CHARLOTTE — It’s Game Day at Bank of America Stadium where No. 3 Clemson battles Virginia as the Tigers look to earn their 28th straight win today and fifth straight ACC Championship.
Clemson looks to secure another bid to the College Football Playoff.
Location: Bank of America Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30
Television: ABC
Announcers: Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay, Maria Taylor
2019 Record: Clemson 12-0, Virginia 6-2
ACC Record: Clemson 8-0
Series History: Clemson leads 38-8-1
Last Meeting: Clemson won 59-10 on November 2, 2013
CLEMSON SEEKS FIFTH STRAIGHT ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Clemson will attempt to earn its 19th ACC Championship and 25th overall conference championship in school history on Saturday, Dec. 7, when the Atlantic Division champion Tigers face the Coastal Division champion Virginia Cavaliers. Kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Clemson entered 2019 as the only program in ACC history to win four consecutive outright titles. With wins this week, Clemson and Oklahoma can join the 1971-75 Alabama Crimson Tide as the only members of any active FBS conference to win five straight outright titles. This week, Clemson will attempt to become the only program since the creation of conference
championship games in 1992 to win five consecutive conference championship games.
The ACC title would be Clemson’s sixth under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. With the win, Swinney would tie Frank Howard’s school record for ACC titles and match Howard and Duke’s Bill Murray for the second-most in
ACC history. Swinney would pull two shy of Howard’s total number of conference championships at Clemson (eight), including Southern Conference titles in 1940 and 1948.
Clemson’s top-ranked scoring defense (10.1 points per game) has allowed only three points in each of its last two contests and has held opponents out of the end zone in each of the last nine quarters. After allowing only three points in each of its last two games, Clemson will attempt to hold a third consecutive opponent to singledigit points for the first time since the first three games of the 2000 season.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
– Clemson winning its 25th conference championship in school history. The Tigers enter this week with four SIAA championships, two Southern Conference championships and 18 ACC championships to their credit, and their 24 total conference championships are the most among the
ACC’s current membership.
– Clemson securing its 19th all-time ACC championship. Clemson’s current 18 ACC titles are already the most in conference history, ahead of the 15 earned by Florida
State.
– Clemson attempting to become the first team in ACC history to win five consecutive ACC titles outright. Florida State earned at least a share of nine consecutive ACC titles from 1992-2000 but never earned more than three
consecutive titles outright.
– Clemson attempting to join the 1971-75 Alabama Crimson Tide as the only members of any current FBS conference to win five straight outright conference titles. Oklahoma can also join that group this week.
– Clemson attempting to surpass the 1993-96 Florida Gators (four straight) to become the first team to win five consecutive conference championship games.
– Head Coach Dabo Swinney attempting to win his sixth ACC title, which would tie Frank Howard’s school record and match Howard and Duke’s Bill Murray for the secondmost in ACC history.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 13-0 for only the third time in school history, joining the 2015 and 2018 squads that both went on to play for national championships.
CLEMSON ACC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Clemson has a 5-1 record in six previous appearances in the ACC Championship Game. In the first two appearances, Clemson played a team it faced earlier that season. But, this year’s matchup represents the fifth straight time Clemson has played a team for the first time that season in the ACC Championship Game.
The Tigers faced North Carolina in 2015, Virginia Tech in 2016, Miami (Fla.) in 2017 and Pitt in 2018 in their first matchup of the season in each instance.
Clemson first played in the ACC Championship Game in 2009 when Georgia Tech defeated Clemson, 39-34. Both teams rushed for over 300 yards in the game, which was the only FBS game in 2009 in which both teams had at least 300 yards rushing. It remains the only game in Clemson history in which neither team punted. C.J. Spiller rushed for 233 yards, scored four
touchdowns and had 301 all-purpose yards, all of which remain ACC Championship game records. He was named the game’s MVP, the only time a player from the losing team has been honored.
Clemson won the title two years later with a 38-10 win over Virginia Tech in 2011. Virginia Tech was ranked third in the USA Today poll entering the game, and the victory tied for the highest-ranked team Clemson had defeated at the time. Clemson has since defeated a No. 2 Ohio State and twice defeated No. 1 Alabama.
Tajh Boyd had three touchdown passes and one rushing to account for four of Clemson’s five touchdowns on the night in 2011, as the Tigers boasted a balanced attack that recorded 217 yards rushing and 240 yards passing. It was Clemson’s first ACC Championship since 1991.
Future NFL pros Dwayne Allen, Sammy Watkins and Andre Ellington all scored touchdowns for Clemson and the Tigers’ defense held Virginia Tech to just 56 yards rushing.
In 2015, the Tigers defeated North Carolina, 45-37, for the championship, a victory that gave Clemson a 13-0 record and a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time. North Carolina was 11-1 and ranked eighth in
the nation entering the game.
Deshaun Watson led a Clemson offense that gained 608 yards in 98 plays, including 319 rushing yards and 289 passing yards. Watson completed 26-of-42 passes for 289 yards and three scores. He also had 131 yards rushing on 24 attempts and two rushing touchdowns. Wayne Gallman had 187 yards on 28 attempts to lead Clemson’s ground game. Artavis Scott had seven catches
for 96 yards and a score. Gallman also had a career-high 68 receiving yards, giving him 255 all-purpose yards.
Clemson won the 2016 ACC Championship game in Orlando over Virginia Tech with a 42-35 victory. Clemson was ranked third in the nation entering that game and Virginia Tech was 19th. Watson helped bolster his case as a Heisman finalist by accounting for five touchdowns in the victory, including three passing touchdowns among his 23-of-34 passing performance for 288 yards while adding 17 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Top-ranked Clemson won its third straight ACC title in 2017, defeating the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes, 38-3, in Charlotte. Offensively, the Tigers were sparked by quarterback Kelly Bryant, who completed his first 15 passes for 164 yards and finished the game with 252 yards and one passing touchdown on a career-high 23 completions to earn MVP honors. The Clemson defense
held Miami to just 22 yards of offense in the first quarter and 214 for the whole game, while also forcing three Hurricane turnovers in the third quarter alone.
SEEKING 13 WINS
A victory Saturday would make the 2019 Clemson squad just the sixth ACC team in history to record at least 13 wins in a season. The 13-win season would be Clemson’s fourth and would double the most by any other
ACC program (two by Florida State).
Clemson has posted the ACC’s three most-recent 13-win seasons, recording a 14-1 record during both the 2015 and 2016 campaigns and a 15-0 record in 2018.
Clemson’s 1981 National Championship team was the first ACC team to win 12 games in a season. Florida State accomplished the feat five times between 1993 and 2014, including a streak of three seasons with at least 12 wins from 2012-14. They won a then-record 14 games (14-0) in 2013, a mark tied by Clemson in 2015 and 2016 before being broken in 2018.
Both Pittsburgh and Miami have posted 12-win seasons in their school histories, but those years came prior to their addition to the ACC.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 45, Virginia 14
Will – Clemson 35, Virginia 10
Gavin – Clemson 42, Virginia 14
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