#goacc Power Rankings: Week 5

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The Dave Shinskie Division

(Dregs of the conference)

14. Wake Forest (2-3, LW: L 56-7 @ Clemson): So Lane Kiffin gets fired, Paul Pasqualoni gets fired and Jim Grobe remains one of the safest coaches in the sport. The best part? He still has two years left on that ten year deal, meaning that Wake fans get to watch a team in decline for two whole presidential terms! Seriously though, talking about sadness, there was apparently a poll on a Wake Forest message board asking if Wake fans would take moving to FCS in football if it meant reaching the NCAA Tournament each year. I cannot tell you the result of the poll, however, because you are required to log onto the board and I don't want my computer to start showing me self-help advertisements.

The Cameron Sexton Division

(Not the worst...but close)

13. Syracuse (2-2, LW: BYE): So I think it's safe to say that I'm still not sold on the Orange just yet, and I don't think that they should be pushed up the rankings only because they didn't play anyone. Now that being said, there's a decent chance that I could be underrating 'Cuse, and we will see when they play Clemson this week. If they pull a Wake and lose by 50, they deserve to be right where they belong. If they look feisty, I'll admit that I was wrong. Syracuse has beaten a ranked opponent at home the last two seasons, and this week's matchup against the Tigers is in the Carrier Dome, so maybe the Orange...hahahaha just kidding.

12. Virginia (2-2, LW: L 14-3 @ Pittsburgh): Virginia lost a game in which their opponent's offense gained less than 200 total yards. They did this by being held to less than 200 yards themselves, with a quarterback that went 15-37 for 123 yards and not one receiver that had more than 2 catches. ** This week, they're going up against the nation's second leading passer, Ball State quarterback Keith Wenning. If the Wahoos come out slow in the first half again, will there be a quarterback change? If the backup quarterback struggles what does the head ball cop do, turn to those Oregon fans that sparked controversy in September? And in all seriousness...I joked about Jim Grobe having the best job security in the country, but can anything happen in 2013 that will make UVA fire London? He not only has time on his contract, but the school signed three assistants to 22 years and 5 million dollars worth of contracts. That's a lot of cash invested in the current staff. Don't worry though, I'm sure Andrew Brown, Quin Blanding and a cast of two-stars will be able to turn this offense around...

** This used to be a joke that said Mike London will now try to pay Brandon Facyson $200K to play receiver for him because he has more experience catching the ball than any Cavalier receiver. Now it's just a little too real**

The Reggie Ball Division

(Not good, but somehow wins games)

11. Boston College (2-2, LW: L 48-34 vs Florida State): After the Eagles' loss to Southern Cal, I formed the "feisty but can't compete athletically" opinion about BC, (also known as the rest of the country's opinion). You know what? Steve Addazio's boys are simply feisty. I've tried to figure out what the difference is between this year and last year's team, and I think I finally figured it out. This year's team has a little bit of mustache moxy. Now I know you're probably thinking "but Frank Spaziani had a mustache!" but let's look at the tape:

Spaziani has a mustache that simply makes him look more tired. Look at these eyes. Those are sad eyes. Those are eyes that witnessed unmentionable things during the Jagodzinski administration.

Now look at the Addazio: confidence, enthusiasm, the weird lacking of a neck. That's a guy who can get his players to play for him anywhere, probably while wearing a 100 percent cotton cotton t-shirt.

Here's to the mojo of the mustache.

10. Duke (3-2, LW: W 38-31 vs Troy): Same story different chapter for the Fighting Cutcliffes. Gain over 500 yards of offense, allow over 500 yards on defense (they're basically the bizarro Virginia Tech). In all honesty, watching Duke makes me thankful for all of the Foster-induced three-and-outs that I have taken for granted over the past few years. Considering that they still play Navy, Wake Forest and Virginia (who they could still probably hold under 20 points), it looks like Duke will make it to six wins while also doubling as a fun team to flip to while watching the national games. It sounds weird to say (outside of a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament), but Duke is fun to watch, and Brandon Connette pushes the entertainment value to another level.

The Danny O'Brien (at Wisconsin) Division

(What the hell happened to this guy?)

