Carolina's College Football Power Rankings: Week 5

- Dawson Haywood

#1 (-): NC State (4-1) (24+13=37 Points)
Previous: vs Louisiana Tech (W 34-27)
Upcoming: @ Boston College
Summary: The Wolfpack are on a roll and their win against Louisiana Tech has not shown it's true value just yet. Tech lost to the same team State lost to earlier this season (Mississippi State) and to Nationally ranked SMU. State will have a solid challenge this upcoming weekend against 4-1 Boston College who could not seal the deal against Clemson but was right there this past weekend. If the Wolfpack can stop Boston College's running game they will come out of this game on top once again and until they give us a reason to there is no reason to bet against the team from Raleigh for the rest of the season

#2 (-): Wake Forest (5-0) (19+10=29 Points) 
Previous: vs Louisville (W 37-34)
Upcoming: @ Syracuse
Summary: Wake Forest continues to surprise us this year but with Clemson having a down year other ACC teams are taking this moment and running with it. Like NC State, Wake Forest is not a team that you should bet against for the remainder of the season. This well balanced offence has a serious chance to compete with the Wolfpack for the ACC title this year as the two sit on top of their division. Wake Forest is the only team in the ACC that remains undefeated so the case can be made that they should be #1 between the sister states. 

#3 (-): Coastal Carolina (5-0) (22+8=30 Points)
Previous: vs UL Monroe (W 59-6)
Upcoming: @ Arkansas State
​Summary: If Coastal Carolina were in a better conference and dominate the way they have been they would easily be the #1 team on this list. NC State and Wake Forest are one hiccup away from dropping below the undefeated Carolina. As of this week, Coastal Carolina is the sole program out of South Carolina in the AP Top-25 and is the top team on this list in the AP Top-25. Coastal's offence has been electric all season long with 14 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing touchdowns. Their defense is almost equally as dominant as this is the third game this season holding their opponents to under 14 points.

#4 (-): Clemson (3-2) (33+7=40 Points)
Previous: vs Boston College (W 19-13)
Upcoming: @ Syracuse 
Summary: These one possession games are going to bury Clemson even more than they are. This is easily one of the worst offences in the ACC. The only team that has put up less points than the Tigers are the Virginia Tech Hokies. Their defense is still dominant and has been saving Clemson from a losing record each week. The talent is there to be one of the best teams in the Nation but Uiagalelei has failed miserably the get the passing game going. The run game is not all that impressive either. Dabo will need to figure something out quick before it is to late for Clemson and their days of competing for a National Title are over.

#5 (-): App State (4-1) (23+6=29 Points)
Previous: @ Georgia State (W 45-16)
Upcoming: @ Louisiana
Summary: Had App State beat Miami earlier this season we could easily rank them above Clemson. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, unless they beat every team in dominating fashion like Coastal, their conference is ultimately going to hurt their position. Coastal Carolina will be App State's only other real challenge before bowl season. If App State is as good as we know they can be, they have the potential to win out this year. 

#6 (-): North Carolina (3-2) (23+5=28 Points)
Previous: vs Duke (W 38-7)
Upcoming: vs Florida State
Summary: A win against Duke was expected by the Tar Heels and in their dominating fashion as well. We would have liked to have seen the Heels put up at least 40 points like they did against Georgia State and  Virginia but a win is a win, especially against their crosstown rival. The Heels will play Florida State and Miami before having to face off against Notre Dame and Wake Forest where they will have the chance to prove that they are Top-25 worthy. 

#7 (-): South Carolina (3-2) (13+4=17 Points)
Previous: vs Troy (W 23-14)
Upcoming: @ Tennessee
Summary: The Gamecocks should have won this game by a lot more than they did but the true colors of this team are starting to show. Though they have a winning 3-2 record there is still a very tough schedule looking at the Gamecocks square in the face. That being said, this tough schedule could groom the Gamecocks into a good enough team to beat Clemson for the first time since 2013. 

#8 (-): East Carolina (3-2) (7+3=10 Points)
Previous: vs Tulane (W 52-29)
Upcoming: @ UCF
​Summary: This Tulane team couldn't possibly be the same Tulane team that gave Oklahoma a run for their money just a few weeks ago? East Carolina has a winning record? Is this real life? ECU is putting themselves on the map, at least for now. It is a long shot but the Pirates have put themselves in good position to be a ranked team by the end of the season, even with a loss or two. 

#9 (-): Charlotte (3-2) (8+2=10 Points)
Previous:@ Illinois (L 24-14)
Upcoming: @ FIU 
Summary: There is no need to panic for this Charlotte team. Going 1-1 against Power 5 teams in a season is still impressive (Even though it was Duke). As Charlotte enters conference play they have a lot to look forward to for the rest of the season. The rest of the games Charlotte plays are very winnable games, and if you watched the game against Illinois, you know that Charlotte can at the very least compete with anybody. Quarterback Chris Reynolds has this team ready to make a run in the C-USA. 

#10 (-): Duke (3-2) (4+1=5 Points)
Previous:@ North Carolina (L 7-38)
Upcoming: vs Georgia Tech
Summary: Duke is struggling, to say the least. The offence is there but the defense is the second worst in the ACC. They rely way to much on their run game, more specifically Mataeo Durant who has 8 rushing touchdowns this season. Any team that can figure out how to stop Durant can stop this Blue Devil's team. 

Overall Rankings
Clemson: 40 Points
NC State: 37 Points
Coastal Carolina: 30 Points
Wake Forest: 29 Points
App State: 29 Points
UNC: 28 Points
South Carolina: 17 Points
East Carolina: 10 Points
Charlotte: 10 Points
Duke: 5 Points