With the ACC Championship Game between Clemson and Virginia Tech set to go down, who could come out of this as the winner?
The college football season is set to come to a close before going into bowl play. Most of what will be seen in the final week are conference championship matchups. One of them will be Clemson taking on Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game. This game is set to take place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL.
Clemson comes into this game looking to hold their No. 3 spot in the College Football Playoff ranking. A loss may remove them from the equation, especially with Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin trailing them. Virginia Tech is no easy opponent either, so this may be a tough one for the Tigers.
The Hokies had a successful season at 9-3, having beaten tough opponents like Miami, Pitt, and crushing then-No. 17 UNC. However, Clemson is by far their biggest challenge to date. They did face Tennessee early in the season, but got blown out, 45-24, in the Battle at Bristol.
Heading into this ACC Championship game, Clemson is a 10-point favorite, according to ESPN. It’s arguably fair given who they’ve beaten and having Deshaun Watson at quarterback. Watson isn’t quite having the season he had in 2015, but still has over 3,500 passing yards and 38 total touchdowns. The 14 interceptions may hurt just a bit, especially since he had four multi-interception games. His stock still remains high, though, heading into the 2017 NFL Draft.
Next: Ranking The 25 Best Rivalries In College Football
This game will likely come down to which defense can hold up the opposition quarterback. Along with Watson, Tech’s Jerod Evans has proven to be an efficient, dual-threat signal caller. He has kept the ball safe with just five interceptions, so it will be difficult to get him to make a mistake. However, the firepower that Clemson has will be too much for Virginia Tech, and they should be able to win this, 34-24.