Clemson's hope for ACC football title game down to scoreboard-watching
The Tigers can only watch now.
Clemson’s football team will have keen interest in other scoreboards during the 24 hours prior to Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network) regular-season finale against South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Tigers, earlier this season considered a longshot at best to reach and win a seventh straight ACC championship game, still have a shot.
“We’re depending on a little bit of help right now to get to the ACC championship,” Clemson freshman wide receiver Beaux Collins said. “So we’ll be checking those scores for sure.”
For Clemson to make a return trip to the Dec. 4 title game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, the Tigers need N.C. State (8-3, 5-2) to lose at 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN) at home against North Carolina (6-5, 3-4); and for Wake Forest (9-2, 6-1) to lose at noon Saturday (ESPN 2) to Boston College (6-5, 2-5). Clemson has a tie-breaker on Wake Forest but not N.C. State because of head-to-head results.
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“We’ve handled what we can handle up to this point,” Tigers freshman running back Will Shipley said. “We had a tough September (losses to Georgia by seven and N.C. State in two overtimes) and we had a tough loss (27-17) to Pitt. But we’ve played great since then and we’ve put ourselves in position to make it to the ACC championship if things roll our way and UNC and BC come up with big wins.”
N.C. State is about a six-point favorite and Wake Forest about five.
North Carolina beat Wake Forest in a shootout, 58-55, earlier this month and lost in overtime to Coastal Division winner Pitt (9-2, 6-1). UNC is 0-4 on the road and N.C. State is 6-0 at home.
Boston College is coming off a 26-23 loss to Florida State (4-4 ACC). Before that, the Eagles took care of teams with losing records, beatinGeorgia Tech (2-6) by nine points and Virginia Tech (3-4) by 14. Ten days after BC beat the Hokies, they fired coach Justin Fuente.
Clemson put itself in position last week by handing Wake Forest its first ACC loss, 48-27, at Memorial Stadium. The Demon Deacons could have clinched a spot in the championship game for the first time since 2006, when they beat Georgia Tech.
“For us to have any hopes at all, we had to win the game to stay alive,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We definitely didn’t want anybody to come in here to the Valley and get a trophy.”
Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said the coaches won’t even mention those other games as the Tigers prepare for South Carolina.
“There will be no discussion about what’s going to happen the following week,” Elliott said. “We have other things on the table. We’ve got a (10-year) streak of 10-win seasons and right now, South Carolina is in our way. We’ve got a ton of motivation for this game and won’t be thinking about what’s next.
“We’ve done everything we could in the ACC. We’re 6-2 and that’s out of our control now. And we’re playing for a championship. We’re putting on orange britches and playing for a state championship.”
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson's hope for ACC football title game down to scoreboard-watching
