ACC Football News & Notes: Championship Game Set

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The Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game is set. It will be round two between the Clemson Tigers (9-1, 8-1) and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-0, 9-0). Both teams clinched their spots with wins last Saturday. For the #4 Tigers, they went on the road and took care of Virginia Tech 45-10. While the Irish defeated Syracuse 45-21 in their home finale. This will be the first title game that will feature two teams ranked in the top five and the third championship game with two teams ranked in the top ten. The last time that took place was in 2017 when #1 Clemson beat #7 Miami to win the ACC title. The Irish do have one more game on their schedule. However, their scheduled trip to Wake Forest will now be canceled. Here are other goings-on in the league.

The ACC matchup of the weekend will be between #10 Miami and #17, North Carolina. The Tar Heels lead the series 12 wins to 11. The last time the two teams got together was in 2019 with the Tar Heels winning 28-25. This will be the eighth meeting between two teams that are ranked in the AP Top 25. That is the second-most in league history and the most since 1982. That year there were nine such games. The conference will match that number when the league championship game is played on December 19.

Demon Deacons quarterback Sam Hartman, has attempted 234 passes without throwing a pick. It’s the third-longest streak in the nation. Irish QB Ian Book saw his streak come to an end when he threw an interception in last Saturday’s game against Syracuse. Books’ streak stopped at 266, which is the fifth-longest in conference history. In Saturday’s game vs the Hurricanes, Tar Heel signal-caller Sam Howell will have the chance to become the number one QB in touchdown passes through his sophomore season. He stands at 64 and would need to throw three touchdowns passes to become number one. He would surpass Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence who threw 66 by the time his second season was over. Florida State’s Jameis Winston is number two on this list. He threw 65 in his two years with the Seminoles.

Three players, Trevor Lawrence of the Tigers, Duke Offensive Guard Rakavius Chambers, and NC State Punter Trenton Gill, have been named to the 11-man FBS Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The team is made up of college players who show extra effort as players and student support staff off the field. The ACC is tied for the most players on this team. The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team was established in 1992 by the College Football Association.

Being a backup quarterback can be a tough job to handle. Especially so when the year before you were the starter. Boston College’s Dennis Grosel, according to his coach Jeff Haffey, has been a great teammate despite the lack of playing time. But over the last two weeks, things have changed, Two weeks ago, in the home finale vs Louisville, Grosel came off the bench for an injured Phil Jurkovec and led the Eagles on two scoring drives that helped the team get a much-needed win. This past Saturday, Grosel was inserted as the starter and had himself quite a game in a losing effort. He would throw for 520 yards on 32-46 passing, with four touchdowns and three interceptions. The 520 yards tied a program-record for passing yards in a game with former Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie (1982) who also threw for 520 yards on October 30, 1982, vs #8 Penn State. Grosel also set career-highs in touchdowns passes with four, and completions with 32. He also surpassed his career-high in passing yards, which was 229, in the first half against the Cavaliers when he threw for 251. His performance also earned him ACC Quarterback Of The Week.

Next week we look ahead to the Conference Championship game.