ACC Football Power Rankings, Week 13: Clemson dominates yet again

The Yellow Jackets’ three-game losing streak since their only conference victory does not tell the story of how hard, and how well they have played. Georgia Tech was close against Virginia, and limited Pittsburgh’s offense. They looked out of gas against Virginia Tech. This game was a combination of Tech having little in the tank against a Hokie squad that has played lights out the last few weeks. But hey, keep taking it one day at a time coach; recruit well, too, because that helps when you aren’t very good.

The Wolfpack have scored 20 points in two of their last six games, and 10 points three times in that same span. That explains the 1-5 record in those six games. Their defense wasn’t awful in their 34-20 loss to Louisville, but the offense sputter in this game much like it has all season.

In their defense, the Wolfpack are inexperienced on offense. They haven’t adequately replaced Ryan Finley or Reggie Gallaspy from last year’s team. Jackobi Meyers, Kelvin Harmon and their 173 combined receptions haven’t been replaced either. All this is due to their offensive line not being very good this season.

Their slim bowl hopes are in free-fall. They have to win both their remaining games first against Georgia Tech and then upset the legend of Sam Howell and North Carolina.

Break out the Orange. They won their first conference game of the season against a Duke squad that can’t figure out the complexities of the forward pass. Whether this is Syracuse finally putting it together, or the Blue Devils being so bad doesn’t matter because the Orange Fanta will flow in upstate New York.

Oddly enough, the win against Duke puts them in position for a bowl if they can win out. With conference games left against Louisville and Wake Forest it’s highly unlikely, but at least he orange soda tasted a little bit better this week.

The Blue Devils are in a free-fall. They have scored 44 points per game during their four-game losing streak. That comes out to exactly 11 points per game. We had no idea what the problem was, so we asked the last coach who had success at Duke.

Our interns sent a message via carrier pigeon to the ‘ol ball coach. He high tailed it to headquarters — we had plenty of mint juleps — and we asked him why the Blue Devils are struggling so much offensively. He took a swig of his julep, watched some film and said with complete confidence, “They can’t throw the dang ball!”

There you have it. Duke can’t throw the dang ball. With Wake Forest and Miami left on the schedule, Duke is staring at 4-8.