ACC Football News and Notes: Clemson goes to the Championship Game

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We now know who one of the teams will be in the ACC Championship Game on December 7. The Clemson Tigers clinched the Atlantic Division with their 55-10 victory over North Carolina State on Saturday night. The Tigers are the first team to represent either division in five consecutive championship games. Clemson will be making their seventh appearances in the title game. The seven times pass Virginia Tech’s six.

Who they will play is still up in the air. In the Coastal, Virginia holds the inside track with a 5-2 record. Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh are both at 3-2 tied in the loss column with the Cavaliers. Virginia has only one conference game left with Virginia Tech on November 29. Virginia has this weekend off.

This weekend, the Hokies head to Georgia Tech having won four of their last five games. Their only loss during this stretch was a one-point loss at Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets have won three straight over Virginia Tech, including last year’s game in Blacksburg, 49-28.

North Carolina freshman quarterback Sam Howell has thrown 28 touchdowns passes this season. It is the third-highest freshman total in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

Clemson linebacker, Isaiah Simmons, has been named one of 12 semifinalists for the 35th annual Butkus Award which honors the nation’s best college linebacker. Duke senior linebacker, Koby Quansah, recorded a team-best 11 tackles vs the Irish last Saturday night. He extended his streak of consecutive games with five-or-more tackles to 12 dating back to the 2018 season.

Boston College junior running back A.J. Dillon finished with 165 yards in last Saturday’s loss on Senior Day vs Florida State. His 40 carries were the fifth most in BC single-game history. He is now fourth in ACC history with 4,148 yards. He moves into a tie for eighth place in league history with 19 career 100-yard games with Virginia Tech’s Tiki Barber (1993-96). Dillon moved into second place in Boston College history with those 19 100-yard games.

The Eagles missed a great chance to become bowl eligible on Saturday in that loss. They did go over 500 yards of total offense for the fifth time this season. Boston College is now 37-5 under Steve Addazio when leading at the half. Two of those five losses came at the hands of the Seminoles. Both of those defeats came after the Eagles led at the half.

Florida State is now done with their ACC league schedule. The Seminoles are now 13-5 all-time vs Boston College, including 6-1 in the month of November. This was the third time that Florida State ended its conference schedule with the Eagles. With two games left to be played, the Seminoles need just one win to be able to go bowling this year after missing out last year. The same is true for the Eagles, although the road will be a tough one as they end their season with two games (ND, Pittsburgh) on the road.

The 346 yards passing by Seminoles quarterback James Blackmon surpassed his season-high that he established in the opening game of the season back during Labor Day weekend vs Boise State (327). While the 524 yards of total offense was their best output of the season besting by two yards their previous best of 522 vs Louisville on September 21.

Next week, we will give you more from the ACC.