ACC Breakdown: After week one, ACC teams show varying potential

One week is in the books, and there weren’t many surprises.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has three teams who can compete on the national stage: Clemson, Miami and Florida State.

Clemson’s 38-35 win over No. 5 Georgia, along with its victory over LSU in last year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl, proved that the Tigers can compete with the Southeast Conference.

Miami and Florida State’s young stars lived up to their hype in week one and gained some valuable experience.  

After what we saw in the first week, Tajh Boyd and the Clemson Tigers against Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles could be one of the year’s biggest matchups both in the ACC and nationally.

Here’s this week’s ACC Breakdown:

1. Clemson

Even though the Tigers won’t be moving up any higher on this list, they certainly put some distance between themselves and the pack with their win over Georgia. Boyd’s three-touchdown performance solidified the Tigers as national-title contenders.

2. Miami

Sophomore Duke Johnson showed why he is the best running back in the conference. Rushing for 186 yards on 19 carries, Johnson led the Hurricanes to a 34-6 victory over Florida Atlantic.

3. Florida State

The Seminoles avoided falling into a huge trap game at Pitt. What was more important for Jimbo Fisher’s squad was that Winston emerged from his baptism by fire successful. The redshirt freshman quarterback tossed for 356 yards, completing 25-of-27 passes.

4. North Carolina

Things looked bad for UNC early on in their game against No. 6 South Carolina. After going down 17-0 in the first quarter, the Tar Heels held the Gamecocks to just 10 points in the final three quarters while scoring 10 of their own.  

5. Georgia Tech

A 70-0 win certainly raises some eyebrows, but the fact that it was against Football Championship Subdivision school Elon University diminishes the quality of the victory a bit. The Yellow Jackets racked up 368 rushing yards behind their triple-option attack.

6. Virginia Tech

Getting dominated by the No. 1 team in the land is nothing to be embarrassed by — the Hokies were outmatched by Alabama in the 35-10 loss. A possible silver lining for Virginia Tech is that 21 of the Crimson Tide’s points were scored on an interception return, a punt return and a kickoff return. Had the Hokies made those plays, it would have been a different ball game.

7. North Carolina State

Dave Doeren’s Wolfpack debut went just as planned. The first-year coach led his team to a 40-14 trouncing of Louisiana Tech. Running back Matt Dayes had three touchdowns, and the defense stepped up big on third downs, stopping the Bulldogs on eight of their 10 third-down attempts.

8. Virginia

Other than Clemson’s big victory, Virginia’s win over Brigham Young University was the ACC’s biggest out-of-conference win. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, they didn’t make getting the win look good. Mike London’s squad trailed BYU in yardage by over 100 yards, but they made two big defensive stands to preserve the victory.

9. Maryland

The Terrapins were efficient in the passing game, as C.J. Brown went 20-of-23 for 281 yards for three touchdowns. That’s a great sight for head coach Randy Edsall after the rash of quarterback injuries in 2012. Defensively, Maryland held Florida International to just 171 yards and cruised to a 43-10 victory.

10. Pittsburgh

We learned little about the Panthers in their 41-13 loss to Florida State. Some very optimistic fans may have learned that the Seminoles are the better squad, but most of us already knew that going into Monday night. The Pitt defense needed to rattle Winston, but didn’t. His precise passing to speedy receivers and the Panthers’ poor tackling kept Pitt from having a shot at an upset.

11. Duke

After earning a reputation as a pass-heavy team in 2013, the Blue Devils used a balanced attack in their 45-0 victory over North Carolina Central. A committee approach to the running back position worked out for the Blue Devils in this matchup, as their 257 rushing yards came without a single rusher exceeding 100 yards.

12. Wake Forest

Much like Duke, the Demon Deacons defeated an FCS school by a large margin. The 31-7 victory over Presbyterian College doesn’t tell us much about Wake Forest, but the slow start could. Presbyterian scored a touchdown early and moved the ball well on the ACC school.

13. Syracuse

The Orange looked hapless in their 23-17 loss to Penn State. Defensively, Syracuse made true freshman Christian Hackenberg’s stats look much better than his throws. Oklahoma transfer Drew Allen has to be better under center for the Orange, as he completed only 43.2 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions.

14. Boston College

Yes, the Eagles won in week one, but they needed a second-half rally to beat Villanova, an FCS school, 24-14. Quarterback Chase Rettig looked good on offense, going 23-of-30 for 285 yards and two touchdowns. Three interceptions for the Eagles’ defense saved the day, as the Wildcats nearly matched Boston College in yardage.