Football
ANOTHER CLEMSON CHAMPIONSHIP! MVP CADE KLUBNIK AND NO.9 TIGERS TROUNCE NO.23 UNC 39-10 FOR 7TH ACC TITLE IN 8 YEARS
- 2022-12-04 07:07:06
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CHARLOTTE, NC - Well, the two million-dollar questions I had going into the ACC Championship were whether the Tigers' turnover trend would finally reverse itself and whether Dabo would have to turn to freshman Cade Klubnik at quarterback, and the answer to both questions was a resounding yes! Dabo told ABC at halftime that he went into the game with the intention of playing Cade at some point early, but DJ made that decision easy for him after back-to-back 3 and outs to start the game, beginning with a screen pass in the turf on the opening play. Unlike the Notre Dame game, Cade came into the game poised and ready and never looked back, making it easy for Dabo to keep him in the rest of the way, and he was the first true freshman to be named MVP of the ACC Championship since Dalvin Cook in 2014. Cade led the offense to touchdowns on his first three drives and had them in position for a fourth, but they ran out of time and had to settle for a 52-yard field goal by BT Potter, tying his career high of several makes from the same distance, on 1st down just before halftime. Cade completed his first 9 passes, including a beautiful throw to Davis Allen in the corner of the end zone for his second TD pass of the season. Cade also got help from fellow true freshman Cole Turner, who I've brought up with Dabo over the last couple of weeks. I knew that they had him waiting in the wings to play him in 4 games at the end of the season in order to preserve his red shirt, and sure enough, he had a big catch against Miami a couple weeks ago on 3rd down. In fact, I planned to ask Dabo again on Friday about the opportunity for Turner in this game with Beaux Collins out, but we ran out of time in the press conference before I was able to get my question in. Sure enough, Turner has two long catches, including the longest of the season for the Tigers to set up a short TD run by Cade, and he posted the first 100-yard reception game for the Tigers this season! The future is very bright at the receiver position for WRU with the freshman trio of Antonio Williams, Cole Turner and Adam Randall. In fact, Cole Turner is still learning the receiver position because he's only played it for a couple of years, but he can flat out fly and has great hands. And Randall came into the season off rehab for his torn ACL.
The defense was tremendous all night against one of the best offenses in the nation and one of the Heisman front-runners from a couple weeks ago. They were able to get great pressure on Maye all night, sacking him 4 times, and picked him off twice, including an ACC Championship Game record 98-yard pick-six by Nate Wiggins that was a 10-14 point swing and really blew the game open. Maye had just 5 interceptions all season coming into the game. Speaking of Wiggins, what a game he had! In addition to the pick-six, he blocked a field goal and had 2 PBU's in the end zone. He's come full circle since the terrible game he had at Wake Forest early in the season! Freshman Jeadyn Lukus had the other interception of Maye in the end zone at the end of the game. LB Jeremiah Trotter put together a third consecutive sensational game, with 3 sacks and tying Carter for the team lead with 9 tackles. Trotter has been good all season, but he's really taken his play to another level over the last 3 games. That linebacker trio of Trotter, Carter and Simpson may be the best unit in the nation, and they're only going to get better!
I made note of it during warmups. For whatever reason, the Tigers are virtually unbeatable when they wear white jerseys with the orange britches! They've lost several games wearing all orange in recent years, including last week, but I can't remember the last time they lost in the white and orange combo. You'd have to go back at least to 2011 to find the answer! They wore all orange in that Orange Bowl loss to West Virginia and all orange in their only ACC Championship Game loss to Georgia Tech in 2009. It was all orange in their 2017 playoff loss to Alabama as well as playoff losses to LSU and Ohio State. They've won some big games in all orange as well, but both National Championship wins over Alabama were in the orange/white combo as well as their Orange Bowl win over Ohio State in 2013. If I'm Dabo, I'd forget about the all orange and be like LSU. Wear white jerseys even if you are the designated home team or higher seed!
