The No. 9 Clemson Tigers will try to salvage what has been a disappointing season by their standards when they face the No. 23 North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC title game on Saturday night. Clemson was officially eliminated from the College Football Playoff hunt when it was knocked off by South Carolina last week. North Carolina got off to a 9-1 start to the season before losing to Georgia Tech and North Carolina State in consecutive games.
Clemson entered the year with College Football Playoff aspirations as is always the case under head coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers lived up to expectations in the early going, winning each of their first eight games. They knocked off three ranked opponents during that stretch, beating Wake Forest, North Carolina State and Syracuse. Their perfect season came to an end in a loss to Notre Dame in early November, which looked like it might knock them out of the CFP race. They were able to get back in the hunt with a pair of wins over Louisville and Miami along with some favorable results around the country.
Championship intensity. pic.twitter.com/JQ8ZsQef48
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) November 30, 2022
However, their hopes were officially dashed last week, as South Carolina sprung a big upset for the second game in a row, beating Clemson in a 31-30 final. The Tigers had rattled off 40 consecutive wins at home prior to that loss, as quarterback DJ Uiagalelei completed just 8 of 29 passes and threw an interception for the fifth game in a row. He has been benched in favor of freshman Cade Klubnik in two of those games and he will likely be on a short leash this week. Uiagalelei still has solid numbers overall this season, throwing for 2,505 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Running back Will Shipley has racked up 1,092 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.