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ACC Power Rankings Week Four: Hokies Plummet After 0-3 Start and Firing Brent Pry

The ACC looks like the wild west with the amount of chaos week three had in store.
Brett Holmes|
Sep 13, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones (1) runs the ball during the fourth quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images
Sep 13, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones (1) runs the ball during the fourth quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Week three put the ACC on its head.

The top dogs remain, but some big names have fallen from grace. Teams once thought to be regrouping in 2025 have shown promise early on. There's a ton of movement in this week's ACC power rankings. Let's waste no time and jump into what the alignment of power looks like heading into week four.

Miami hasn't budged from this spot. They have a competitive schedule to back up their success on both ends of the ball. South Florida was making noise around the college football stratosphere. The Hurricanes shut that down quickly. Carson Beck continues his Heisman case with a four-touchdown outing. Mark Fletcher Jr. couldn't be stopped on the ground with 120 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries. They might have the best receiving corps in the country right now, and their defense has been lights out when it matters most. They rose to fourth in the AP Top 25 poll and aren't going anywhere.

Another staple of the ACC and the state of Florida, the Seminoles remain in the same spot coming off a rest. They move up the AP poll, now standing at seventh. Tommy Castellanos has been a perfect fit for both the system and culture of this team. The Mike Norvell revenge tour finished its second show with a 77-3 beatdown on East Texas A&M. They're doing what good teams do: compete no matter who they face. They play with an energy matched by few. Some call it inspiration. Others call it rage. No matter what it is, it's got the Seminoles poised for a 2023-esque campaign.

The Yellow Jackets are rolling and have entered the AP poll. Sitting at 18th, Georgia Tech stunned the Clemson Tigers in week three. Haynes King is a gamer. He has a knack for clutch plays and knowing how to work his way through late-game scenarios. Very few quarterbacks have the rushing ability King does. Combine that with his ability to work in the clutch, and he is a dangerous matchup for opposing defenses. Jamal Haynes was quiet in this game, leading to Eric Rivers stepping up at wide receiver. He didn't get a plethora of volume. He made every big play that Georgia Tech needed when called upon, however. Now that Clemson is out of the way, the sky is the limit for the Yellow Jackets within the landscape of the ACC.

I said it once, and I'll repeat it: the Cardinals always find a way to be competitive in the ACC. They continue not to get the hype they deserve. They have a very favorable schedule and one of the best running backs in the country to pair with it. The heartbeat of this team is Isaac Brown. He's a walking highlight when he's given the ball. He has 230 yards and three touchdowns on just 18 carries. Keep in mind, Brown is still a sophomore. He's natural at this game and is only going to improve as the season settles in. There are going to be games he takes over single-handedly. That factor keeps the Cardinals among the best in their conference.

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Louisville Cardinals running back Isaac Brown (1) had more than 100 rushing yards via a 78-yard touchdown run down the sideline, his fourth career rushing score of 60 or more yards as he and the Cards defeated the James Madison University Dukes 28-14 Friday September 5, 2025 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

I have to tone down the Kevin Jennings hype train a tad. One glaring issue with his performance last season was his touchdown-to-interception ratio. He still flashes big-play ability, but the turnovers remain a downside to his play. Turning the ball over against teams like Missouri State shows flaws that teams above them in the rankings will undoubtedly exploit. They're moving the ball well, nonetheless, and have a strong rushing attack with T.J. Harden and Chris Johnson Jr. Big games will be the determining factor of who Jennings truly is. The Mustangs should be among the better teams in the ACC, nonetheless.

The Tigers have had a gauntlet to start the year and they haven't come out on the better side of it. Their only victory so far was against Troy. That week's two performances were worrisome, with how close Troy came to taking over the game's pace. Georgia Tech took advantage of every weakness shown in that matchup. Cade Klubnik continues to look uncomfortable, and questions are flying around about how much of a leader he truly is for this team. Clemson's defense is still one of the best in the conference. The talent they possess on both sides of the ball is among the best in the country. The execution of this team, however, is subpar.

NC State is bouncing back from 2024 wonderfully. Wake Forest's run game almost stunned the Wolfpack, but the reality of college football is that some games are going to be closer than expected, no matter what happens. CJ Bailey navigated a close game for the third straight game and continues to come out on top. Bailey's development has come a long way, and he's silently becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He's 12th in QBR with a rating of 84.5 and has one interception to eight total touchdowns. Hollywood Smothers looks as advertised. Wolfpack football is rolling once again. The close game brings worries down the road, but it also shows how this team handles high-pressure situations. NC State could quickly position itself to compete for the ACC title in the coming weeks.

I was not in on Golden Bears football before the beginning of the season. This is a well-coached squad, however. They fought through a world of adversity with the losses of Fernando Mendoza and Jaydn Ott. They have a very favorable schedule compared to other ACC teams. They're handling the teams they're expected to beat, though, and are quietly undefeated. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is a poised, exciting prospect to watch grow for Cal. He showed out against Minnesota and looks better every week. Kendrick Raphael is filling in as the RB1 quite well, with 201 yards and over five yards per carry. This is a fun team to watch and continues to rise up ESPN's FPI.

The Panthers disappointed against West Virginia, but it's not a gutting loss. It was a competitive environment, and they just didn't come out of the other side of it. The utilization of Desmond Reid is a massive question mark. He was a staple of the offense last year and proved to be one of the best dual threats in the country. His receiving ability is something that can't go unutilized, yet it has. Eli Holstein is filling the stat sheet, but the lack of strength on the ground showed against the Mountaineers. The Panthers have a great back who deserves more touches. Getting Reid more involved could solidify some of these late-game scripts.