Clemson is the first program to win 7 conference titles in 8 years since Bear Bryant and Alabama won 8 of 9 from 1971-79! The Tigers have also won at least one postseason game for 12 straight years, and they are the first to do that in at least 27 years! FSU did it 11 straight years from 1985-95. Clemson has won 11 games for an 11th time in program history and 8th time under Dabo. I'll have more analysis of the game in a bit. In the meantime, the trophy presentation, post-game interviews, highlights and notes are below! The excitement is back in Tiger Town with an ACC best 21st conference title and a trip to Miami for the Orange Bowl looming for the Tigers' new starting QB Cade Klubnik, whose time has finally arrived. But let's not forget that DJ gave everything he had to Clemson, and the Tigers would not have won the division without him! Many Clemson fans will want to say that the Tigers would have made the playoff if Dabo started Cade earlier, but that is completely false. They would have certainly lost at Wake Forest when they gave up 50 points, and they probably would have lost to NC State and at FSU as well with Klubnik. As he demonstrated at Notre Dame and in several other opportunities he had this season, he was not ready to play at the level he did tonight, and that's why Dabo did not make the change earlier. DJ is also the only reason the Tigers' 10-win season streak is still alive. He had to play with an injured knee and finger last season with injured players and youth all around him at every position, yet still led the Tigers to 6 straight wins to end last season. So give DJ credit for being a class act on and off the field and giving his heart and soul to Clemson! He will graduate early this month and likely won't be with the team next season, but he is a big part of the Clemson Family and should have all of our respect.
We'll find out on Sunday at noon on ESPN who the Tigers will face in the Orange Bowl! Personally, I'm hoping for a matchup with Tennessee. Wouldn't that be fun?! Penn State will play in the Rose Bowl, and Alabama will likely play in the Sugar, so I think there's a good chance it will be the Vols and Tigers for the first time since a big top-10 win for Clemson in the 2003 Peach Bowl.
Trophy presentation, post-game interviews, highlights and notes are below!
WITH THE WIN...
- Clemson became the first program to win 21 ACC titles. Since helping form the conference in 1953, Clemson leads the ACC with 21 titles all-time, including 20 outright.
- Clemson earned its 27th conference championship all-time, including four SIAA championships and two Southern Conference championships prior to the formation of the ACC. Clemson’s 27 conference titles across all conferences are the most of any current or former ACC member.
- Clemson moved past Colorado (26) for sole possession of the 11th-most conference titles among current FBS programs.
- Clemson has now won a postseason game (conference championship, bowl game and/or national championship game) in 12 consecutive seasons. Clemson’s current 12-year streak is the longest active streak in the country and passes 1985-95 Florida State for the longest streak on record back to 1980, according to Stats Perform.
- Clemson became the first program in an active Power Five conference to win seven outright conference titles in an eight-year span since Alabama won eight SEC titles in nine seasons from 1971-79.
- Clemson improved to 8-1 all-time in ACC Championship Games.
- Clemson improved to 2-0 all-time in ACC Championship Games against North Carolina, including a 45-37 victory in the 2015 ACC Championship Game. Clemson has faced Virginia Tech and North Carolina twice each in conference title games and faced Georgia Tech, Miami, Pitt, Virginia and Notre Dame once each.
- Clemson produced its 11th 11-win season in program history, joining the 1948, 1978, 1981, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. It is Clemson's eighth season of 11-plus wins under Head Coach Dabo Swinney.
- Head Coach Dabo Swinney won his eighth conference championship to tie Frank Howard for the most in Clemson history. Howard won two Southern Conference titles (1940,48) and six ACC titles (1956,58,59,65,66,67) in his 30-year run with the Tigers.
- Swinney (eight) joined Bobby Bowden (12, including 10 outright) as the only coaches in conference history to win eight career ACC titles.
- Swinney improved to 19-8 all-time in postseason play, including both conference championship games and bowl games. The win improved him to 8-2 in 10 postseason contests since 2018.
- Swinney improved to 35-3 all-time against teams from the state of North Carolina.
- Swinney improved to 18-4 in games played inside North Carolina state limits.
- Clemson improved to 39-19-1 all-time against North Carolina.
