1. Miami (last week: 56-9 W vs Florida A&M)
There will be no change for the Hurricanes unless Ball State makes a move this week. If you didn’t believe the final score of 42-16, Alabama was only down 21-16 with less than six minutes to play in the game. That “road trip” to South Florida next week looks a bit tougher now. The defense is strong, and Cam Ward and the attack still look great. Put that 10/19 game against… on your list of games you have to see.
2. Louisville (last week: 49-14 W vs Jacksonville State)
The Gamecocks hung around a bit longer than expected, but the Cardinals always had the upper hand and the game was never really close. The offense led by Tyler Shough gained more than 600 yards during the game. Things are still going well. In the next two weeks, Louisville plays Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, so we’ll know a lot more very quickly.
3. Boston College (last week: 56-0 W vs Duquesne)
Oh, no… Under Bill O’Brien, BC may be getting things back on track faster than thought. Yeah, don’t get too excited about beating an undermatched Duquesne team, but the Eagles won in every way. For example, they held the Dukes to just 135 yards of offense. Rocket is the name of BC’s running back, and he ran for 74 yards. I believed you should understand that. Next week, the Eagles will go to Missouri. If BC wins that game, they can start to dream about making it to the CFP.
4. Clemson (last week: 66-20 W vs Appalachian State)
It was a great reaction to the loud thud the week before (NC State, pay attention to how it’s done – cough, cough, cough). The Mountaineers were treated badly by the Tigers. Cade Klubnick completed 24 out of 26 passes, gaining 378 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. He also ran for two short touchdowns. That’s the best that can be done. We still don’t know if the 712 yards are because Dabo is finally letting Garrett Riley run the game on his own or if the App defense is really that bad. This week is a break for Clemson before they face the Wolfpack.
5. Syracuse (last week: 31-28 W vs Georgia Tech)
An important part of the game was when it looked like Syracuse would easily beat GT. However, they let the Yellow Jackets try to come back late and failed. The Orange are 2-0 under Fran Brown, and their attack has a lot of different parts that work together well. Kyle McCord led a 515-yard drive and looks like a great door grab for Cuse. This is a scary team, especially in the ACC, where teams are very close. The next three games for Syracuse are against Stanford, Holy Cross, and UNLV. They should be 5-0 before their trip to Raleigh. They will be tougher than they look, though.
6. Georgia Tech (last week: 28-31 L @ Syracuse)
The Yellow Jackets looked shaky for a lot of the game, but they almost won it in the end. There’s some toughness on this team that wasn’t there when the last coach was in charge. Don’t think that GT is one of the top 25 teams, and don’t put too much stock in their win over Florida State. This is still a good team. Next is a layup against VMI, and then it’s on the road to Louisville.
7. California (last week: 21-14 W @ Auburn)
Cal, you did a great job with your new meeting! Even stranger is that Jaydn Ott, who hurt his ankle, only gained 11 yards on 10 runs in the win. Since Ott wasn’t being as productive as usual, QB Fernando Mendoza stepped up and had one of the best games of his career. This will be an easy bowl game for Cal if Mendoza plays that well every game, especially if the defense can hold opponents to 286 yards of offense like they did against Auburn. First, the Golden Bears will play at San Diego State this week. Then, they will drive to Florida State.
8. Pittsburgh (last week: 28-27 W @ Cincinnati)
GT wasn’t able to make the late comeback, but Pitt did by scoring the last 22 points of the game to win after a terrible first three quarters. Desmond Reid, a graduate from Western Carolina, had a great day. He ran for 148 yards and passed for 106 yards and a touchdown. This week, Pitt plays home to West Virginia.
9. Virginia Tech (last week: 31-14 W vs Marshall)
Even though it took a while, VT got past Marshall. A win is a win, and the Hokies needed it after losing to Vanderbilt to start the season. The offense wasn’t as good as you’d have liked, but the defense made up for it by holding the Herd to 278 yards, with only 3.6 yards per pass attempt. This week, the Hokies should easily beat Old Dominion at home before hosting Rutgers.
10. Duke (last week: 26-20 W @ Northwestern)
Duke is 2-0, but their next two games are against UConn and Middle Tennessee State. I don’t trust this team. Before their game against UNC, this team will be 4-0. We should hope that they are 5-0 when October comes around. At wide receiver, Jordan Moore is off to a great start to the year, but this team’s weak spot is its running game.
11. North Carolina (last week: 38-20 W vs Charlotte)
Even though the 49ers aren’t very good this year, UNC still took care of business. This week, NC Central comes to Chapel Hill, and the next week, James Madison does too. You can pretty much expect an unbeaten 9/28 game between Duke and UNC. There will be a lot of talk about this game, but it won’t live up to it.
12. Virginia (last week: 31-30 W @ Wake Forest)
The Wahoos came back from being behind 30–17 going into the fourth quarter. Colandrea had a big game, but he needs to be more careful with the ball (2 INTs). Malachi Fields had his first two 100-yard games, that is, two in a row. But there are big problems with the way Wake Forest scored 544 yards of offense. If they let their opponents break them down like that, their win column will start to empty.
13. Wake Forest (last week: 30-31 L vs Virginia)
Oh no. Wake, finish the job. The fact that the Deacs lost a fumble and turned the ball over on downs on their last two full drives made things even worse. It looks like the attack is a lot better than it was last year, but that might not really matter. The next game is at home against Ole Miss. Oh no.
14. Stanford (last week: 41-7 W vs Cal Poly)
It’s likely too high for the Cardinal. Even though it was against an FCS team, Ashton Daniels looked great. Still, that’s more than other teams in the league can say. Stanford’s next two games are away at Syracuse and Clemson, so they will have a chance to prove themselves.
15. NC State (last week: 10-51 L vs Tennessee)
You and I both don’t want to talk about this game anymore. I will only say that Tennessee looks really, really, really good. That’s not good enough for State, but at least it’s a little easier to understand. The Pack needs to quickly get better.
16. SMU (last week: 15-18 L vs BYU)
Two of the Mustangs’ three games have been pretty bad, so even though they’re 2-1, they’re getting a bad grade in these ranks. The defense looks pretty good, and there are some players who can make plays, like running back Brashard Smith. But the quarterback play has been pretty bad. SMU has a week off before they play TCU.
17. Florida State (last week: BYE)
Thank goodness the Seminoles didn’t have to play this week. Let’s see if Mike Norvell can get things back to normal in Tallahassee.