Fansided

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

By Dante Pryor

Dabo Swinney, Trevor Lawrence, Clemson Tigers. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Dabo Swinney, Trevor Lawrence, Clemson Tigers. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 8
Next
(Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
(Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

ACC football predicted order of finish

  1. Notre Dame
  2. Clemson
  3. North Carolina
  4. Miami
  5. Florida State
  6. Louisville
  7. Pittsburgh
  8. Wake Forest
  9. Virginia Tech
  10. Virginia
  11. North Carolina State
  12. Syracuse
  13. Duke
  14. Boston College
  15. Georgia Tech

With Notre Dame joining the ACC for the season, they are doing away with divisions this season and will play an 11-game schedule. The schedule includes ten conference games and one non-conference game.

At the top of the conference, Notre Dame and Clemson seemed destined to collide for the ACC title. North Carolina will have some say. Their offense is too potent not to challenge either Clemson or Norte Dame.

The Tar Heels don’t match up well with either the Tigers or the Irish. Clemson’s defensive line looks to be one of the best in the ACC and will give the Tar Heels fits. UNC’s offensive line isn’t quite there yet.

As good as North Carolina’s pass offense is, Notre Dame will boast one of the better secondaries in the conference. Let by safety Kyle Hamilton and Shaun Crawford, Notre Dame’s secondary is bolstered by transfers Nick McCloud and Isaiah Pryor.

Miami won the offseason for the second year in a row. This season might yield dividends in Manny Diaz’s second season as head coach. D’Eriq King is a leader who should stabilize the offense, and Qunicy Roche and Gregory Rosseau will have offensive coordinators losing sleep all season.

It will be interesting to see just how much better Florida State will be under first-year head coach Mike Norvell. There is a lot of talent in Tallahassee, especially since the top players from the 2017 recruiting class–including Marvin Wilson–decided to stay one more season.

Norvell has to figure out the quarterback position. Will James Blackmon start and eventually give the job over either Chuba Purdy or Tate Rodemaker? There lots of developmental issues with their offensive line as well. The talent is there; the chemistry isn’t.

It’s fair to infer Virginia will not be as good as they were last season. The only question is, how far will they fall. Not only is Bryce Perkins gone, so are their two leading receivers from last season. Justin Fuente seemed to have found his footing in Blacksburg. Can he find some wins?

There is some building project at the bottom of the conference. Jeff Hafley comes to Chesnut Hill to take over at Boston College. Phil Jurkovec got his waiver to play this season, and the Eagles have a veteran offensive line. Their skill players scare no one, though.

Year two of the Geoff Collins rebuild at Georgia Tech will be filled with peaks and valleys, not to mention lots of young players getting lots of snaps.

This should be a fun season in the ACC with the Irish and Tigers atop the conference.