- Clemson earned a fifth consecutive victory against North Carolina, starting with a 59-38 victory in 2011. It is Clemson’s fifth winning streak of at least five games in series history (seven from 1986-92 and six from 1958-63).
- Clemson won its 16th consecutive December game, dating to Clemson’s 2011 ACC Championship Game victory against Virginia Tech. Clemson (16-0) is one of three schools to be undefeated in December since 2011 with a minimum of five games played, a list that also includes Alabama (13-0) and Penn State (7-0).
- Clemson improved to 27-13 all-time in December games, including postseason play.
- Clemson won a 12th consecutive game against conference opponents, dating to last season, taking sole possession of Clemson's fourth-longest streak against conference opponents since the formation of the ACC in 1953.
- Clemson finished 37-9 against opponents historically from the ACC Coastal Division, including postseason play, under Head Coach Dabo Swinney in the ACC's divisional era, which concluded with this game. That figure includes games against traditional Coastal opponents in a divisionless season in 2020. The win made Clemson 22-2 in its final 24 games against Coastal Division teams since 2015.
- Clemson (100-12 since 2015) became the second program in the nation to win 100 games since the start of the 2015 season (Alabama).
- Clemson improved to 4-0 against AP Top 25 opponents (at kickoff) this season.
- Clemson (four) tied for its second-most wins against AP-ranked teams in a single season (four in 2011, 2015 and 2018) and pulled one shy of the school record (five in 2016 and 2017). (Note: Clemson's 2017 team also had a win against a South Carolina squad that was ranked No. 24 in the College Football Playoff poll but was unranked by the Associated Press.)
- Clemson has now won at least four games against AP Top 25 teams in a single season for the sixth time in school history, joining the 2011 (four), 2015 (four), 2016 (five), 2017 (five) and 2018 (five) seasons.
- Clemson improved to 8-2 all-time at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Clemson's 8-2 mark in the facility now includes a 7-0 record in ACC Championship Games.
- Clemson improved to 27-5 in night games since the start of the 2018 season. The Tigers are now 46-8 at night since 2015.
- Clemson improved to 48-10 in games away from home, including neutral-site contests, since 2015.
- Clemson improved to 33-16 under Dabo Swinney in games when both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25. The win made Clemson 27-6 since 2015 in games between ranked teams.
- Clemson's 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes won their first ACC title. Every Clemson signing class in Head Coach Dabo Swinney's tenure (recruiting classes of 2009-22) has earned at least one conference title in their four years at Clemson. The championship was the third ACC title for Clemson's 2019 class and the second for its 2020 class.
- Swinney (161) passed Oklahoma's Bob Stoops (160) for sole possession of the second-most victories in the first 15 seasons of a head coaching career in FBS history.
- Clemson improved to 31-7 in games following a loss under Swinney, including season openers following a loss in the previous season finale. Clemson has not lost back-to-back games in the same season since November 2011.
- Clemson played its 153rd consecutive game since losing back-to-back games in a single season. Clemson's 153-game streak dating to 2011 is the nation's longest active streak.
- Clemson improved to 32-6 under Swinney in games in which the Tigers enter ranked lower in the AP Poll than they did in its previous contest.
- Clemson is now 127-3 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
- Clemson has won 106 of its last 107 games when holding teams under 23 points (dates to 2010).
GAME NOTES
- Among Clemson’s victories in each of its last eight ACC Championship Game berths, Clemson has won each of its last five ACC Championship Game appearances by at least 24 points.
- Quarterback Cade Klubnik entered the game on Clemson’s third possession and completed 20-of-24 passes for 279 yards and a passing touchdown and added seven carries for 30 yards and a rushing touchdown.
- Klubnik engineered a nine-play, 71-yard touchdown drive on his first series of the game. He accounted for 58 yards of total offense on the drive, including completing 5-of-5 passes for 50 yards and rushing once for eight yards.
- Klubnik ended his first possession with a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Davis Allen, Klubnik’s second career touchdown pass and his first since Clemson’s season opener at Georgia Tech.
- Klubnik recorded a 19-yard reception on a pass from running back Phil Mafah in the first quarter, the longest reception by a Clemson quarterback since DeChane Cameron’s 37-yard reception against Virginia in 1991. Mafah’s pass was the longest by a Clemson running back since Travis Etienne’s 23-yard pass to Justyn Ross against Florida State in 2019.
