Week 7 ACC Blitz Football Power Poll Rankings

With Week 7 in the books, it’s time for the ACC Blitz Power Poll.

1)Clemson (7-0, 4-0)
Week 7 saw a trap game at Maryland that nearly, well, trapped the Tigers but they walked away still sitting undefeated, overcoming two 18-point deficits to win 56-45. Very rarely does a team have the chance to say they have TWO legitimate Heisman candidates (QB Tajh Boyd and WR Sammy Watkins). This Tiger squad seems nearly unstoppable on offense. On the defensive side, they have their slip-ups but as TE Dwayne Allen put it “If we need to score 50 to win, we’ll score 50″.

2)Virginia Tech (6-1, 2-1)
Their game against Wake Forest wasn’t supposed to be a cakewalk. The Deacs came in undefeated in ACC play, and Tech already had one loss (granted it was to #8 Clemson). For anyone worried the Hokies were facing a down year, it’s not looking that way. After a dismal first quarter, they outscored Wake 38-7 to move to (2-1) in conference play and keep themselves in the Coastal race.

3)Georgia Tech (6-1, 3-1)
After absolutely annilihating their first three opponents, the Jackets next three games (all ACC foes for the record) were uncomfortably close and it seemed like just a matter of time before someone reveresed that fortune. Virginia answered that call, winning 24-21. Things don’t get much easier for Tech, with a suddenly resurgent Miami up next and games against Clemson and Virginia Tech on tap after.

4)Wake Forest (4-2, 3-1)
While Clemson is getting the tag as surprise team of the year, there could be a case for Wake as well. No one saw a (3-1) conference start with a win over Florida State. Given, the other two wins were against Atlantic bottom-feeders NC State and Boston College. They failed their first ‘real’ test miserably, getting stomped by Virginia Tech. But that doesn’t warrant a drop – yet. Games against North Carolina and Clemson will be a tell-all.

5)Miami (3-3, 1-2)
Many of you will probably scoff at Miami being #5, but a quick look and their season shows this team is a legit contender – if it can stay out of its own way. Their three losses are by a combined 15 points (two of them to ranked teams). QB Jacory Harris has 8 TD’s and no INT’s in his last three games,and RB Lamar Miller is having an All-ACC year.

Boston College LB Luke Kuechly is having another standout year for the Eagles.

7)Virginia (4-2, 1-1)
It was only a matter of time before Coach London’s turn around of this program got a marquee win, and that it did against previously undefeated and #12 ranked Georgia Tech. The offense racked up over 400 yards of offense (not exactly a huge feat against the Jackets) but was impressive – scratch that – REMARKABLE was the Cavalier defense holding Tech to under 300 total yards.

8)Florida State (3-3, 1-2)
The Seminoles have to be the hardest team to judge in the ACC this week. They looked like the Florida State of old in their first two games, and played #1 Oklahoma and #8 Clemson tough in those losses, follow that up with a loss to Wake Forest, and then turn around and pummel Duke 41-16. The jury is still out but a dominate performance against Maryland this week would push them up.

9)Maryland (2-4, 1-2)
This Terp squad is much better than their record indicates. Three of their losses were to ranked teams (West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Clemson). They may have found their new superstar. QB C.J. Brown lit up Clemson on the ground for 164 Yards, and threw for three TD’s, nearly giving Maryland an upset of the undefeated Tigers.

10)NC State (3-3, 0-2)
The Pack, like Maryland, is a better team than their record states. Other than being blown out at Cincinnati (who is 5-1 by the way), their other two losses were by a TD against Georgia Tech (6-1) and Wake Forest (4-2). In short – silver lining is their losees were against opponents with a combined record of (15-4). WR T.J. Graham is quietly having a monster year. QB Mike Glennon isn’t putting up All-ACC numbers but knows how to move his squad down the field, averaging 32 points a game (fyi: has a 4-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio).

11)Duke (3-3, 1-1)
Coming into the 2011 season, no one expected the Blue Devils to make much noise in the ACC. But everyone DID expect (myself included) was a standout season from QB Sean Renfree, especially with his uber talented receivers in Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon. Things aren’t going to get much easier with games against Virginia Tech, Miami, Virginia, UNC, and Georgia Tech on tap.

12)Boston College (1-5, 0-3)
There aren’t too many bright spots to point to this season for the Eagles other than RB Montel Harris becoming their all-time leading rusher and LB Luke Kuechly averaging 100 tackles per game. But even that celebration is cut short with the news that Harris is likely done for the season. They hung tough in losses against Northwestern and Wake Forest, but the loss to Duke and blowout losses at Clemson and UCF really showed the lack of offensive identity on this team.

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