Clemson blasts Cavaliers in ACC Championship

Clemson put up 619 yards of total offense and cruised to its fifth consecutive ACC Championship Saturday night with a record-setting, 62-17 victory over No. 22 Virginia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

Trevor Lawrence threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns, Tee Higgins posted 182 receiving yards and caught three TD passes and Travis Etienne rushed for 114 yards and a score, as the third-ranked Tigers stayed unbeaten on the year (13-0) while claiming their record 19th conference title.

UVA senior quarterback Bryce Perkins and the Cavaliers (9-4) put up a fight early on, but ultimately couldn’t hang with the mighty defending national champion Tigers, who have now won 28 games in a row and punched another ticket to the College Football Playoffs.

Perkins finished the night with 324 yards of total offense (266 passing, 58 rushing) against a defense that came in averaging just 232.8 total yards per game on the season. He also threw two touchdown passes against the country’s top pass defense, which had allowed only 126.5 a game through the air and had surrendered just six TD tosses in a dozen previous games in 2019.

Another Cavalier senior, wideout Hasise Dubois, caught 10 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, but the Tigers had little trouble moving the ball and lighting up both the Cavalier defense and the stadium scoreboard early and often.

Virginia knows that the program will be bowling for a third straight season, and will find out where, when and against what team on Sunday.

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: CU — Travis Etienne 14-114; Lyn-J Dixon 8-47; Trevor Lawrence 6-24; Michel Dukes 3-10; Chase Brice 2-8; Chez Mellusi 3-7; Darien Rencher 1-3; TEAM 1(-2). UVA — Bryce Perkins 17-58; Wayne Taulapapa 8-43; Brennan Armstrong 2-3.

PASSING: CU — Trevor Lawrence 16-22-0-302; Chase Brice 5-7-0-106. UVA — Bryce Perkins 27-43-2-266; Brennan Armstrong 2-4-1-15.

RECEIVING: CU — Tee Higgins 9-182; Justyn Ross 3-94; Will Swinney 3-38; Frank Ladson 1-57; Diondre Overton 1-19; Davis Allen 1-11; Travis Etienne 1-9; Luke Price 1-5; Lyn-J Dixon 1-(-7). UVA — Hasise Dubois 10-130; Billy Kemp IV 9-66; Terrell Jana 6-62; Tanner Cowley 2-10; Wayne Taulapapa 1-10; Dejon Brissett 1-3; Hayden Mitchell 1-2.

Attendance — 66,810.

First Quarter

Clemson won the toss and elected to kick it away to Cavalier freshman Seneca Milledge, as leading returner Joe Reed did not suit up due to injury. Perkins and the UVA offense made an early statement with a 46-yard pass to Dubois on the third play from scrimmage to quickly get the ‘Hoos inside the red zone. On third-and-nine from the 12, however, Clemson’s Nolan Turner secured an interception in the back of the end zone, and the Tigers took over at the 20.

Clemson immediately turned to its offensive weapons to score on its opening possession. It took just two plays to get into UVA territory, as a Wahoo facemask call against Etienne got the Tigers across midfield. Lawrence followed that up with a nice run on the next play, and then two plays later threw his first touchdown pass of the night to his leading receiver, Higgins, who caught it on the sideline and broke a tackle to get into the end zone and the Cavaliers were in an early hole with 11:11 on the clock. Tigers 7, Wahoos 0.

UVA opened up the playbook on the next series, as backup QB Brennan Armstrong came on for a trick-play pass to Perkins that fell incomplete, but the ‘Hoos were once again able to move the ball downfield. On third-and-three from the Clemson 20, Perkins went over the Tiger secondary to Dubois for the first Cavalier touchdown with 6:22 left in the opening stanza, capping a 12-play, 78-yard drive. It was just the second time the Tigers gave up a first-quarter score all season. Wahoos 7, Tigers 7.

It took just four plays and 1:36 off the clock for Lawrence to answer, as he went 59 yards to Justyn Ross for six with 4:46 showing, and the champions of the Atlantic Division were back on top to stay. Tigers 14, Wahoos 7.

Perkins danced his way out of a sack on the first play of the ensuing Cavalier possession and picked up another early first down with his feet, and on third-and-one, his completion to Billy Kemp IV kept the chains moving at midfield. Facing another crucial third down on the 25th Virginia play of the quarter, Perkins could not connect with Kemp and Nash Griffin came on for his first punt of the evening with just over a minute left.

On the ensuing drive, De’Vante Cross got in the backfield for an 8-yard sack, but a 38-yard Lawrence pass to Higgins — with a few missed UVA tackles — concluded the period, in which the Tigers averaged 15 yards per play.

