Louisville knocks off Virginia in Double Overtime 37-34

The biggest story this week in the ACC has to be the end of the reign of terror that NC State has had over the Atlantic over the past two seasons. A 45-14 loss to Syracuse now moves NC State to 1-2 in ACC. A team that in the first two seasons had only lost 2 ACC games in the regular season and had never lost a game to an Atlantic team not named Louisville. With the fall of a giant, someone has to fill the void and this week we will see who wants to step up to the plate as Syracuse travels to Louisville as a pair of 3-0 ACC teams battle for the lead of the Atlantic.

1.) Georgia Tech, 4-1 (3-0), 0 from last week, defeated Miami 45-0. I don’t think Georgia Tech was very happy after losing to UMass to say the least. In what was one of the most dominate games I have ever seen Georgia Tech shut out Miami while putting up 45 of their own point. They also forced 4 interceptions and held Miami to 77 yards. GT now as 3 consecutive games against team with ACC Title hopes as they play @ Virginia, @ Duke, and vs. UNC. They win those three games and you might as well punch their ticket to Charlotte.

2.) Virginia Tech, 4-1 (1-1), 0, defeated Notre Dame 44-38 in OT. For the 2nd week in a row Virginia Tech flirts with disaster as they blow another 14 point lead and go to OT again and again they somehow survive as they forced a fumble in OT to win the game after an interesting decision to go for 2 after they scored. In what might be the most true thing I said in the preseason ACC Power Rankings, I said “Virginia Tech appears to be the type of team where a couple of massive plays will swing their season…” Already that has come very true as 4 of VT’s first 5 games have came down to the final play as they could easily be 1-4 or 5-0 right now. They finish up their OOC slate this week as they travel to Oregon State and look to finish OOC play a perfect 4-0.

3.) Syracuse, 3-2 (3-0), +4, defeated NC State 45-14. Well…I don’t think anyone was expecting that. Syracuse absolutely took NC State to town putting up 444 yards on the Wolfpack defense. Huge win for the Syracuse program as this puts them in prime position to take NC State’s place on top of the Atlantic, but a showdown with Louisville lies ahead.

4.) Louisville, 3-2 (3-0), +5, defeated Virginia 37-34 in 2OT. This game was…odd. From the Virginia comeback to force OT, to the decision to go for it on 4th and 15 in OT, to UVA fumbling the next play. This is one of the strangest games I’ve seen in a while but Louisville eventually came out on top. They now move to 3-0 in ACC Play as they look towards their showdown with Syracuse this week for control of the division.

5.) Virginia, 3-2 (2-1), -2, lost to Louisville 37-34 in 2OT. Speaking of Virginia, this game has to sting a little bit with the lost opportunity in OT but to be completely honest the game should’ve never gone to OT had Louisville been able to manage a clock at all. UVA can’t be looking back at this game for very long as they have a critical showdown this week with Georgia Tech as they look to move into 1st place in the Coastal this week.

6.) Boston College, 3-2 (2-1), 0, defeated Clemson 17-10. Boston College got their revenge against Clemson in this defensive battle which is a slight shock knowing Boston College. They held Clemson to 96 yards of Offense. They hit the road this week as they take on Florida State.

7.) NC State, 3-2 (1-2), -3, lost to Syracuse 45-14. This has to be by far the worst ACC loss in team history for NC State. Their previous 4 ACC losses came to coaches who have all made the College Football playoff. This loss was to a Syracuse team who is still not a Top 25 quality team and they didn’t even look like they belonged on the field with Syracuse. They return home this week as they take on Clemson.

8.) Duke, 3-2 (2-1), -3, defeated Florida State 14-10. Them moving down this week doesn’t have anything to do with their game against FSU as they did what they needed to and got a win. It has more to do with Arkansas deciding to blow a 21-0 lead to Alabama this week hurting Duke’s resume a lot in the process. Duke will be ready to play this week as they take on bitter rival, North Carolina.

9.) North Carolina, 2-3 (1-2), -1, lost to South Carolina 31-0. North Carolina got smacked around this week in the battle of the Carolinas as SCar stuffed the UNC offense as they only allowed 121 yards of offense and forced 3 UNC turnovers. UNC has now dropped 3 games in a row as they look to bounce back this week against Duke in a game that they should be ready to play.

10.) Miami, 2-3 (1-2), 0, lost to #9 Georgia Tech 45-0. Speaking of getting dominated, Miami got some horrible timing here as they caught Georgia Tech on the wrong side of a loss and Miami was the team GT took their anger out on. Miami stays on the road this week as they have a winnable game at Wake Forest.

11.) Clemson, 1-4 (0-2), 0, lost to Boston College 17-10. Clemson loses their 4th games in a row as their offense used all of their mana on the Boston College game last season. Pretty good job by the Clemson defense here to hold them to only 17 points which is a positive sign for that side of the ball. Clemson looks to not have what happened to Miami happen to them this week as they play NC State who is coming off that big loss to Syracuse.

12.) Pittsburgh, 1-4 (0-2), +1, lost to Ohio 24-14. Pitt went down to Ohio this week in a defensive-lead game. Pitt put up a solid fight but a 17-0 2nd quarter doomed them as their offense was held under 200 yards on the day. Pitt doesn’t get any breaks as they finish up their OOC slate on the road in Philadelphia as they take on a Top 20 team in Temple in a cross-state showdown.

13.) Wake Forest, 1-4 (0-2), -1, lost to Army 55-28. Wake had their worst performance of the year to date as Army beat the breaks off of them although it was a close game going into the 4th. They return home and to ACC play this week as they take on fellow bottom-feeder Miami this week.

14.) Florida State, 1-4 (0-3), 0, lost to Duke 24-14. Florida State once again ends up at the bottom of these power rankings as they fell to Duke in a somewhat competitive game. They’ve dropped 4 in a row now and it doesn’t get any easier for them this week as they take on Boston College.