Clemson Wins ACC Championship, BCS Bound
Although they struggled down the stretch, the Clemson Tigers were able to wallop the Virginia Tech Hokies in the ACC Conference Championship Game, 38-10, to win the league’s BCS spot. With the win, Clemson improves to 10-3 and will likely play West Virginia (9-3) in the Orange Bowl.
The amazing thing about this game is that there was no reason to think that Clemson would win. Virginia Tech came into the game rolling, while Clemson was reeling. After 30 minutes, the game was tied at 10. That was the tempo that favored Virginia Tech. But Clemson exploded in the second-half, outscoring Virginia Tech 28-0.
On the one hand, this result is disappointing for the ACC because its BCS representative could have been a 12-1, top 5, Virginia Tech. On the other hand, it is decent for the ACC to get some new blood into the championship mix. Clemson will be well-supported in Miami for the Orange Bowl. Clemson and West Virginia should be similarly ranked going into the game. These are two football programs that support their team well and deserve a chance at some January attention. It should be a great game too.
For Virginia Tech, they were 11-0 when not playing Clemson and 0-2 when playing the Tigers. They had two chances to beat them–once at home and once at a neutral location–and failed to do so. Clemson played a much tougher schedule. While the overall records suggest otherwise, Clemson appears to be the better team.
The future is certainly bright for the Hokies. Quarterback Logan Thomas is only a sophomore. While the Hokies may lose Junior RB David Wilson, the ACC Player of the Year, he was certainly bottled up by Clemson in what was easily his worst game of the season. He was held to 32 yards rushing and a mere 2.9 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, the Clemson offensive trio of Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington, and Sammy Watkins rose to the occasion. Each scored a touchdown in the second-half. Overall, Boyd passed for three touchdowns and ran for one. Ellington and Watkins rushed for 180 yards, providing Clemson the offensive balance. And Clemson’s defense was outstanding all game long.
If only Clemson had taken care of business against NC State. The ACC’s best teams need to improve on “holding serve.” LSU and Alabama will likely play for the National Championship because they did not lose to teams that they were not supposed to lose to. The ACC needs a team to step up to the plate in like fashion. Ideally, the ACC would have a top 10 team representing itself in a BCS bowl.
But, for 2011-2012, credit Clemson for doing what it needed to do to earn the ACC’s BCS spot. There is no question that they deserve to be there.
The Confidential 