All-Carolina College Football Poll: NC State moves into the top 3 as Wake Forest falls

Maybe it was just me, but Saturday afternoon was the first in quite a while when it actually felt like a college football game day is supposed to feel. For teams around here, at least, the games were all fairly competitive, and interesting enough that they offered a bit of a distraction from the world, if only for a while.

In the span of a few hours on Saturday, NC State found a way in a last-minute comeback victory at Pittsburgh. North Carolina held on at Boston College. Duke kept it close enough before succumbing to Virginia Tech. And, outside the ACC, Mississippi and Kentucky provided some overtime theatrics.

A dramatic fall Saturday of football. A regular October Saturday, like in The Before.

And then the afternoon games ended and, depending on whatever channel you happened to be watching, the news came on. And, oh yes: An immediate reminder that all is very strange right now, even by 2020 standards. But, hey, those few hours were all right, weren’t they?

Onto this week’s All-Carolinas Poll:

1. Clemson (3-0, 2-0)

Previous ranking: 1

Last week: W vs. Virginia, 41-23

Up next: vs. Miami, Saturday

So Clemson “struggled” with Virginia, in the way that teams “struggle” during 18-point victories against mostly overmatched opponents. Seems this narrative emerges every year about the Tigers’ relative early-season “struggles.” Spoiler alert: They’ll be fine, though Saturday might just prove to be their most difficult regular season test.

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

Previous ranking: 2

Last week: W at Boston College, 26-22

Up next: vs. Virginia Tech, Saturday

The Tar Heels are another one for your “they’ll be fine” files. No, they didn’t look all too sharp up at Boston College over the weekend. No, Sam Howell hasn’t looked quite the way we expected. Not yet, anyway. But remember that UNC hadn’t played in three weeks. Expect Carolina to rise to the occasion against Virginia Tech this weekend.

3. N.C. State (2-1, 2-1 ACC)

Previous ranking: 5

Last week: W at Pittsburgh, 30-29

Up next: at Virginia, Saturday

A very NC State thing, to look pretty hapless during a blowout loss one week and then come up with an unexpected victory the next. The Wolfpack may just have something going, though, with sophomore quarterback Devin Leary, who has looked good. State’s tour of the ACC’s Coastal Division continues on Saturday.

4. South Carolina (0-2, 0-2 SEC)

Previous ranking: 3

Last week: L at Florida, 38-24

Up next: at Vanderbilt, Saturday

The Gamecocks might be 0-2, but they can take solace in being the best 0-2 team in the Carolinas, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. In all seriousness, though, the schedule-makers did South Carolina no favors the first two weeks. There’s a bit of a respite this weekend.

5. Appalachian State (2-1)

Previous ranking: 4

Last week: off

Up next: at Georgia Southern, Oct. 14

The recent events in Boone offer a sobering argument for why attempting a college football season was probably never the best idea. A student’s death, following another reported outbreak of COVID-19, has put things into perspective. Far less important, App’s game this week against Louisiana-Lafayette was postponed.

6. Coastal Carolina (3-0, 1-0 Sun Belt)

Previous ranking: 7

Last week: W vs. Arkansas State, 52-23

Up next: at Louisiana-Lafayette, Saturday

Careful readers of the poll this week will notice seeing Louisiana-Lafayette for the second time — the first being that it was previously scheduled to play Appalachian State this week. The postponement of that game created the opening that Louisiana-Lafayette used to move up its date with Coastal. The college football schedule has been written in pencil this season.

7. Wake Forest (1-2, 0-2 ACC)

Previous ranking: 6

Last week: W vs. Campbell, 66-14

Up next: vs. Virginia, Oct. 17

The Demon Deacons’ schedule looks like it’ll work out so that, essentially, they’ll go about a month having played just one game. They lost at NC State on Sept. 19, beat Campbell last Friday and then don’t play again until Oct. 17. Good luck finding a rhythm that way.

8. Duke (0-4, 0-4 ACC)

Previous ranking: 8

Last week: L vs. Virginia Tech, 38-31

Up next: at Syracuse, Saturday

This is Duke’s first 0-4 start since 2006, when the Blue Devils did not win a game. Duke, of course, is no stranger to football futility — there’s just been a lot less of it under David Cutcliffe. An encouraging sign, though, was the competitiveness against the Hokies on Saturday.

9. Charlotte (0-2, 0-1, Conference USA)

Previous ranking: 9

Last week: L at Florida Atlantic, 21-17

Up next: at North Texas, Saturday

Not that home field advantage really matters all that much for anyone this season — especially in places where fans either haven’t been allowed or have been allowed only in small numbers — but the North Texas game is Charlotte’s third consecutive on the road to start the season. The 49ers won’t have a home game until Oct. 17. Another little oddity in a season full of weird.

10. East Carolina (0-2, 0-1 AAC)

Previous ranking: 10

Last week: L at Georgia State, 49-29

Up next: at South Florida, Saturday

What can you say? Things are just not great in Greenville right now. Not in the least. You’d like to think the Pirates would stand a decent chance at South Florida, because the Bulls have been blown out the past couple of weeks by two ranked teams, but who knows. ECU has allowed 1,117 yards in two games.

This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 12:51 PM.