The powerhouses of the ACC

Coming into the year the ACC was predicted as one of the most underwhelming conferences and after the first game of the season when Florida State lost it got even more underwhelming.

Well, now let's flash forward to the end of October where there is a tight race for the one seed.

Those four teams are Clemson, Miami, SMU and Pitt. With that being said, one team that stands out the most to me is Pitt. I will say it is impressive what they are doing starting out undefeated, but I think they are the fourth-best team in the conference.

Let's first start with Clemson. The Tigers have won seven of the last 10 ACC championships and this year they are currently first in the ACC due to their better conference record over Miami.

This team has played better than Pitt all year even though they have one loss, which came against Georgia. One huge reason for their success is their Signal caller Cade Klubnik.

Klubnik is having a great season. Outside of the first game against Georgia where he had 142 passing yards and an interception, he has had 1,694 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns and two interceptions.

Another great piece of this offense is their halfback Phil Mafah. He has 682 rushing yards while carrying the ball 105 times and six touchdowns to go along with it.

These two teams will play on Nov. 9 so we will see which team can come through in a huge ACC game with many implications.

The Next team is Miami. One huge reason why I think Miami is better is because of their quarterback Cam Ward. He is having a huge year with 2,746 passing yards, 24 touchdown passes, five interceptions and two rushing touchdowns.

Another player worth mentioning is Xavier Restrepo. His season stats are up there with some of the best receivers in college football. He has 43 catches, 710 yards and six touchdowns.

The Hurricanes are undefeated as well with a 8-0 record and No. 5 in the country. They are also second in the ACC right now. Unlike Clemson, Miami doesn’t play Pitt this year and at the same time, they have a favorable schedule to close out the year.

The last team and the most debatable team is SMU. The Mustangs are 7-1 and are currently ranked third in the ACC behind Clemson and Miami. Pitt does have the edge at the quarterback position, but SMU has a better ground game.

Brashard Smith, SMU’s halfback, has 745 rushing yards off of 117 carries and nine rushing touchdowns. These two teams face off this weekend in what will be a huge game for both teams where Pitt is No. 18 and SMU is No. 20.

I am going to give Pitt its flowers and especially the redshirt freshman quarterback, Eli Holstein, who has 1,805 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and just five interceptions this year.

Starting the year 7-0 for this Pitt squad was definitely not expected for many, but until proven otherwise, I think these three teams mentioned earlier are better than Pitt.

Peyton Waddell is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email prw5142@psu.edu.