Bilo's College Football PASS/FAIL Reports Week 7: ACC

ACC

PASS: Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh

Clemson has established themselves now as the class of the ACC, and are now in a prime situation to edge themselves back into a second consecutive playoff appearance. The win over NC State was not always pretty, and the Tigers needed OT to get the win, but it was a huge win against the last obstacle that they may face moving forward to claim the conference title. Of course, they cannot continue to turn the football over like they did today, but that has been a season theme.

Florida State’s offense never got on track today, but beating a pesky Wake Forest team was necessary to keep the Seminoles in the conversation for a NY6 bowl.

Syracuse showed signs that the needle is moving in the right direction today in a 31-17 win over Virginia Tech. Dino Babers looks like he could have a team that could compete for a solid bowl bid next season, if not this season with a decent run.

Georgia Tech had been on a 3 game losing streak and looked headed off the cliff heading into today, and they got a much needed win over Georgia Southern to move closer to bowl eligibility. If Tech cannot get bowl eligible, one would have to wonder what is keeping Paul Johnson employed. Today was a key win, even if it was in non con play.

Pitt keeps on moving forward, especially on offense, after a 45-31 win over Virginia today. Pat Narduzzi, who is a defensive guy, will have to fix this defense, however, to eventually compete for division titles. Right now, despite the win today, the defense is a disaster. I still give a passing grade this week, because winning is paramount at this stage of the season, and the beauty of the win matters little in league play.

FAIL: NC State, Wake Forest, Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Duke, Louisville

NC State was a major obstacle to keep Clemson from running off to another final 4 appearance, but a missed FG at the end of regulation, and an INT by Ryan Finley in the end zone in OT, kept the Pack from pulling off a major upset. Dave Doeren could have written his ticket with a win, but now NC State is just a middling program once again.

Wake Forest has been winning football games with timely and solid defense this season, but the offense has needed to catch up most weeks. The offense failed to get off the ground today against FSU, and Wake Forest is now showing signs of falling apart.

Miami has been a mess since building a 13-3 lead against Florida State last week. That collapse led to another offensive mess in a loss to North Carolina today, where Brad Kaaya was outplayed by Mitch Trubisky.

Virginia Tech obviously never took Syracuse seriously this week, and the roof caved in on the road in a 31-17 loss. The Hokies found themselves down 17-3, came back to tie the game, and then fell apart completely, allowing 14 unanswered points to lose to the Orange.

Virginia is still trying to find an identity, as they gave up another 45 points to Pitt this week in a loss where they scored 28 in the first half, only to score just 3 in the second.

Duke has never recovered from the loss of Thomas Sirk to start the season, and they are forced to be completely conservative on offense. The defense has been decent at times, but this week, Louisville, despite playing well under season averages offensively with Lamar Jackson, had just a bit more in the tank.