9. North Carolina (1-3, LW: L 55-31 vs ECU): There's absolutely nothing good I can say about the Tar Heels' loss to ECU, other than the fact that they went all Team America with their helmets. The thing is, I don't really know how they're going to fix it. They gave up 600 yards and 55 points an above-average East Carolina team. I knew they missed Gio Bernard, but wow. Watching Renner try to throw fifty times a game with no threat of a rushing attack is like watching your awkward buddy try to pick up a girl at the bar. Sure, sometimes it works, but there's often too much working against him. And now let's turn to the fact that there is a chance that Carolina could start the year 1-5 (they play Virginia Tech and Miami in their next two games), and remember that they were my pick to win the Coastal. The only other time I've been proven more wrong involved the words "there's no way you can drink that" and "please don't vomit in that Xbox".

Yes, I said in.

The Charlie Whitehurst Division

(Middle of the pack)

8. NC State (3-1, LW: W 48-13 vs Central Michigan): The Wolfpack have been a team that I have made fun of a lot for being...you know...hard to make fun of. They don't do anything particularly exciting, haven't beaten anyone particularly good and still have a ton of unknowns. Actually, now that I say that, I could probably copy and paste it into about nine of these team's summaries. What does this mean? Probably nothing, but considering that under the Notorious TOB their relatively disappointing 7-5 season would be all but guaranteed, the unknown is probably refreshing.

7. Pittsburgh (3-1, LW: W 14-3 vs Virginia): Remember when Georgia Tech had the chance to win two Coastal games early in the year, which would all but lock up the division? Well don't look now, but the Panthers actually did beat two division opponents in a row. Sure, those two opponents may have been Virginia and Duke, but it still counts right? If Pitt ends up going to the ACC Championship Game, I really hope they invite Todd Graham to stop by. Sure it may be awkward, but he'll be in town for his interview with UNC anyway, why not catch up like old flames do?

6. Georgia Tech (3-1, LW: L 17-10 vs Virginia Tech): Is it possible that all of these stories about Vad Lee being the best passing quarterback under Paul Johnson stems from Johnson saying something along the lines of "the forward pass? Sure, yeah, whatever...that's still a thing." in an interview? And also an interesting point brought up by Jim Young, is it possible that Johnson goes to the bench to replace Lee with his backup (IF Johnson deems that backup to be more proficient at running the option)? Who the heck knows with Johnson, his sweater-vest is full of secrets. That being said, I think we should all group-hug here to realize that we're not a part of a completely insane message board. Well, maybe only partially insane.

The Russell Wilson (at NC State) Division

(Good, but not fantastic...yet)

5. Virginia Tech (4-1, LW: W 17-10 @ Georgia Tech): Let's all just take a minute to remember that the biggest story coming out of this week was that there is a chance that the team could move a freshman future pro at corner...who leads the nation in interceptions...to offense because another future pro is coming back from a knee injury. Oh, and the only reason that the move is even possible is because there are two other future pros at the position. Sometimes it's just good to appreciate what you have (an absurd secondary), rather than what you want (insert offensive complaint here).

4. Maryland (4-0, LW: BYE): Maryland is ranked for the first time since the end of the 2010 season, just in time to play Florida State in Tallahassee. If you're wondering whether or not you should have confidence in a Terrapin upset, let's turn to my friend Charlie (and resident Maryland fan):

Me: "Big game up next in Tallahassee."

Him: "We're going to get crushed."

Nothing quite like a Maryland fan's confidence, right?

I know this is getting old, but The STILL Too-Soon-To-Tell Division

(They're actually good, right? Maybe? Who knows for sure?)

3. Miami (4-0, LW: W 49-21 vs South Florida): How long will it be until I can trust the Hurricane hype? They're undefeated, but can anyone tell me what they do well? Duke Johnson only has thirty more rushing yards than Trey Edmunds, Stephen Morris has only needed to play more than a half in one game and their defense has faced four teams with the offensive potency of a team quarterbacked by David Watford (it's not too soon). These next two games (against Georgia Tech and UNC) will tell us a lot about Miami, because those are usually games that they split while leaving a bad taste in the public's mouth (I would have said bad taste in their fans' mouths...but come on).

