ACC Championship Game
#3 Clemson vs #2 Notre Dame
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte NC
4 PM EST ABC
Second ranked Notre Dame and third ranked Clemson face off for the second time this season in this afternoon’s ACC Championship Game. The Tigers are seeking to become the first Power-5 program in history to win six consecutive confrence championship games, while the Fighting Irish are playing in one of these games for the first time ever.
Television: ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Maria Taylor)
Radio: Clemson Tigers Radio Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather) and ESPN Radio (Sean Kelly, Barrett Jones)
Series History: Clemson leads 3-2
Game Notes:
- Clemson will attempt to earn a record sixth consecutive outright conference title
- At 9-1 this year, Clemson is one win shy of reaching the 10-win threshold for the 10th consecutive season. With a win this week, Clemson would become only the third program in FBS history to produce a “double-double” — double-digit wins in a double-digit number of consecutive seasons.
- Both teams will be led Saturday by their programs’ respective winningest starting quarterbacks: Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (33-1) and Notre Dame’s Ian Book (30-3).
- Lawrence is 5-1 in his career in postseason play, including a 2-0 mark in ACC Championship Games.
- Clemson attempting to become first program to win 20 ACC titles.
- Clemson playing a team twice in a single season for the third time in school history. Clemson dropped two meetings with Georgia Tech in 2009 and swept two meetings with Virginia Tech in 2011. Clemson will attempt to split a two-game single-season series with an opponent for the first time.
- Clemson attempting to improve to 18-8 under Dabo Swinney in rematches of losses.
- Clemson playing a third matchup of two AP Top 10 teams in a single season for the fourth time in school history (three Top-10 matchups each in 2013, 2015 and 2016). It will join the 2013 season as the only seasons in school history that Clemson will play in three games between Top 10 teams prior to bowl season.
- Clemson attempting to improve to 52-3 against conference opponents since the start of the 2015
season, the first year of Clemson’s active run of five consecutive ACC titles.
- Clemson entering the game as one of only two teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation in both total offense (11th, 504.3 yards per game) and total defense (seventh, 302.0), alongside BYU.
- Clemson attempting to score 40 points for a fourth consecutive game.
- Clemson attempting to open a season with 400 yards of offense in each of the first 11 games of a season for the
second time in school history (2018).
- Clemson entering the game having recorded multiple sacks in 32 of its last 33 games, including each of its last 16.
- Clemson attempting to record three or more takeaways in three straight games for the second time this season (vs. Virginia, Miami (Fla.) and Georgia Tech).
- Tight end Davis Allen (four) attempting to become the fourth Clemson tight end under Dabo Swinney to catch at least five touchdowns in a season, joining Dwayne Allen (eight in 2011), Brandon Ford (eight in 2012) and Jordan Leggett (eight in 2015 and seven in 2016).
- Running back Travis Etienne (at least one rushing or receiving touchdown in 44 of his 53 career games) attempting to score a touchdown of any kind to add to his FBS record for most career games scoring a touchdown.
- Etienne (4,796), the ACC’s all-time rushing yardage leader, needing 204 more rushing yards this season to become the first 5,000-yard rusher in ACC history. He would be the 23rd player to accomplish the feat according to official NCAA FBS records.
- Etienne entering the game as the only player in the FBS with 750 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards this season. Etienne’s 512 receiving yards this year lead all FBS running back.
- Lawrence (9,376) needing 290 passing yards to pass Charlie Whitehurst (9,665) for third-most career passing yards in Clemson history.
- Defensive end Myles Murphy entering the game with three forced fumbles on the season, the most by a freshman (true or redshirt) in a season under Dabo Swinney. His three forced fumbles are the most by a Clemson freshman since redshirt freshman Ed McDaniel in 1988 (three). He needs two more forced fumbles to tie the single-season Clemson record by a player of any class, set by Brandon Maye in 2009 (five).
- Amari Rodgers (845) needing 155 receiving yards to record the 12th 1,000-yard season in Clemson history.
- Rodgers (165) chasing No. 8 Rod Gardner (166), No. 7 Derrick Hamilton (167) and No. 6 Mike Williams (177) on Clemson’s all-time leaderboard for career receptions.
- Linebacker James Skalski becoming the first player to ever appear in five ACC Championship Games.
- Three true freshmen — defensive end Myles Murphy (3.5), defensive lineman Bryan Bresee (3.0) and linebacker Trenton Simpson (3.0) — all entering the game within one sack of William Perry (4.0 in 1981), Ricky Sapp (4.0 in 2006) and Shaq Lawson (4.0 in 2013) for third-most sacks by a Clemson true freshman all-time.
- The 2020 season marks only the third time in Clemson history that the Tigers will face an opponent twice in one year.
