ACC Power Rankings: Clemson claws out double-overtime win to remain on top

For the first time this season our ACC Power Rankings have some real weight to them following a heavy-weight clash at the top and the further revealing of some pretenders in the first month of the season.

No. 5 Clemson survived a thrilling double-overtime contest on the road at No. 21 Wake Forest in the biggest game of the week. Meanwhile, No. 25 Miami followed up a loss to No. 23 Texas A&M with an inexplicable home loss to MTSU.

Those were the two main results that created movement in the Week 4 ACC Power Rankings. Let’s dive into the results.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

Today we reorder the ACC Power Rankings following Week 4 games.

2022 ACC Power Rankings – Week 4

1. Clemson

It wasn’t always pretty on Saturday for the Tigers, particularly defensively, but Clemson made the plays it needed to on the road against one of the division’s top contenders. Perhaps more importantly, questions about quarterback DJ Uiagalelei seem to be put to bed at this point. He finished with 371 yards and five touchdown passes without an interception in the aerial duel, bringing his current touchdown-to-interception ratio to 10-1 in 2022. Clemson gets a chance to take a strangle-hold of the ACC Atlantic next week when it hosts No. 10 NC State.

2. NC State

The Wolfpack wrapped up conference play with an easy win over UConn on Saturday, cruising from start to finish as quarterback Devin Leary threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns. The Wolfpack will find out how far they’ve come since that season-opening scare at East Carolina when they hit the road to take on No. 5 Clemson this weekend in a showdown that could decide the Atlantic.

3. Florida State

Quarterback Jordan Travis was back after leaving a road win over Louisville hurt the week prior. He threw for a career-high 321 yards and Florida State rode a dominant ground game to a rout of Boston College. Trey Benson opened the scoring with a 93-yard kick return and also added 15- and 22-yard touchdown runs. Up next for Florida State is a home date with No. 22 Wake Forest.

4. Wake Forest (+1)

Quarterback Sam Hartman was terrific in a serious shootout against Clemson, throwing for 337 yards and six touchdown passes. The Demon Deacons had chances to win it, but credit Clemson for coming up with key stops when it needed to. Now another real challenge for Wake Forest: Following a double-overtime, emotional thriller at home it has to get ready for a road trip to No. 23 Florida State.

5. Pittsburgh (+1)

Pittsburgh continues to plug away this season, quietly positioning itself to potentially repeat as ACC Coastal champions. The Panthers dealt with Rhode Island comfortably in a 45-24 win, moving to 3-1 with their lone loss to a top-10 Tennessee program. The road ahead remains pretty navigable in the short term, too, with Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech up next at home.

6. Syracuse (+2)

The Orange raced out to a big early lead and then slowly let the Virginia Cavaliers get back into it. Syracuse turned it over four times but managed to survive on the back of five field goal makes, including the game-winner in a 22-20 win on Friday night. Dino Babers‘ squad should make it to 5-0, too, with Wagner up next.

7. North Carolina

It’s not often a starting quarterback throws for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns without an interception and loses, but such was the case for UNC’s Drake Maye. Even coming off a bye week the Tar Heels didn’t have any real defensive answers, allowing Notre Dame to pile up 576 yards in a 45-32 win. Conference play begins now for the Tar Heels, with Virginia Tech due in Chapel Hill first.

8. Miami (-4)

The Hurricanes never recovered from the Week 3 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke came out and threw two early interceptions and MTSU raced out to an early 24-3 lead and never looked back. The Hurricanes couldn’t stop anything defensively, allowing 408 yards passing as the Blue Raiders won 45-31. Miami will get a bye this week to regroup before hosting North Carolina on Oct. 8.

9. Duke (+1)

Duke played a solid game against Kansas and didn’t turn the football over, but the Jayhawks were a little more efficient with the ball. The Blue Devils had few answers for Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels, who threw for 324 yards and four touchdowns while adding 83 yards and a score on the ground. In the end, Duke fell 35-27 and will now begin conference play with a home game against Virginia.

10. Louisville (+1)

The Cardinals were on the verge of jumping Duke in our Week 4 ACC Power rankings and could move up in the next few weeks, but it was hard to justify moving a two-loss team past a 3-1 Duke squad that just lost to a 4-0 Kansas. In any case, Malik Cunningham was really good again in a 41-3 win over USF, scoring three rushing touchdowns and throwing for another. Louisville continues ACC play next week at Boston College, looking for its first league win in three games.

11. Virginia Tech (-2)

After a tight first half, Virginia Tech lost control against West Virginia and couldn’t come up with stops. Penalties also crippled the Hokies, who drew 15 flags for 132 yards. The Mountaineers held the Hokies to just 35 yards rushing in a 33-10 win. Virginia Tech, now with two losses to non-conference foes, will spend three of its next four games on the road: at North Carolina, at No. 24 Pittsburgh, vs. Miami, at No. 10 NC State.

12. Virginia

The Cavaliers just couldn’t get much going offensively against Syracuse despite getting four takeaways. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong was held to just 138 yards passing on 19-of-38. Virginia rushed for 149 yards and took a late lead but couldn’t come up with a defensive stop in time to prevent a game-winning field goal attempt from 31 yards out in a 22-20 loss.

13. Boston College

We’ve noted more than once in our previous editions of the 2022 ACC Power Rankings that Boston College will likely only go as far as it allows quarterback Phil Jurkovec to take it. Jurkovec didn’t have much of a chance, with FSU racing out to a big early lead. The veteran quarterback finished with only 105 yards passing and threw two interceptions as the Seminoles won 44-14. There’s a clear bottom tier in the ACC and Boston College and Georgia Tech are both stuck in it.

14. Georgia Tech

UCF‘s offense wasn’t particularly potent in a 27-10 win over Georgia Tech, but it didn’t matter a ton. The Yellow Jackets gave up a blocked punt that went for a touchdown and couldn’t convert offensively in key areas despite gaining 438 yards in the contest. Georgia Tech doesn’t get any reprieve after games against Clemson, Ole Miss and UCF in its first four; next up is a road trip to face No. 24 Pitt.

Want to see how this week’s power rankings compare to our previous edition? Check out the 2022 Week 3 ACC Power Rankings here!