The Tyrod Taylor Division

(The People's Champs)

2. Florida State (4-0, LW: W 48-34 @ Boston College): Guys, I'm going to go ahead and blame myself for this one. Last week, I was just a little too eager to make myself look smart for picking the Seminoles to go to the national championship in August and had them jump Clemson in my rankings. Two things that I overlooked:

  1. This is still a team coached by Jimbo Fisher. In college football, players play their absolute hardest for one of two types of coaches: either a stern, hard working coach who makes it clear that if you work for him, he works for you (think Saban, Meyer, Peterson, Dantonio, Kelly, Harbaugh), or a rah-rah coach that may not be quite as strict, but creates a personal connection with his players (Carroll, Miles, Sumlin, Franklin, London...just kidding). If your coach falls somewhere outside of those two groups, it could work, but that particular coaches' team will disappoint. That success-to-disappointment ratio could fall anywhere between Mike Gundy (a BCS bowl or two, but can never turn the corner) and Lane Kiffin (an absolute dumpster fire). Does Jimbo fall in one of these two categories? It may be too soon to tell, he's only been coaching for four seasons, but the fact that we have to ask the question is probably troubling for 'Noles fans.
  2. It was a game at Boston College. While it wasn't one of the dreaded BC nooners (trademark pending), it was still a game that would definitely cause a team like this to potentially slip upβ€”if only for a half. The lesson, as always: never forget when a team is playing in Chestnut Hill against a man with so much mustache swag, because the opposing team is bound to make it interesting.

1. Clemson (4-0, LW: W 56-7 vs Wake Forest): Right now, they're in the driver's seat and it doesn't really seem like they have to look back all that much. They get to play Syracuse and Boston College in consecutive games before the big time matchup against Florida State. Where will it go wrong for the Tigers? Well, considering that they haven't had a serious "Clemsoning" moment since November of 2011, their biggest (and only) challenge is that game against the Seminoles. I've wondered a lot recently about how sustainable Clemson's success is in the post-Tajh and (more importantly) post-Chad Morris era. Considering his age (he's 44) and his string of successful offenses with the Tigers, it's only a matter of time before a BCS-level program comes calling. The question will be, does he take a Gus Malzahn-like approach and take a job a relatively smaller school to show he can get it done as a head coach, or just wait for a big one? The more I think about it, the more that I feel like it will be something in between, like a Vanderbilt when James Franklin leaves (notice I say when and not if). And what about if a big time program comes after Dabo? Something tells me that it's only a matter of time until he's offered by a school in the SEC, so what would it take to pry him away from the school that gave him his start? Well, he makes about two million dollars a year, so in that category he's definitely attainable. I'm not sure where Clemson is on the big jobs scale, but it's definitely outside the top-10, so Dabo could, in theory, get a promotion to a "better school". Will Clemson be able to keep this ball rolling without the guys who sparked it? It's a big question, making the stakes even higher for the Tigers this season.

Comments

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VT '10--US Citizen; (804) Virginian By Birth; (210) Texan By the Grace of God.

Rick Monday... You Made a Great Play...

I also root for: The Keydets, Army, TexAggies, NY Giants, NY Rangers, ATL Braves, and SA Brahmas

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To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

VT '10--US Citizen; (804) Virginian By Birth; (210) Texan By the Grace of God.

Rick Monday... You Made a Great Play...

I also root for: The Keydets, Army, TexAggies, NY Giants, NY Rangers, ATL Braves, and SA Brahmas

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Not the bagman VT deserves, but the bagman VT needs right now.

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No, I *don't* want to go to the SEC. Why do you ask?

We don't love dem Hoos.

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If you don't want to recruit clowns, don't run a clown show.

"I want to punch people from UVA right in the neck." - Colin Cowherd

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Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor.

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A decade on TKP and it's been time well spent.

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A decade on TKP and it's been time well spent.

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Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor.

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

If you don't want to recruit clowns, don't run a clown show.

"I want to punch people from UVA right in the neck." - Colin Cowherd

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Best duos in Hokie history: Hall & Adibi, 3rd & Tyrod, Georgia & Liz

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To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
@VTnerf on insta, @BuryHokie on twitter, #ThanksFrank

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"That move was slicker than a peeled onion in a bowl of snot." -Mike Burnop

Please join The Key Players Club to read or post comments.

Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in bad humor.