- Klubnik recorded his first career rushing touchdown on a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
- Klubnik opened the game 10-for-10 for 149 yards prior to his first incompletion late in the second quarter.
- With his 12th touchdown reception, Allen tied John McMakin (12 from 1969-71), Dwayne Allen (12 from 2009-11) and Brandon Ford (12 from 2009-12) for the second-most career touchdown receptions by a tight end in Clemson history.
- Allen set a new single-season career high in touchdown receptions with his fifth touchdown reception of the season.
- Clemson’s tight ends have now combined for 10 touchdown receptions this season, tied for the unit’s most under Dabo Swinney (10 in 2011 and 2012).
- Mafah scored his career-high fourth rushing touchdown of the season on a four-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
- Wide receiver Cole Turner recorded his second career reception on a 68-yard pass from Klubnik. The long gain setup Klubnik’s one-yard touchdown run on the ensuing play.
- The 68-yard reception by Turner was Clemson’s longest play of the season from scrimmage, surpassing 59-yard passes against Florida State and South Carolina.
- Turner recorded 101 yards on three receptions, becoming the first Clemson player to record 100 receiving yards in a game since Beaux Collins against Wake Forest last season.
- Wide receiver Brannon Spector caught a career-long 43-yard reception in the third quarter.
- Running back Will Shipley scored his 15th rushing touchdown of the season on a two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He has now produced only the seventh individual season in Clemson history with at least 15 rushing touchdowns. He is now one touchdown shy of tying Travis Zachery (16 in 1999) for sixth-most rushing touchdowns in a season in Clemson history and three shy of a three-way tie for third.
- Shipley rushed for a touchdown in a sixth straight game to tie Woodrow Dantzler (six straight games in 2000) and Travis Etienne (six straight games from 2018-19) for the 10th-longest streak of consecutive games with a rushing touchdown in school history. It pulled Shipley’s current streak one game shy of his career-long streak of seven, set across the 2021-22 seasons.
- Three different Clemson players rushed for a touchdown. Clemson rushed for a touchdown in a 25th consecutive game. Clemson has scored at least one rushing touchdown in a national-best 67 of its 68 games since the start of the 2018 season.
- Clemson has also rushed for multiple touchdowns in four consecutive games for the first time since a 28-game streak across the 2018-20 seasons.
- Defensively, Clemson recorded the game’s first takeaway, as defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro fell on a missed quarterback exchange for his second career fumble recovery.
- The fumble recovery was Orhorhoro’s first since Sept. 25, 2021 at NC State.
- Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. recorded a career-high 3.0 sacks and nearly doubled his career-high season sack total to 6.5.
- Trotter’s third sack set an ACC Championship Game record, surpassing the 2.0 sacks produced by Florida State’s Lawrence Timmons, Florida State’s Jeremiah Attaochu (2012) and Clemson’s Dexter Lawrence (2016).
- Trotter became the first Clemson player to post at least 2.0 sacks in back-to-back games since Clelin Ferrell in 2018 against Texas A&M and Georgia Southern.
- Trotter also became the first Clemson player to record 3.0 sacks in a game since Ferrell against Syracuse in 2017 (3.5).
- Trotter has now recorded a sack in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.
- On Clemson’s fourth sack of the game, Trotter’s third of the evening, Clemson (40) reached 40 sacks for the ninth consecutive year. Clemson is the only program in the country to record at least 40 sacks in every year since the inception of the College Football Playoff in 2014.
- Clemson has now recorded at least four sacks in four consecutive games for the first time since last season against Florida State, Louisville, UConn and Wake Forest.
- Linebacker Barrett Carter and defensive tackle Tyler Davis split a sack in the second quarter.
- Cornerback Nate Wiggins recorded two pass breakups and an interception, which he returned for a touchdown.
- Wiggins recorded his first career interception in the third quarter and returned his pick of Drake Maye 98 yards for a touchdown.
