The story of the year in the ACC has been the gap between Clemson, who hasn’t lost a conference game since mid-October of 2017 and the rest of the conference who at times this year hasn’t had a second ranked team in the Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA Today, AP Poll or the College Football Playoff committee rankings.
When No. 3 Clemson travels to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game next week they’ll be playing 9-3 Virginia after the Cavaliers finally got by rival Virginia Tech and won the Commonwealth Cup for the first time since 2003.
That’s because Notre Dame’s September 28 opponent, who the Irish got by after a dominating defensive second half, won a thriller in Charlottesville, Virginia.
This battle between two 2019 Notre Dame opponents was an exciting one and by no-way an easy victory for the Cavaliers who jumped out to an early two-possession lead before the lead bounced back and forth.
A late Virginia field goal gave them a 33-30 lead with under two minutes left before a defensive score with under a minute left put them up 39-30.
Virginia’s win and Coastal Division title means all seven ACC Coastal teams have won the division in the last seven years.
This was the fourth straight season that Notre Dame played the eventual ACC Coastal Division champion, winning the last two of those match-ups (Pittsburgh 2018, Virginia Tech 2019). It’s the sixth time in six years since starting their ACC deal that Notre Dame has played a team that wound up in the ACC Championship Game:
2014 Florida State
2015 Clemson
2016 Virginia Tech
2017 Miami
2018 Pittsburgh
2019 Virginia
Since starting their deal with the ACC to play four games annually in 2014 and it being bumped up to five a year later, Notre Dame has gone 23-7 vs. ACC foes in regular season play, including winning 14 of their last 15 regular season games against ACC opponents.
It should be noted that the only time Notre Dame played Clemson in that time was in the Cotton Bowl, a 30-3 blowout win for the Tigers last December.
Notre Dame will play ACC foes Wake Forest, Pitt, Clemson, Duke and Georgia Tech in 2020.