The Cavaliers might beat the Hokies come rivalry week. It's hard to look that far into the future, but Chandler Morris and the offense look legit. He's got some serious wheels and has been a solid field general for Virginia. J'Mari Taylor has been fun to watch and even more annoying to defend. The rest of their running back room has taken advantage of every opportunity. Overall, the Cavaliers have four players, including their quarterback, who have over 100 rushing yards through three weeks. Their loss against NC State wasn't a conference game. They've gotten a taste of ACC competition already without sacrificing their record. It's hard not to like what Virginia is building.

Fran Brown has rallied the Orange after their opening week loss against Tennessee. UConn was a little too close for comfort, but Colgate wasn't even close. The Syracuse air raid is alive and well. Steve Angeli has already eclipsed 1,000 yards in just three games. Similar to what Kyle McCord did last year, Angeli marinated at an elite program like Notre Dame and is showing out with the Orange. The glaring downside to this offense is the lack of confidence in the run game. Yasin Wells has been servicable, but doesn't look like an alpha in this backfield. If Syracuse continues to throw the way have been, that may not be an issue in most matchups. The ceiling is limited, but the floor of this team could help them piece together a couple more wins than expected.

Congrats to the ACC's biggest riser, the Demon Deacons.

I was wrong about this team, but not about Demond Claiborne. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see the talent Claiborne possesses. He was the only proven talent on this offense heading into the season and lived up to the hype through two weeks. So if you told me Wake Forest would be in this game for the majority of the day, it would be expected that Claiborne would be at the core of it. He wasn't. He actually had one of the weaker games of his career.

Robby Ashford flashed, but his two interceptions overshadowed the day. An opening special teams touchdown gave Wake Forest momentum to make this game a fight for the Wolfpack. Their run defense is their Achilles heel, allowing Hollywood Smothers to gash them for 164 yards. They put up 24 points in the first half and led, but were shut out in the second half. This was still a good loss for Wake Forest. They competed with an NC State team that could be the sleeping giant of the ACC. Even though they're no longer undefeated, their only loss showed more positives than anyone could've anticipated.

Darian Mensah is the only thing holding this Duke team's upside together. Losing against the team you left, however, hurts his stock significantly. Matchups like this test the mental capabilities of a quarterback. Overcoming the expectation of handling his team proved to be too tall of a task. The team overall started slow for Duke. Tulane looked motivated to show Mensah what he was missing out on. A late-game push from the offense got them within striking distance, but it proved to be too late. The box scores and stats don't correlate. The Blue Devils have a high ceiling on offense. Defensively, they can't find their footing down-to-down. Mensah is fun to watch, but this Duke squad has to start pulling through down the stretch.

The Tar Heels rolled through their two layups, but no one is forgetting their collapse against TCU. Their offense looks grounded, but there's still a limited ceiling. Having Bill Belichick as your head coach brings a wealth of eyes, but there's only so much his team can accomplish without a full offseason with him at the helm. There's no question this team can be built into a powerhouse in the conference. It just doesn't seem like that's going to happen immediately. Gio Lopez continues to be called upon at quarterback and has had his moments. How he handles competitive atmospheres is still to be determined. There's a lot more left to be seen from the Tar Heels before their stock becomes appealing.

Another team towards the bottom of the ACC shocked me this week. Frank Reich got his first win as the interim head coach against a team in Boston College that looked to be meshing better than expected. It was unknown what the ceiling or floor for this Cardinal team was. The talent that the team is built around is likely being seen by people for the first time. Micah Ford has been a pleasant surprise in the backfield, having his breakout performance this past week. He has almost 300 yards through three weeks. Ford rushed for a career-high 151 yards on 17 touches. His big-play ability is the ceiling of this offense, and the Eagles weren't ready to handle it.

This week's biggest faller: the Boston College Eagles.

I liked what Dylan Lonergan has put together so far. He was a breakout candidate I didn't foresee. That was about all I liked from the Eagles through three weeks. Their run defense was exposed by an offense that was projected to be one of the worst amongst Power Four programs. That's not a shot at Stanford, but it's the truth. This team very obviously leans towards Turbo Richards on the ground, and he doesn't look like an every-down back. He's a good third-down threat, but he doesn't attack defenses the way Boston College needs on the ground. The upside of this season for the Eagles looks unknown, and the floor has been lowered. It's hard to see the Eagles becoming competitive anytime soon.

What more needs to be said about the Hokies.

The Brent Pry era ended three weeks into the season. The Kyron Drones era looks more like an experiment. Philip Montgomery will take over head coaching duties, but is likely not the long-term answer. It's hard not to sympathise with the layers in Blacksburg. The man who brought these players is no longer with the program, and they have a whole season in front of them. Everyone thinks the season is over, and ACC play hasn't even begun.

The first 0-3 start in decades will motivate a lot of the players and coaches. This is no longer a fight for relevance for most of these guys. It's now a fight for their jobs. Players will decommit or enter the portal, but at the end of the day, a change was necessary. The ceiling of this era was a 7-6 season. That's not the brand of football the Hokies were known for. The future is unknown, but at least it's no longer grim.

Rock bottom isn't pleasant. The good that will come out of this, however, is that now the Hokies know what it feels like. This is an outcome nobody expected. It'll be every player and coach's priority to do everything in their power to make sure Virginia Tech never comes close to it again. They still have to get through 2025, though.

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Brett Holmes
BRETT HOLMES

Brett Holmes has been covering the Hokies as a Sports Media & Analytics student at the school for the past two years. Alongside writing, he works behind the scenes as a production assistant for Virginia Tech's athletic production organization Hokie Vision. In his free time, he produces his own podcast, Holmes Field Advantage, on his YouTube. You can find him on X @_BrettHolmes

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