ACC Football News & Notes: Championship Saturday Is Here

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Three months of football have led us to here, championship Saturday in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. The Clemson Tigers (10-2, 8-0) will meet the North Carolina Tar Heels (9-3, 6-2) for the Atlantic Coast Conference title on Saturday night. This will be the 12th time in the 18-year history of this game that it will be played at the home of the NFL Carolina Panthers. This is also the 13th time in the last 14 years that the game will be played in prime time. 12 different teams have played in this game since 2005. The site of Bank of America Stadium has hosted the game 11 of the last 12 years. The ACC and the Charlotte Sports Foundation have reached a new agreement that will keep the game in Charlotte through 2030.

This year will mark the final year of this playoff structure. Beginning with the 2024 season, the league will have a new setup in place to determine the two teams that will play for the championship. The format is a 3-5-5 format, which means that each school will have three primary teams to face. They will face the other 10 schools twice during a four-year cycle once at home, then on the road. This new schedule will allow for all of the teams to face each other once during a four-year cycle. This should make for a more challenging way to make the title game in the future.

Both teams clinched their spots in the title game in early November. Clemson won the Atlantic Division on November 5, while North Carolina did the same on November 12 with a victory over Wake Forest 36-34. This was the earliest that the matchup for the game was settled since 2017 when both Miami and Clemson took care of business on Nov.11. For the Tigers, this is the ninth Atlantic Division title. They have won 20 ACC titles and were in the championship game for five straight years 2015-2020. North Carolina won the Coastal Division for the second time. In 2015 these two met for the championship with Clemson coming out on top 45-37. The Tar Heels have won five league titles, the last one came in 1980.

Some interesting notes to go with this game. The Atlantic Division owns a .537 winning percentage over the Coastal Division all-time. The Atlantic has won 11 of the 16 championship games. All seven Coastal Division teams have played at least once in this game. Four Atlantic Division schools have been in this game. Carolina comes into this game off a double-OT loss to NC State 30-27. Clemson also came into this game off a loss to South Carolina 31-30.

North Carolina has been led by freshman quarterback Drake Maye who had quite a first year in the league. He threw for 35 touchdowns which is eighth on the all-time league single-season list. The total is also third most of any freshman QB in league history. Maye was responsible for 41 touchdowns (35 through the air, 6 rushing TDs). He is three short of the freshman record of 44 set back in 2013 by Florida State’s Jameis Winston (40 passing, 4 rushing). For his efforts, Maye was named Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was also First-Team All-ACC. Maye makes the Tar Heels a dangerous team.

The Clemson offense was triggered by RB Will Shipley who was named Running Back of the Week three times this season. For the season Shipley gained 1,111 yards with 14 touchdowns and has averaged 91 yards a game. He was also a target in the passing game with 30 catches for 195 yards averaging 6.5 yards a catch. For the year, Shipley gained 1,530 yards of total offense averaging 127.5 yards a game. He also returned 10 kickoffs for 243 yards, an average of 24.3 yards. His longest return was 69 yards. Shipley was the main contributor to an offense that scored 412 points, outscoring their opponents in every quarter including overtime.

This has the chance to be a high-scoring title game, where the last possession may determine who wins and who loses. In any event, this should be a fun ACC Championship Game.