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BOZICH | Louisville losing ground in ACC football power rankings

  • Updated
  • 3 min to read
Tyler Shough

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A week ago, I calculated that the Louisville football team would close its schedule against eight opponents with a combined record of 28-8.

You can scratch SMU from the list after the Mustangs upset UofL at L&N Cardinal Stadium. But the Cards' list of future opponents went 4-2 last week (Kentucky was idle) with one team on the schedule (Boston College) losing to the program (Virginia) that Louisville will visit this Saturday.

That leaves seven remaining opponents with a combined record of 28-9 — with four future opponents unbeaten in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

"Even last year, there was a lot of parity in the league," U of L coach Jeff Brohm said.

"There's a lot of good, solid football teams. Even last year, of our wins, a lot of games we had to pull out in the very end. In order to pull out those wins, you've got to be sharp at all the things you're doing."

On to this week's ACC Power Ratings.

  1. Clemson (4-1 overall, 3-0 in ACC): The Tigers have quietly bounced back from the opening game gut-punch by Georgia to win their next four by an average of four touchdowns. The only flashing light is they're giving up 371 yards per game.
  2. Miami (6-0, 2-0): The Hurricanes lead the league by averaging nearly 48 points per game with quarterback Cam Ward throwing 20 touchdown passes But they still needed an overturned review against Virginia Tech and a missed targeting call against Cal to hold their undefeated status. If you follow social media (not recommended), the conspiracy theory is the ACC wants the Hurricanes in the playoff.
  3. SMU (5-1, 2-0): The Mustangs lead the ACC in rushing yards at 203 per game, and the analytics at ESPN project SMU will be favored in their final six games. See you in Charlotte.
  4. Pitt (5-0, 1-0): Only two ACC teams are averaging more than 500 yards of total offense per game. One is Miami. The other is the Panthers. Quarterback Eli Holstein bolted after not playing last season at Alabama — and has delivered 15 touchdown passes with only three picks. He looks legit.
  5. Virginia (4-1, 2-0): The Cavalier rank eighth in the ACC in total offense and 14th in total defense. Their leading rusher, Xavier Brown, averages 63 yards per game. Their quarterback, Anthony Colandrea, has only eight touchdown passes with four picks. How is Virginia 4-1? The Cavaliers have limited four of their five opponents to 27 points or less.
  6. Louisville (3-2, 1-1): The Cards still must play four of the five teams I ranked ahead of them and they just finished with SMU. It's a challenge. It's also an opportunity.
  7. Georgia Tech (4-2, 2-2): The Yellow Jackets lead the league in rushing defense, allowing 88 yards per game and just two rushing touchdowns all season. But they've whiffed in both road games: at Syracuse and Louisville.
  8. Duke (5-1, 1-1): Jeff Sagarin's computer formula says the Blue Devils have played the easiest schedule of any ACC team. Instead of Elon and Middle Tennessee State, Miami and SMU are ahead.
  9. Boston College (4-2, 1-1): The Eagles have failed to score more than 23 points in their last four games and were fortunate to survive Michigan State and Western Kentucky. The good times are unlikely to last.
  10. Syracuse (4-1, 1-1): Congrats to quarterback Kyle McCord who walked away from the starting job at Ohio State after all the social media heat he took for losing to Michigan. He's ranked the No. 2 passer in the ACC, throwing 363 yards per game.
  11. California (3-2, 0-2): The Bears will make their third cross country trip in five weeks Saturday while trying to spoil Pitt's unbeaten season. They're also eight points — and several bad calls — shy of being unbeaten.
  12. Virginia Tech (3-3, 1-1): Coach Brent Pry is showing up on some midseason Hot Seat lists. But all three of the Hokies defeats have been by a touchdown or less — and that stumble at Vanderbilt does not look as embarrassing as it did a week ago.
  13. Wake Forest (2-3, 1-1): The Demon Deacons have been gashed for 30 or more points in four straight games, while allowing 6.5 yards per play this season. And yet they won at North Carolina State.
  14. Stanford (2-3, 1-2): Only Florida State has been worse on offense than the Cardinal, whose top two quarterbacks are completing less than 60% of their passes with an equal number of interceptions (7) as touchdowns. ESPN analytics give U of L a win probability of 82.4% when the Cards visit Palo Alto Nov. 16.
  15. North Carolina State (3-3, 0-2): The Wolfpack have allowed 25 touchdowns. Only one other ACC team has allowed as many as 21. Losing at home to Wake Forest was not in the game plan.
  16. Florida State (1-5, 1-4): The Seminoles still must play at Miami and at Notre Dame. Translation: A year after winning the ACC title and making a spectacle of themselves by acting as if they were too good for this league, the Seminoles will not make a bowl game.
  17. North Carolina (3-3, 0-2): The Tar Heels drew over 50,000 fans for the game when James Madison scored 70 points against them. The number slipped to 46,000 while extending their losing streak to three while losing to Pitt last Saturday. I'll put the over/under at 42,000 for the Georgia Tech game this week. This is a solid job. Who will replace Mack Brown?

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