- Wiggins’ 98-yard interception return was the longest play in ACC Championship Game history. It was the second-longest interception in Clemson history, trailing Don Kelley’s 102-yard return vs. Duke in 1970.
- Wiggins' return for touchdown tied for the seventh-longest play in Clemson history and the longest for the Tigers since Derrick Hamilton's 100-yard kickoff return against UNC in 2003.
- Clemson, which scored its first defensive touchdown of the season last week, scored another defensive touchdown to give the Tigers multiple defensive touchdowns in 13 straight seasons. The last time Clemson had fewer than two defensive touchdowns in a season was 2009, Dabo Swinney’s first full season as head coach, when the Tigers supplemented a single defensive touchdown with six special teams touchdowns.
- Clemson scored a defensive touchdown in consecutive games for the first time since a three-game streak in 1990 against NC State (Dexter Davis fumble return), Wake Forest (Arlington Nunn interception return) and North Carolina (Davis interception return).
- Clemson recorded multiple takeaways in four consecutive games for the first time since the middle of the 2020 season.
- Wiggins recorded the first blocked field goal of his career in the second quarter.
- Wiggins’ field goal block was Clemson’s fifth overall blocked punt or placekick this season, Clemson’s most in a season since 2016 (five). It was the Tigers’ third field goal block of the season and its first since Oct. 8 at Boston College.
- Cornerback Jeadyn Lukus recorded Clemson’s third takeaway of the game with his first career interception in the fourth quarter.
- B.T. Potter made his 53rd career start at placekicker to take sole possession of the Clemson record at the position shared currently with Chandler Catanzaro (52 from 2010-13).
- Potter appeared in his 68th career game to pull within one game of Clemson's program record for career games played (69, shared by James Skalski, Will Spiers and Will Swinney). Potter's 68 career games are the most of any active player at any level of NCAA football.
- Potter scored in a 53rd consecutive game to tie the Clemson record set by Chandler Catanzaro from 2010-13. Potter has scored in every game since earning the starting placekicking job prior to the 2019 season after serving as the team's kickoff specialist in 2018.
- Potter recorded a career-long-tying 52-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. It was his fourth career field goal of 52 yards, matching 52-yarders against LSU (2019) and Wake Forest (2020 and 2022).
- Potter’s 52-yarder added to his Clemson records for career field goals of 40 yards or more (33) and 50 yards or more (nine).
- On the 52-yarder, with his fourth point of the game, Potter (103) became the first player in ACC history to score 100 points in four different seasons.
- Potter’s 52-yarder was also an ACC Championship Game record for longest field goal, surpassing a 51-yarder by Notre Dame’s Jonathan Doerer against Clemson in 2020.
- Holder Drew Swinney scored his first career points on a successful two-point conversion attempt in the third quarter. It was Clemson’s third successful two-point conversion of the season, its most since 2016.
- After producing 15 giveaways over the last five games, Clemson produced its first giveaway-free game since an Oct. 15 game at Florida State.
- Clemson won the turnover margin, 3-0, to end a five-game streak of losing the turnover margin, Clemson's longest under Dabo Swinney. Clemson now has a 71-4 record when winning the turnover margin since 2011.
- Clemson finished plus-three in the turnover margin for the first time since Sept. 17 vs. Louisiana Tech.
- Clemson did not allow a sack and is undefeated since 2011 in games in which it does not allow a sack.
- Clemson made its ninth all-time ACC Championship Game appearance, adding to the Tigers’ ACC record (2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).
- Clemson represented the Atlantic Division in the ACC Championship Game for the eighth time and did so in the final year of the ACC’s divisional format. That total does not include Clemson’s appearance in 2020 in which the conference’s top two regular season teams faced off in the conference title game.
- Clemson and North Carolina met with both teams ranked in the AP Top 25 for the fifth time in series history. Clemson is 5-0 in those contests, including previous wins in 1959, 1981, 1982 and 2015.
- Clemson played its seventh night game of 2022, the fourth-most in a season in Clemson history.
- Captains for the contest were tight end Davis Allen, defensive end K.J. Henry, wide receiver Joseph Ngata and safety Jalyn Phillips.
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