No. 9 Clemson won’t be contesting for a national title this season, but it returned to Conference dominance and secured a berth in the Orange Bowl with a 39-10 thrashing of No. 23 North Carolina in the ACC Championship game. The win marks the Tigers’ seventh ACC crown in the last eight seasons and brings a small redemption to Dabo Swinney’s program after last season’s failure to make the league title game for the first time since 2014.
North Carolina took an early 7-0 lead but quickly faded when Clemson turned to freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik on his third possession. With junior starter DJ Uiagalelei proving ineffective, Klubnik stepped in and quickly turned the momentum in the Tigers’ favor by directing a 71-yard touchdown drive. The former five-star nominee and Uiagalelei’s successor completed 20 of 24 passes for 279 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions while also rushing for 30 yards and a hit. Klubnik stayed on the field until third-string quarterback Hunter Johnson got out of hand with the game in the fourth quarter.
Klubnik’s counterpart, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, led the Tar Heels to the red zone five times, but those rides only earned 10 points. A fumble and a blocked field goal attempt hampered the Tar Heels in the first half, and a costly interception destroyed their chances in the third quarter.
With the Tar Heels trailing just 24-10, Maye threw an ill-advised third-down pass that Clemson’s Nate Wiggins intercepted and returned 98 yards for a 5:05 touchdown in the third quarter. The game dashed UNC’s hopes of a rally and ushered in the Tar Heels’ third straight loss. At 9-4, North Carolina can still have double-digit wins when it wins a bowl game for the second time since 1997.
Clemson has had double-digit wins under Swinney for the 12th consecutive year and can finish 12-2 if it wins the Orange Bowl. Tennessee is his likely opponent for the game, which is scheduled for December 30 in Miami. With such a stunning win in the ACC championship game, Clemson would have been in great form to make the college football playoffs if only it hadn’t lost to South Carolina last week. Were it not for the loss to the Gamecocks, which marked Clemson’s first home loss since 2016, the Tigers would have benefited tremendously from this weekend’s losses at No. 3 TCU and No. 4 USC.
But a championship title and a New Year’s Six Bowl appearance are nothing to scoff at, especially after the program lost longtime coordinators Tony Elliot (Virginia) and Brent Venables (Oklahoma) to take over the coaching post-2021 season. directing performances.