If you are looking to see who is performing above specs, and who may be performing above or below expectations in college football, this is your place to be this week, as I take a look at each of the FBS conference to examine what each school is doing to improve, and what teams are falling back in the pack. Here is my look at the ACC:
Surprise Teams
When you asked someone who would lead the ACC in scoring after week 3, would youhave ever expected anyone to say Boston College? The Eagles have become a big play spectacle this season, and they lead the conference while scoring 52.7 points per game, and racked up 41 on the road in a win over Wake Forest last week. Anthony Brown has tossed 9 TD passes with zero picks, and the Eagles are averaging 291.7 yards passing per game, while they are rushing for 285.67 yards per game behind AJ Dillon, who is averaging 144 yards per game with 4 scores and a 7.32 yards per carry average. The offense has landed, and the Eagles are flying early.
Syracuse was a team that we expected little out of this season, but the Orange are off to a 3-0 start after a 30-7 win over a horrible Florida State team. Still, this start is above and beyond what anyone could have expected, and Dino Babers may just be turning a corner and saving his job status. Syracuse should easily move to 4-0 this week with a win over U Conn, and then gets a shot at upset territory with Clemson the week after.
Virginia Tech is rarely a surprise when they succeed, but this team had some serious defensive issues with a ton of personnel loss after last season. The Hokies came out and dominated Florida State and William & Mary before Florence cancelled the East Carolina game, which I am sure they would have dominated as well. The Hokies should cruise over Old Dominion this week on the road, and then get a test against Duke. Tech is outscoring teams 43-10 in their first two weeks of play. That's not a rebuilding defense.
Speaking of Duke, the Blue Devils beat up on Army in the home opener, which was fairly impressive, and then beat Northwestern on the road, which was even more impressive, but what is most surprising is how Duke answered when they lost QB Daniel Jones and still went on the road and handled an improving Baylor football team. Duke may very well be for real, and anyone sleeping on them is going to get bitten for their trouble.
Disappointing Teams
Clemson is still hanging around to win the ACC and make another playoff run, but that is not as certain this season with the Tigers. They should not have been toyed with by Texas A&M on the road, yet they barely escaped with the win. They then played a flat effort against Georgia Southern last week in a 38-7 win that was not as easy as it reads in numbers. Clemson is looking like a team primed for an upset soon, and there are still plenty of teams on the schedule that could pull that off.
We knew that Louisville would step back this season, but this team is far worse than we thought, even with a 2-1 record. They allowed Indiana State, the worst team in the Missouri Valley Conference, hang around for a full half, and then barely got out with a win over Western Kentucky last weekend. The Cardinals are a mess, and things could get ugly in ACC play for them.
What happened to Jimbo Fisher's vaunted recruiting machine at Florida State? Sure, Willie Taggart has made some mistakes early. That much is clear. He was not, however, left with a ton of talent to coach, and the offensive line may be the worst that the Seminoles have had in decades. It's no wonder Fisher jumped out the window when given a chance. He had to know what was coming.
Miami was a team that many believed could have a shot at unseating Clemson in the ACC this fall, but the Canes have been anything but impressive. The opening loss to LSU was an absolute embarrassment, and the win over Toledo was in doubt for much of 3 quarters last weekend. This is not the Miami we were expecting.
Georgia Tech is the most inconsistent program in the ACC, and Paul Johnson has grown completely stale. The Yellow Jackets loss to USF was a defensive mess, and the loss to Pitt last week was an offensive mess. You never know what you will get with this football team, but in 2018, none of it has been good.
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