What we learned in the ACC: Clemson no longer taking backseat to anybody
The college football regular season is over. For some teams, the end of the year is just a transition into conference championships and bowl games. For others, the end of the regular season means the end. Either way, the break gives us a chance to look at the season and see what we learned from each team in the ACC.
Atlantic Division
Clemson
The Tigers finally did it. After taking a backseat to Florida State in the ACC year after year, Clemson finally got over the hump and solidified its stance as a national title contender. Dabo Swinney is now only one win away from taking his team to the College Football Playoff.
Florida State
Despite finishing the year 10-2, it was a disappointing campaign for Florida State. The Seminoles won’t even play in the ACC championship game this week after winning the conference in each of the last four seasons. Don’t consider this the end of an era, though. Florida State has another top-five recruiting class coming in and a lot of talent returning next year, so the Seminoles will be back in the hunt next season.
Louisville
Louisville’s second year in the ACC ended up being the Cardinals’ worst since 2011. At 7-5, Louisville again failed to take the next step in becoming a real contender in college football. Freshman Lamar Jackson could be the future of the team as he showed flashes of greatness, but the 5-3 record in the ACC leaves the Cardinals outside of conference contention for now.
NC State
The Wolfpack were a pretty average team this year, beating opponents they were supposed to and losing to superior ones. NC State finished right in the middle of the ACC Atlantic for a reason, and you can expect it to be in a similar spot next year.
Syracuse
We didn’t really learn anything about Syracuse we didn’t already know. Last year the Orange beat an FCS team, Wake Forest, and Central Michigan. This year Syracuse did the exact same thing (plus a win over Boston College last week). Scott Shafer is out as head coach and new AD Mark Coyle will put his guys at the helm in the offseason, so there isn’t much to take from this year.
Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons finished 3-9 with only one win in the ACC for the second straight year. This season could have ended a lot differently for Wake, though, as it lost to Duke, Louisville, and Florida State by one possession. This team isn’t the easy win it was last year, and hopefully the upswing continues next year.
Boston College
There aren’t many positives to take from Boston College’s season. The Eagles only gave up 15.3 points per game (fourth best in the country), but still managed to finish 3-9. Steve Addazio will have a lot of work to do in the offseason to get this team back to a bowl game.
Coastal Division
North Carolina
Last year everyone was wondering how good North Carolina could be if it played defense. In 2015, we found out. The Tar Heels are headed to their first ACC championship game on the shoulders of Marquise Williams, who is finally starting to get the recognition he deserves. North Carolina is one of the best scoring teams in the country, and now has a top-20 defense to match.
Pittsburgh
If Pittsburgh wins its bowl game, it will finish the season with its best record since 2009. Pat Narduzzi has impressed in his first year, getting the Panthers ranked for the first time in five years. This year we learned about Qadree Ollison, who ran for over 1,000 yards after James Conner went down. Pittsburgh will have a lot of pieces coming back next season, and will contend for the Coastal again.
Miami
Miami’s season was as hectic as … well, a hurricane. Despite the head coach confusion that carried on throughout the season, Miami still somehow managed to finish 8-4 and is headed to another bowl game in December. Miami's head-coaching vacancy will be one of the most prestigious jobs available this offseason, and if we learned anything this season, it’s that whoever gets it won’t have a very long leash.
Duke
In October it looked like Duke and North Carolina would be battling for the ACC Coastal, but then the Blue Devils lost four in a row. Thomas Sirk had the best season of his career and led the team in both passing and rushing yards. Part of that was because the Blue Devils didn’t have much of a running game, but no need to dwell on specifics.
Virginia Tech
The Hokies just barely made bowl eligibility with a field-goal win over Virginia last week, making it 23 straight bowl games for Frank Beamer to end his career. Maybe Virginia Tech wins a few more games with Michael Brewer healthy, but 6-6 is about as good as this team was this year.
Virginia
Virginia finished 4-8 on the year, but has a lot to look forward to. Matt Johns is the future of the team, and hopefully whoever takes over as head coach will be able to make better use of the talent. This team has more ability than its record shows.
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech taught us that the experts don’t always get it right. Everyone (myself included) had the Yellow Jackets as the favorites to win the Coastal division this year, but it just doesn’t always work out that way. Justin Thomas had no consistency under center, leading to a 3-9 season.