1. Miami (last week: 62-0 W vs Ball State)
What are you going to learn from a game against Ball State, anyway? Anyway, the Hurricanes did exactly what you’d expect a team with all this hype to do: they beat the Cardinals 750–115 and shut out their MAC opponent. This week, the Canes play at South Florida. To be honest, the Bulls may be the toughest team Miami has faced so far.
2. Louisville (last week: Bye)
The Cards had an easy first two weeks. Now that they’ve had a week off, they play Georgia Tech at home and then Notre Dame in South Bend.
3. Clemson (last week: Bye)
His guys had an extra week to get ready for the NC State game at home. I hope they didn’t do anything useful with all that time and just kept going down the slide in their football center.
4. Pittsburgh (last week: 38-34 W vs West Virginia)
Like all Pat Narduzzi teams, the Panthers are finding ways to win, which is a lot more than can be said for the NFL team with the same name. For Pitt, this was their second straight come-from-behind win in the fourth quarter. With 3:21 left in the game, WVU was almost certain to win 96.7% of the time.
After one play, there was a touchdown pass of 40 yards, then the Mountaineers went three and out. Finally, they scored on a six-play, 77-yard drive to take the lead and win. Really cool stuff. This week, the Panthers should beat Youngstown State to move to 4-0 before having a week off.
5. Boston College (last week: 21-27 L @ Missouri)
It looks like the Eagles are real, huh? People knew that BC would lose badly on the road trip, even though they had a small number next to their name. Instead, BC took an early 14-3 lead and stayed close, getting within a touchdown with less than 4 minutes to play.
The Tigers defense stopped the running game, but the passing attack had some great moments. Along with Ohio State and Georgia, Missouri’s defense is one of only three teams in their last 14 games to hold a team to less than 30 points.
6. Syracuse (last week: Bye)
Cuse, after BC, has been the biggest surprise so far. The Orange are set to get off to a great start with a 4-0 record. Their next games are at home against Stanford and Holy Cross.
7. Georgia Tech (last week: 59-7 W vs VMI)
Like with Miami, we didn’t learn anything new about GT when they beat VMI. The Keydets could only get 104 yards of offense from the Yellow Jackets, who scored 572 yards on offense and didn’t turn the ball over once. Cool beans. With this Saturday’s game at Louisville, things get a lot tougher very quickly.
8. California (last week: 31-10 W vs San Diego State)
Great job to the Golden Bears, they keep winning. When top runner Jaydn Ott wasn’t available, Jaivian Thomas stepped up and ran 17 times for 169 yards.
Xavier Carlton had 2.5 sacks for a defense that also had two picks against the Aztecs and barely let their opponent pass for the whole game. This week, Cal goes to FSU before having a week off. Soon, we’ll learn a lot about this team.
9. Virginia Tech (last week: 37-17 W @ Old Dominion)
At the half, VT was ahead 14–10. In the second half, they dominated and scored 23 points before the Monarchs got a late touchdown that didn’t mean anything. Drones threw for 176 yards and ran for 117. Though he didn’t throw the best passes (he did throw a pick), he was very dangerous with his legs.
On the ground, Bhayshul Tuten ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns for the Hokies. Antwaun Powell-Ryland had 4 sacks, which was good enough to earn him ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Before going to Miami, the Hokies play at home against Rutgers.
10. NC State (last week: 30-20 W vs Louisiana Tech)
At halfway, it looked like the Wolfpack were doomed to lose to the Bulldogs, a team that was clearly not as good as them. The defense made the most important play of the game, which turned the tide in favor of State.
The Pack then played great in the second half to secure the win. There is a trip to Clemson coming up, and this State team has some problems, so don’t expect too much.
11. Duke (last week: 26-21 W vs UConn)
Thanks for the win, Blue Devils! But having to come back against UConn in the fourth quarter is not a good look (I know, glass houses and all that). Duke was ahead for most of the first half, but the Huskies took the lead with a pick-six that carried over into the second half.
Duke’s Star Thomas had 146 yards of offense, and Maalik Murphy threw three touchdowns (four if you count the one that went to the wrong team). The next game is away at Middle Tennessee State. The next game is at home against North Carolina.
12. North Carolina (last week: 45-10 W vs NC Central)
The end score doesn’t tell the whole story. The game was tied at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Even though Central ran out of gas, they put themselves in a great situation to possibly pull off the upset.
The game did turn around after that, but the Eagles’ offense had a rough day overall (167 yards), so the danger was really just a glimmer of hope. In the game, UNC got 16 penalties, which is amazing in a bad way.
Running back Omarion Hampton scored three times and gained 210 yards. He is still the star of the UNC offense, which is fair. This week, the Tar Heels play James Madison.
13. SMU (last week: Bye)
We still don’t know how good this Mustangs team is. This week they play home to TCU, a team that lost to UCF last week after being ahead 31–13 in the second half. We might learn something, or we might not. Either way, the Sonny Dykes bowl is always fun to watch.
14. Virginia (last week: 13-27 L vs Maryland)
What a great chance for the Wahoos to get an ACC win over a Big Ten team! Instead, they blew a 6-point lead at halftime and were defeated 20-0 in the second half.
Early in the third quarter, Tony Elliott fell behind 14–13. He stopped running the ball and leaned on Anthony Colandrea’s arm the rest of the way. How things turned out was… well, you see. For the most part, it’s tough to win a game when you have four turnovers. After a week off, we’re going on a car trip to Coastal Carolina.
15. Stanford (last week: Bye)
It’s possible that you missed it, but Stanford didn’t play last week. Yes, I do. Terrible. In the next two weeks, the Cardinal will play away games at Syracuse and Clemson. This is part of a tough four-week stretch that ends with a home game against Virginia Tech and a road game at Notre Dame. Oh no.
16. Wake Forest (last week: 6-40 L vs Ole Miss)
Wake looked very good in their first win and got better in their second loss to Virginia compared to last year, but their home loss to Ole Miss on Saturday left them very open. That isn’t always a bad thing, though.
Ole Miss’s team looks like their best in years, just like Tennessee’s. They are a real Top 5 national team. Finally, Wake has a week off to rest before they play the Louisiana Rajin’ Cajuns.
17. Florida State (last week: 12-20 L vs Memphis)
Mike Norvell, what are you up to? Fans have never been so against a head coach so quickly. There’s no reason for the Noles to waste such a good defense. This week, FSU is hosting Cal.