Clemson, North Carolina clash for ACC title after disappointing regular seasons

AP photo by Chris Seward / North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye rolls into the end zone for a touchdown as North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson (11) trails during the second half of the teams' Nov. 25 regular-season finale
AP photo by Chris Seward / North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye rolls into the end zone for a touchdown as North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson (11) trails during the second half of the teams' Nov. 25 regular-season finale

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Its College Football Playoff hopes dashed by a devastating loss to in-state rival South Carolina of the Southeastern Conference in last week's regular-season finale, No. 10 Clemson is turning its attention to returning to its familiar perch atop the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Tigers (10-2) are seeking their seventh ACC championship in eight seasons, having failed to reach the conference title game last season for the first time since 2014, which ended a remarkable six-year run of dominance. Clemson was No. 9 in Tuesday's CFP rankings, the last before the four-team field of contenders is revealed Sunday.

"Obviously, disappointed with our regular-season finish, but I'm really proud of our team and our staff for winning the division," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "It's really special to have that type of consistency."

On Saturday night, Atlantic Division winner Clemson will face No. 24 North Carolina (9-3, No. 23 CFP), which is making its first ACC title game appearance since 2015, when it lost 45-37 to a Clemson team quarterbacked by Deshaun Watson.

North Carolina clinched the Coastal Division title early, then finished the season with losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. The Tar Heels averaged just 22 points in those defeats after scoring at least 31 points in seven of their previous eight games with redshirt freshman Drake Maye at quarterback.

The winner of this game earns a spot in the Orange Bowl. The Heels have not won the ACC since 1980, and a victory would go a long way toward continuing to build the program.

"Everybody in this league is trying to get to the standard that Clemson is," coach Mack Brown said. "And that's the gold standard, that's what we want."

Despite the recent bumps in the road, Maye leads the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense (373 yards per game) and is tied for fourth with 35 touchdown passes, just two behind national leaders C.J. Stroud of Ohio State and Clayton Tune of Houston. Maye has also thrown just five interceptions on 440 passes despite playing in an aggressive offense that pushes the ball downfield.

"Offensively, they are the best we've seen, by far," Swinney said. "Their quarterback is a great, great football player."

North Carolina has needed the big numbers generated by its offense to offset defensive struggles. The Heels rank 117th in the 131-team FBS in total defense (442.7 yards allowed per game) and 103rd in scoring (30.3 points allowed per game), a run that includes giving up 61 points in a shootout win at Appalachian State. In ACC play, they allowed 416.4 yards and 25.8 points per game, the latter figure ranking near the middle of the league.

"We're starting to play and our habits that we've created are starting to carry over, and we've seen those habits in the games," defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said. "So I'm proud of them; we've definitely improved."

The Tigers will be sticking with quarterback DJ Uiagalelei on Saturday night despite his recent struggles, but they won't have their most reliable receiver, Beaux Collins, who needs surgery on his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the season.

Collins, who had a team-high five touchdown catches, returned last week after missing two games and caught a 59-yard pass — Clemson's longest completion this season — in the 31-30 loss to South Carolina. Collins reinjured the shoulder against the Gamecocks. Swinney said Collins was always going to have an operation to fix things, but felt he could tough it out in Clemson's last few games.

"Appreciate him doing that," the coach said.

Saturday's game will have a sense of finality in more ways than one, because this was the last year of the ACC's two-division format. The league will have all 14 football-playing members in a single race next year for spots in the title game.

"It's cool for our team to be the last Coastal champion," Brown said, "because it'll never happen again."

The division has long been known for its unpredictability, including having seven winners in as many seasons from 2013 to 2019. Pittsburgh, which beat Wake Forest for last year's title, and North Carolina are the only teams to win two division titles since.

Swinney was always a proponent of ACC divisions, but he understands why more leagues are giving them up. He said TV wants to ensure the best two conference teams compete for the title. But once the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams starting in the 2024 season, a move announced Thursday, Swinney thinks conference title games will take a back seat to simply making the field.

"Some of these championship games are going to be irrelevant. Some of these teams are not even going to play their best players," Swinney said. "You're going to be in (the CFP), so it's going to all about the playoffs. It's similar to the NFL."

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