All-Carolina College Football Poll: Coastal Carolina is a better team than Duke

A little before noon Saturday, about a dozen or so students arrived at a fence overlooking the field at Appalachian State’s Kidd Brewer Stadium. They were all freshmen who lived in nearby dorms. They came carrying blankets. And coolers. Camping chairs. A couple of pizzas.

And there, on a little patch of grass on the other side of that fence, they created a small — very small — student section. Spectators were still not allowed inside the stadium, not yet, anyway. And so App State’s victory against Campbell went on in front of cardboard cutouts and an otherwise entirely empty stadium, as has been the custom in a lot of places early this season.

The scene on the other side of that black iron fence made for something pure. A group of college kids sitting around in the grass watching their school’s football team play a game. Nearby, the mother and father of a Campbell player tried to create a small cheering section of their own.

Every now and then, after the game started, small bursts of yelling and clapping could be heard from the people on the other side of the fence. They could be heard throughout the stadium, in the quiet moments without fake crowd noise or music or advertisements (with no one to really hear those advertisements).

One of the students said it was the first football game she’d ever watched.

Onto this week’s poll:

1. Clemson (2-0, 1-0 ACC)

Previous ranking: 1

Last week: Off

Up next: vs. Virginia, Saturday

The second consecutive season that Clemson and Virginia are playing, so it’s almost like they’re actually in the same conference again. We sort of forgot, given these members of the original ACC (well, technically Virginia joined six months late) have played but four times since 2004.

2. North Carolina (1-0, 1-0 ACC)

Previous ranking: 1

Last week: Off

Up next: At Boston College, Saturday

See the above comment. Boston College joined the ACC in 2005. The Tar Heels and Eagles have played four times since. Down with divisions! Also: This is UNC’s first game in three weeks. It’s like bowl season, but in reverse.

3. South Carolina (0-1, 0-1 SEC)

Previous ranking: 3

Last week: L vs. Tennessee, 31-27

Up next: At Florida, Saturday

Says something about the state of football in the Carolinas, outside of Clemson and North Carolina, when we’re surmising that a team that’s played once, and lost, is the third-best team among 10 FBS teams across two states.

4. Appalachian State (2-1)

Previous ranking: 5

Last week: W vs. Campbell, 52-21

Up next: vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, Oct. 7

And now the Sun Belt season commences for the Mountaineering men of the Appalachians, and that’s fine. But, going back to what we wrote not too long ago: Wouldn’t it be fun if App played more teams from around here? Game against Campbell was fun, even. For a while.

5. N.C. State (1-1, 1-1 ACC)

Previous ranking: 4

Last week: L at Virginia Tech, 45-24

Up next: At Pittsburgh, Saturday

Woe to the Wolfpack. Kind of a funny thing, though. For a long time N.C. State fans have talked their talk about the weakness of the Coastal Division — “We have to play Clemson every year!” they like to say, poking at UNC — but State couldn’t have liked its taste of the Coastal at Virginia Tech, and chances are it won’t like this Saturday against Pitt, either.

6. Wake Forest (0-2, 0-2 ACC)

Previous ranking: 6

Last week: Off

Up next: vs. Campbell, Friday

At the start of this weird football experiment, nobody’s opening stretch looked more difficult on paper than Wake’s, what with Clemson and Notre Dame two of the first three opponents. Then the Notre Dame game gets called off, the Demon Deacons have an off week and here come the Camels of Campbell.

7. Coastal Carolina (2-0)

Previous ranking: 8

Last week: Off

Up next: vs. Arkansas State, Saturday

Coastal has what six teams on this list don’t, and that’s a victory against a Power Five opponent. Yes, it was against Kansas. Who’s counting? Still a Power Five team. On the road. That has more money and resources. And ... yes, OK — it was just Kansas. (But still!)

8. Duke (0-3, 0-3 ACC)

Previous ranking: 7

Last week: L at Virginia, 38-20

Up next: vs. Virginia Tech, Saturday

Friend of the poll Mark Armstrong, the estimable sports anchor from ABC11 in Durham, might’ve put it best when he tweeted over the weekend that Duke is simply returning to its natural state these days. Hard to argue. Gone is the luster of that moral victory (but real loss) at Notre Dame to open the season.

9. Charlotte (0-1)

Previous ranking: 10

Last week: Off

Up next: at Florida Atlantic, Saturday

The 49ers have taken the early lead in the Games Affected by the Virus category but, undoubtedly, this is likely to be a tight race in the weeks and months to come. Already, Charlotte has had two games called off because of COVID, though the cancellation last weekend against Georgia State, it turned out, wasn’t exactly justified. Still better to be safe.

10. East Carolina (0-1, 0-1 AAC)

Previous ranking: 9

Last week: L vs. UCF, 51-28

Up next: At Georgia State, Saturday

Going back to that question posed last week in this space: Could the Pirates keep it any closer this time against UCF? No, dear reader. No, they could not. The good news? Only one more game this season (at Cincinnati, Nov. 13) where the Pirates can expect to be that outmatched.

This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 12:13 PM.