a quarterback and some offensive linemen.

The Blue Devils might be the team that can beat bad teams (Georgia Tech), get blown out by good teams (Alabama), and fight back and forth with teams they are even with (Pitt). That makes for some entertaining football.

The Blue Devils have a few of issues. First, they don’t have a complementary runner next to quarterback Quentin Harris. The type of offense head coach David Cutcliffe wants to run in Durham makes it okay for your quarterback to lead the team in rushing, but if the pitch man is no threat to break one they’ll just key on the quarterback and recover if he pitches the ball.

Duke doesn’t have a dynamic perimeter player. Harris can’t push the ball downfield, so you need good YAC — yards after catch — receivers. They don’t have that type of speed. Their defense isn’t as good as advertised either. They’ve had some injuries, and they are devastating at places like Duke.

They are still in the mix in the Coastal, but they have a crucial game against the Cavaliers this weekend. It’s a must win because they have a stretch in their schedule that includes Notre Dame, North Carolina and Wake Forest.

The Wahoos have some soul searching to do. They’ve lost two in a row and are licking their wounds after a disappointing 17-9 loss to a Miami team that suffocated them on offense. Bryce Perkins and the offense got nothing going in that game. It’s an indicator that Bronco Mendenhall, who’s done fantastic work at Virginia, has a lot left to do.

When he came to Charlottesville, he intimated that there was nothing about the Cavaliers program that lended itself to being competitive in the Power Five. He’s improved that by leaps and bounds; now he has to get an offensive line that can compete at the Power Five level.

Much like the Tar Heels, the ‘Hoos have it all in front of them the rest of the season. Other than Liberty and Louisville, the rest of their games are in the Coastal. Let’s see how they respond after dropping two in a row.