The 7th-ranked Miami Hurricanes will battle the top-ranked Clemson Tigers for the ACC Title at the Bank of America Stadium this Saturday evening. The championship game is scheduled to get underway on Saturday, December 2nd at 8 p.m. EST. The contest can be watched on ABC for some Saturday evening entertainment. As of now, the Tigers enter this game as -9.5 point favorites. The match’s over/under currently rests at 46.5 points.
The Miami Hurricanes finally suffered a let down when they fell to the Pittsburgh Panthers 14-24 a week ago. The loss was the first of the year for Miami but their 7-1 conference record landed them in the title game this weekend. Even with the defeat, a win against Clemson would not only give the Canes’ an ACC Championship but propel them into the College Football Playoffs.
The Clemson Tigers got their only defeat out of the way when they travel to Syracuse and lost to the Orangemen 24-27 in mid-October. Since then, the Tigers have reeled off five-straight wins and find themselves playing for it all against Miami this weekend. Last week, Clemson beat in-state rivals the South Carolina Gamecocks 34-10. The triumph put the Tigers at 11-1 overall and they also finished 7-1 in ACC play.
(7) Miami Hurricanes (10-1)
The Miami Hurricanes have had a solid season. In fact, they came into this past weekend as just one of four teams that were still undefeated. Well, that went out the door with the loss to the Panthers. Realistically, the Hurricanes have not played great in a few games this year, but they were able to find a way to win at the end. They were not able to do that in the loss to Pittsburgh as their living on the edge finally caught up with them.
Offensively, the Canes’ didn’t play well last weekend. Quarterback Malik Rozier was average, tossing the ball for 187 yards with two touchdowns and no picks. Overall, the junior signal-caller has completed just under 200 passes for 2,798 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He will need to be spot on against Clemson if the Hurricanes hope to win the ACC on Saturday.
Miami prefers to move the ball via their ground attack. Since taking over as the starter, Travis Homer has been exceptional. The steady tailback has toted the rock 137 times for 866 yards with seven trips to the promised land. Quarterback Malik Rozier has found his footing, rushing for another 408 yards and five scores of his own.
Braxton Berrios and Christopher Herndon IV make up a good combination for head coach Mark Richt. Together, the two wideouts have nabbed 84 passes for almost 1,300 yards and 10 scores. Berrios leads the team in yardage (866), catches (44), and seven end zone appearances.
On defense, Miami has been solid as they come in ranked 42nd in total yards allowed (363.9 ypg). They also are 44th against the pass (210.0 ypg) and 50th vs the run (153.9 ypg). In all, the unit is only allowing 18.3 points per contest, which is 15th in the nation. Once again, they will be called upon to slow down the electric Clemson offense that is capable of putting up 35 points on anybody.
(1) Clemson Tigers (11-1)
The Clemson Tigers won the ACC Championship last year on their way to winning the National Title. Now, if they are to defeat the Hurricanes this weekend, they will be in the playoffs with a shot at defending their National Title. The Tigers only loss was to the Cuse by three points. Since then, they have won five in a row and have outscored their foes by 24 points a game over that span.
The offense was solid last week against the Gamecocks. In that game, they piled up 469 yards of offense against a very good defense. Quarterback Kelly Bryant hit 23 of 34 passes in the game for 272 yards with two scores and a pick. For the year, he has hit 66.4 percent of his throws for 2,426 yards with 12touchdowns and six interceptions. The dual-threat passer has also run for 639 yards and 10 more trips to pay-dirt.
Freshman running back Travis Etienne has had a good year for his first run at the FBS. Through 12 games, Etienne has rumbled for 720 yards on 97 carries and a team-high 12 scores. Teammate Kelly Feaster is no slouch either. He also has 637 yards and six touchdowns. Combined with Kelly Bryant, the three keep the offense balanced nicely.
Three wide receivers do most of the damage when the Tigers toss the ball around against their opponents. Altogether, the threesome has caught 139 balls for almost 1,550 yards and nine touchdowns. Deon Cain leads this squad with 620 yards and five scores. Hunter Renfrow is tops with 50 catches and three more trips to glory.
The Clemson Tigers defense has been the backbone of this team since the season began. They are ranked in the top-10 in three of college football’s top four categories. All totaled, they sit fourth in the nation, allowing only 13 points a contest. The front seven sits 14th, surrendering only 113 yards a match. The secondary is one of the best in the FBS. They are ninth in the country, submitting to only 169 yards a game.
Prediction
The Miami Hurricanes have had a superb year so far, but they have been flirting with disaster all throughout. Finally, their play caught up with them in their 24-14 loss to Pittsburgh. The loss ruined their perfect season but they are still in line to make the playoffs with a win against the Tigers. It will not be easy as this Clemson team is playing very well and they have a defense that can shut down the Miami offense.
Clemson allows just 13.6 points per game on the year, which is 4th in the nation. Miami has a solid defense as well, but the Tigers have been hot on offense as they have averaged 503 yards a contest and 42 points a game over their last three games. For that reason alone, I’m suggesting that the Tigers will beat the Canes by at least 10. Skip the underdog Miami Hurricanes in this match-up and go with the powerhouse Clemson Tigers to get a shot at defending their national title. @EriktheHun
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Trends
The Hurricanes are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games.
The Under is 5-0 in the Hurricanes last 5 neutral site games.
The Tigers are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games.
The Under is 6-2-1 in the Tigers last 9 games overall.
Hurricanes are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 meetings.
