Notre Dame vs Clemson: ACC Championship prediction and game preview.
Notre Dame vs Clemson: ACC Championship Broadcast
Date: Saturday, December 19
Game Time: 4:00 pm
Venue: Bank of America stadium, Charlotte, NC
Network: ABC
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– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
Notre Dame (10-0) vs Clemson (9-1) Game Preview
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Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The ACC Championship
– Okay, it’s just us here and we can speak frankly. Ohio State is going to beat Northwestern and Alabama is going to beat Florida. Yawn.
Two spots in the College Football Playoff are almost certainly going to be taken up by the Tide and the Buckeyes, and a third will be taken up by the ACC Champion no matter what. (However, if Northwestern shocks Ohio State, assume both Clemson and Notre Dame are in, and ignore everything else you’re about to read.)
It’s going to come down to this …
Who loses this game and by how much?
If Clemson wins and Notre Dame looks okay, it’s a done deal. It’s not locked in, but the obviously projection is that in the scenario, Clemson is the 2 or 3 – it doesn’t matter – to the Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State, and Notre Dame will play Alabama in the Sugar. And other scenario makes things weird.
If Clemson gets blown out, then Notre Dame is the 2, and then there’s a massive fight between the Texas A&M crowd – assuming the Aggies take care of Tennessee – and those who still might thing a second ACC team deserves to be in. If Clemson loses in a close battle, there’s still going to be a fight since no two-loss team has ever made it into the CFP.
If Notre Dame gets rim-rocked, then that’s a different fight. There isn’t an obvious other option – the idea of a rematch of the Alabama 52-24 win over Texas A&M is hardly appealing – and the Irish still might make it in considering it would be 1-1 against the Tigers.
It’s comparing apples to a different, weirder type of apples, but the precedent might be Oklahoma vs. Kansas State 2003. OU got destroyed by Kansas State 35-7 in the Big 12 Championship and still made it into the BCS Championship, anyway.
– Now we get to see Trevor Lawrence be Trevor Lawrence. No, Clemson didn’t lose in the first meeting with Notre Dame – the best game of the season, a 47-40 overtime win for the Irish – because Lawrence didn’t play. DJ Uiagalelei went off for 439 yards and two touchdowns with no picks and a rushing score.
However, Lawrence is Lawrence, he has thrown six touchdown passes and no interceptions in two ACC Championships, he’s the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and now the team’s main man gets a shot at the Irish.
– Does Ian Book have any shot at the Heisman? No, but if he’s amazing and ends up beating Clemson a second time, he’ll be on several ballots. There’s no Kyle Trask flash, and he doesn’t have the explosive weapons around him like Mac Jones enjoys, but he’s a chain-moving machine, he has been close to flawless this year, and he’s more than good enough to hit Clemson for a second straight 300-yard game – he threw for 310 with a touchdown in the first meeting.
Why Notre Dame, Clemson Will Win
What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History