ACC football season preview 2020: Can Notre Dame knock off Clemson?

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ACC football season preview Clemson Notre Dame

Travis Etienne #9 of the Clemson Tigers celebrates his second quarter touchdown with Trevor Lawrence #16 against thw Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi’s Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

ACC football season preview, including highlighting the best games, best players, predicted order of finish and whether Notre Dame can knock off Clemson for the conference crown.

Despite Trevor Lawrence playing the worst game of his college football career and running into the absolute buzzsaw that was the 2020 LSU Tigers, the Clemson Tigers are still the class of the ACC. There might be a challenger to the throne, however.

It isn’t Florida State or North Carolina, however. It is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. With the Big Ten and the Pac-12 canceling fall football, the ACC is one of three conferences that will attempt to play football this season.

There is no division play this season. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish join the ACC for one season only. For the last five seasons, Clemson has separated themselves from the rest of the ACC. There is a significant gap between Clemson and who they defeat in the title game. With Notre Dame, the difference is not as vast as it has been.

Though the ACC is likely a two-team race, there are some interesting storylines in the conference this season. On a macro level, which team will level-up and win ten games this season. You have to go back to 2016 to find the last time three teams in the conference won 10 games.

North Carolina is everyone’s choice for the ACC breakout team of 2020. Can they take the next step? What will Georgia Tech look like in year two of the Geoff Collins experience? How much of a difference-maker will Chase Brice be at Duke? Has Justin Fuente found both his quarterback and his footing at Virginia Tech? The Miami Hurricanes won the offseason–again. Will it mean something this season?

Enjoy this season in the ACC. It’s going to be fun if nothing else.

Offensive Player of the Year: Travis Etienne, Clemson RB

Lawrence is the likely answer here, but there are some dark horses as well. Sam Howell looks to have a big year for North Carolina. Javian Hawkins and Chatarius Atwell will both have impactful seasons for Louisville. Travis Etienne, however, is poised to have a monster year for Clemson.

With the season-ending injury to Justyn Ross, Lawrence has all new receivers this season. Without spring or summer ball, they have not had the opportunity to develop on the field chemistry.

Expect Tony Elliot and the offensive staff to lean on the most explosive runner in the ACC — if not all of college football. Travis Etienne averages over seven yards per carry for his career. He did not carry the football 20 times in a game at all last season. Expect that to change.

Etienne showed his aptitude as a receiver last season with a career-best 37 grabs. The math here is simple. Etienne carried the ball 207 times last season. He averaged just 13.8 carries last year. If he gets the ball only three more times per game rushing, Etienne potentially could have close to 1,900 yards on the ground at his career yards per carry.

One thing the Tigers have this season is an experienced offensive line. While Lawrence develops chemistry with his receivers, give the ball to Etienne. He can score from anywhere on the field. Even if his carries dip later in the season, the offensive staff might have him carry the load early.

Because Etienne improved so much in the passing game, expect the screen game to be more a staple of Clemson’s offensive attack as well. There is no reason to expect anything less than 2,300-2,500 total yards and 30 touchdowns from Etienne this season as he carries the Tigers.