Out of all the realignment and conference expansion craziness, absolutely no one saw this coming. (Yeah, I picked Nevada to beat SMU in the opener – it wasn’t that far off in a 29-24 Mustang win.) SMU paid to get into the Power Four club – or, more like it’s playing in the ACC for almost free to hang with the cool kids – and it’s been totally worth it. No, it didn’t play Clemson until now, and no, it didn’t play Miami, or Georgia Tech, or Syracuse, but it beat TCU from the Big 12 in a firefight, took down Louisville and Duke on the road, and ripped through November by destroying everyone by double-digits.
© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
It’s this simple – win, get the 3 seed in the College Football Playoff. Lose, and it’ll have lost to a Clemson team that lost to Georgia and South Carolina. Alabama beat Georgia and South Carolina. And then there’s Clemson. It got destroyed by Georgia to start the campaign, collapsed against South Carolina to end the regular season, and now it’s back in the ACC Championship for the 11th time. It lost in 2009 to Georgia Tech, and won the other nine times including seven of the last nine of these things. Win, and it’s probably the 12 seed. Lose, and it’s out, no questions asked.
Clemson vs SMU, ACC Championship: How to Watch and Game Preview
Date: Saturday, December 7, 2024 Game Time: 8:00 pm How To Watch: ABC Venue: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC Teams: Clemson (9-3), SMU (11-1) CFN Bluesky | CFN X | CFN FB – Championship Week Schedule, Predictions
Why SMU Will Win
Start with the basics – it destroyed a slew of teams Clemson struggled with. It won at Louisville – Clemson last at home to the Cardinals. It blew out Florida State, Pitt, and Virginia. Clemson was okay against the Noles, needed a minor miracle to beat the Panthers, and, yeah, rolled the Cavaliers.
The offense is ultra-efficient and versatile, the downfield passing game is the best in the ACC, the run defense is among the best in America, and Clemson has to keep up. Overall the Tiger offense has been great statistically throughout the year, but it went nowhere against Georgia and had a hard time closing out drives with points in the losses to Louisville and South Carolina.
It’s this simple – Clemson has to score. It’s 9-0 when scoring more than 21 points, 0-3 when scoring that many or fewer. SMU allows 19.8 points per game, stuffing Cal last week giving up just six points after holding Virginia to a touchdown, but …
Why Clemson Will Win
Clemson won’t screw up. It’ll get its points. Clemson will have to open it up a bit to keep up with the tempo of what SMU does, but it has to run the ball well. The SMU defensive front will be warming, the Mustang run defense allows fewer than three yards per carry, and the Tiger offensive line needs to establish itself from the start…