Second Quarter

On third-and-10 from the 27, Noah Taylor and Chris Moore combined for sack for eight more yards to force what was originally a 52-yard field-goal try for Clemson’s B.T. Potter with 13:34 on the clock. Potter’s attempt missed to the left, but his coach, Dabo Swinney, unintentionally bailed him out by calling for a timeout just before the snap. Potter then missed again, this time to the right, but a costly Nick Grant offsides penalty moved it a tad closer and made it a 47-yard attempt, but more importantly provided another shot at the points. The third time proved to be the charm, as Potter booted it through for a momentum-changing field goal with 13:23 left in the half. Tigers 17, Wahoos 7.

Things started to heat up on the next Virginia possession, as Clemson’s K’Von Wallace drove Perkins out of bounds, and pushing and shoving ensued. Perkins couldn’t find anyone on third-and-10 and Griffin had to punt it away.

Higgins came up with an amazing, twisting, tiptoe grab along the sideline for 24 yards, which was reviewed and upheld, to highlight the ensuing Clemson march, culminating in an Etienne touchdown on the next play. The ACC’s Player of the Year showed why he achieved that honor, bowling his way through Cavalier defenders for 26 yards with 9:10 to go, and all the momentum was on Clemson’s side. Tigers 24, Wahoos 7.

After a big third-down pickup by Perkins to move the chains, he took another big shot down the field, but first-year receiver Dontayvion Wicks took a shot of his own from the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, Isaiah Simmons, and the ‘Hoos went on to punt again.

When Lawrence got it back, he picked up nine yards, escaping a Charles Snowden stop in the process, before getting his team right back in the red zone. Just before the break, he found Higgins across the middle of the end zone with 49 ticks left. Tigers 31, Wahoos 7.

One positive for the Cavaliers going into the locker room down by 24 was that Perkins threw for 141 yards on the top passing defense in the country in just 30 minutes. Dubois had eight catches for 91 yards in the half with his good friend Reed watching from the sideline.

Third Quarter

After the UVA defense forced the first Clemson punt of the game out of the break, a Perkins 34-yard pass to Dubois highlighted the Cavaliers’ lengthy opening drive of the second half. Perkins advanced the ‘Hoos into scoring position and inside the Tigers’ 10-yard line on a hookup with Terrell Jana, who had bobbled a deep ball a few plays earlier. Perkins then zipped one over to Jana for a touchdown to punctuate the 10-play, 85-yard march with 8:21 on the clock. Tigers 31, Wahoos 14.

A little over two minutes later, Lawrence and Higgins quickly had a response, connecting for 54 yards to set up their third scoring strike of the night from 11 yards out with 6:12 left in the quarter, pushing the lead back to 24. Tigers 38, Wahoos 14.

Perkins was pummeled on the ensuing drive and stayed down on the turf with 4:32 left in the third. Armstrong briefly came into the game, fumbling the ball but pouncing on it, and Perkins was right back in there for the following snap. Virginia couldn’t pull off a fake-punt pass and turned it over with 3:10 left, quickly leading to more points — a Lyn-J Dixon touchdown with exactly a minute to play in the quarter to all but wrap things up. Tigers 45, Wahoos 14.

Fourth Quarter

The ‘Hoos got back on the board with a 35-yard Brian Delaney field goal with 13:11 remaining after Perkins took another big blow. Tigers 45, Wahoos 17.

Clemson’s backup quarterback, Chase Brice, tossed a 57-yard bomb to Frank Ladson Jr. down inside the UVA 10, setting up a 24-yard Potter field goal with 10:45 left. Tigers 48, Wahoos 17.

Perkins was picked off again, this time by Simmons, with a Bobby Haskins blindside blocking penalty added onto the end of the return to set up another first-and-goal for Clemson. This time, Brice ran it in himself from 4 yards out with 8:13 to play. Tigers 55, Wahoos 17.

Perkins appeared to still be pretty banged-up, clutching at his chest during the ensuing possession as the ‘Hoos couldn’t pick up a first down and punted it back to Clemson with a few minutes to go. The Tigers went over 400 yards on the night — through the air — on their next drive, and put on the finishing touches with 1:26 to go as Chez Mellusi ran one in from 4 yards away. Tigers 62, Wahoos 17.

Up Next

Virginia will await the announcement of its bowl destination during the College Football Playoff Selection Show Sunday afternoon on ESPN. Some experts are predicting that the ‘Hoos will face 10-2 Florida out of the SEC in the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami at 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 30 (ESPN).