North Carolina is making its first appearance in the ACC Championship game and has an outside shot at claiming one of the four playoff spots if they can upset the top-ranked Tigers. North Carolina recovered an onside kick, but was called for offsides.
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North Carolina: QB Marquise Williams has thrown for 55 touchdowns and run for 32 during his career with the Tar Heels.
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Clemson is the slight favorite in this game, as the Tigers are getting odds of -4.5 points against North Carolina.
Fedora ultimately inherited sanctions that included scholarship reductions and a one-year postseason ban, which sidelined the Tar Heels from playing in the ACC title game in his first season.
“This is best football team we’ve have faced”, North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora said in his weekly press conference, according to The Associated Press. “It’s just the way it is”.
Of late the Tar Heels have opened up huge first half leads and then been forced to play meaningless football in the second half.
Wayne Gallman: UNC kept Gallman in check in the first half limiting him to only 22 yards.
Clemson improved to 13-0 with the win, and removed any doubt about whether it would be in the playoff.
North Carolina are also on a streak, winning 11 in a row since losing the season opener to SC.
If he played well and his team won, it would be a chance to redeem himself and make the committee’s job a little harder on figuring out whether UNC was worthy to make the College Football Playoff.
The Tar Heels took advantage right away, quickly moving 34 yards in four plays with Williams finding Switzer in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown pass to give the Tar Heels a 16-14 lead. Watch North Carolina vs Clemson online free live streaming tonight.
Here are five observations from Saturday’s ACC championship game. “That’s all I’m going to say about it. They were wrong”. UNC capitalized when Williams scored on a naked bootleg from a yard out to cut Clemson’s lead to 35-23 with 1:39 left in the third. The first interception was the first turnover of the game for either team on Carolina’s opening drive of the second half, allowing Clemson the momentum and the ball at the UNC 3.
The Tigers’ second-half effort was even enough to erase the ugly memory of a failed fake punt in the first half.
The Tigers appeared to seize control in the third quarter, scoring twice to pull ahead 35-16 on a 3-yard touchdown run by Gallman and 35-yard scoring pass from Watson to Scott.
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The ACC said the offside play was not reviewable. On the ground, Elijah Hood rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns in 21 attempts while TJ Logan added 100 yards and two touchdowns in six carries. The Tigers put together yet another lengthy drive and Watson capped it off with a nine-yard gain on the series.
