Week six: Ranking the Carolinas

1. North Carolina

Record: 3-1

Last week: Won at Miami, 28-24

The Heels take the top spot in the Carolinas after their triumphant win at Miami last Saturday. According to the Associated Press, Miami was 225-13 since 1985 when leading at any point after the third quarter, but UNC has now made that number 225-14. The Heels erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit behind the unexpected play of quarterback Cameron Sexton. Sexton threw two touchdown passes in the final quarter, including a 14-yarder to Brooks Foster with 0:46 left, which made the score 28-24. Sexton's heroics erased the memory of injured starter T.J. Yates, but UNC shouldn't start beating its chest just yet-a hungry UConn team will be in Chapel Hill this weekend. Can the Heels bring it two weeks in a row? We'll see.

2. Duke

Record: 3-1

Last week: Won vs. Virginia, 31-3

You want a reason for Duke being ahead of Wake Forest in these rankings, you got it. The Blue Devils beat Navy 41-31 almost three weeks ago, and that same Navy team beat Wake last weekend. The Blue Devils have two very valuable things in the conference that they play in: a quarterback and a coach. Duke dominated Virginia last weekend, snapping a 25-game ACC losing streak. Like it or not, the Blue Devils are for real this year. The only problem is that they have played all of their games at home so far. Six of their final nine games are on the road, including this week's game against Georgia Tech. Duke will have to show the same kind of heart on the road that it has at home this season.

3. Wake Forest

Record: 3-1

Last week: Lost vs. Navy 24-13

Wake Forest followed up its dominating win at Florida State with a loss to Navy at home last Saturday. How can somebody possibly justify that? Here's one shot at it: when Navy gets a lead, it is very difficult to come back. The Midshipmen jumped out to an early lead against Wake, and led 17-0 at halftime. Wake tried to come back, winning the third quarter 10-0, but it just was too steep of a task. Navy feverishly ran out the clock after gaining its early lead, attempting only four passes-compared to 59 runs-the entire game. Navy had 249 more rushing yards than Wake and dominated time of possession, controlling the ball for 13 minutes and 38 seconds more than Wake Forest.

4. South Carolina

Record: 3-2

Last week: Won vs. UAB, 26-13

South Carolina hasn't looked overly impressive the past two weeks, but it has won. The Gamecocks' defense has played well all year, but the problem has been on offense. Head Coach Steve Spurrier might have found his answer on the offensive side of the ball, however. Super-talented freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia finally got his chance to show Spurrier what he can do last week, going 13-of-20 for 131 yards and a touchdown, while adding 86 rushing yards and one more touchdown in his first significant action of his career. Garcia will start this week against Ole Miss, and Spurrier might have finally found the spark he needed. USC looks to have new life and Ole Miss could still be thinking about its win last week at Florida come Saturday. Advantage: Gamecocks.

5. Clemson

Record: 3-2

Last week: Lost vs. Maryland, 20-17

Clemson remains in the rankings by default this week. It came down to Clemson, ECU or N.C. State. This season, Clemson has beat N.C. State, which then beat ECU-so Clemson gets the nod. With that said, the Tigers suffered another bad loss last Saturday, losing at home to Maryland despite winning for most of the game. Just like ECU, Clemson is on a bye week right now and has time to figure out how to turn things around despite having two disappointing losses in the loss column. The Tigers play at Wake Forest on Oct. 9; will that be a game that Clemson wants to win or will it go through the motions like it has so many times before? I'm not sure anyone has the answer for that one, except for the Clemson players.

This writer can be contacted sports@theeastcarolinian.com.