Clemson BCS Bound After ACC Championship Win

ACC Championship 2011 Final Score: Clemson Cruises Past Virginia Tech, Headed To Miami

All season long, Clemson fans have had to hear the pundits ask the same question: When will Clemson finally act like Clemson? And while the Tigers did indeed drop a few games along the way, they also secured their first ACC championship in 20 years.

The 38-10 annihilation of Virginia Tech means that the Tigers will be headed to the Orange Bowl, with West Virginia the likeliest opponent for Clemson. If they were watching Saturday night, the Mountaineers are probably aware of the challenge they face.

Click here for ACC Championship Game score updates and conversation.

After taking it easy for the last several minutes of the game, Clemson put up 456 yards of total offense, 239 through the air and 217 on the ground. Tajh Boyd (20-of-29, 239, 3 TDs) carved up Virginia Tech pretty well on the night, and Andre Ellington (20 carries, 125 yards, TD) led a ground attack that averaged 4.8 yards a carry.

Is Clemson still Clemson? If you mean the university based in upstate South Carolina, yes. If you mean the team that seems to choke every time it has a chance at glory, no. This time the Tigers had a chance, and they came through.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' the Southland.

Orange Bowl 2012 Schedule: Clemson Likely Gets West Virginia

The Clemson Tigers are running away from the Virginia Tech Hokies in the ACC Championship Game, holding a four-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter. Let's go ahead and mechanical pencil (those are harder to erase) them into the 2012 Orange Bowl, with the West Virginia Mountaineers as their likely opponent.

Winning the ACC will give Clemson automatic entry to Miami, while WVU won't be official until BCS standings come out Sunday night. If the 'Eers are the highest-ranked Big East team, as they almost certainly will be, then there's your high-scoring Orange Bowl matchup.

Sammy Watkins, Geno Smith, Tajh Boyd, and Stedman Bailey would provide the highlights, while Dabo Swinney and Dana Holgorsen would be sure to combine for a half-dozen quoteables along the way. Could do a lot worse than this one, considering the conferences involved.

Game date, time: 8 p.m. ET, Jan. 4

Location: Miami, Florida

TV channel: ESPN

2010 winner and loser: Stanford, Virginia Tech

For more on each bowl game as it's announced, stay tuned to SB Nation's 2011 college football bowl game bids coverage. And visit our many college football blogs.

ACC Championship 2011 Score: Clemson Punching Ticket To Orange Bowl, Leads 38-10

And the ACC Championship game has pretty much devolved into a laugher right now. All of you who said that Virginia Tech's schedule was a bit too soft to prove how good the Hokies were can go ahead and take your victory lap.

The latest Clemson touchdown? That came on a one-yard rush by Tajh Boyd to cap off a nine-play, 69-yard drive that extended Clemson's lead to 38-10.

Click here for ACC Championship Game score updates and conversation.

Clemson has now poured on 445 yards of total offense. Tajh Boyd is 20-of-28 for 239 yards and three touchdowns passing, adding 26 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. That's part of a ground attack that's churned out 207 yards, including Andre Ellington's 125 yards and a score on 20 carries.

Yes, Clemson fans, you can start eating oranges. This one is pretty much in the books.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' the Southland.

ACC Championship 2011 Score: Clemson Takes Command, Leads 31-10

ACC Championship 2011 Score: Tajh Boyd Powers Tigers TD Drive, Clemson Up 17-10

ACC Championship 2011 Halftime Score: Clock Snafu Doesn't Keep Virginia Tech From Tying Game

No one saw the ACC Championship Game as an offensive slugfest that would light up the scoreboard. Pretty much everyone was right.

Neither offense was exactly terrible -- Clemson had 195 total yards and Virginia Tech got to 158 -- but both teams have also managed to put up just 10 points in the first half. Clemson's running game has been the difference so far, with Andre Ellington running for 63 yards on 13 carries -- more than the 36 yards Tech squeezed out on the ground.

Click here for ACC Championship Game score updates and conversation.

The Hokies did manage to put together an 11-play, 59-yard drive right before the half to knot the score at 10.

Fortunately, for Clemson, Virginia Tech used some -- we'll call it novel -- clock management on that final series of the half. (Okay, Frank Beamer just forgot that the clock continues to run on an offensive penalty. Really.) The Hokies had to call a timeout and go for a field goal for the tie.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' the Southland.

ACC Championship 2011 Score: Clemson Takes 10-7 Lead On Stalled Drive

The ACC Championship Game is shaping up much like the ACC season itself: Mercurial swings with little or no explanation. Take Clemson's latest drive.

The Tigers and Virginia Tech swapped punts to start the second quarter, setting up Clemson with the ball at the 27. The Clemson offense then went to work with a series highlighted by a handful of plays covering more than 10 yards a pop, including:

• A 17-yard pass from Tajh Boyd to Charone Peake
• A 13-yard pass from Boyd to Sammy Watkins
• A 20-yard pass from Boyd to DeAndre Hopkins
  

Click here for ACC Championship Game score updates and conversation.

And then something happened once the Tigers got to 1st-and-Goal: Nothing. Three running plays netted a total of four yards for Clemson, leaving them at the Virginia Tech 2 and settling for the three-point lead with a field goal.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' the Southland.

ACC Championship 2011 Score: Virginia Tech Responds

In five quarters of football, the Virginia Tech Hokies have scored one touchdown on the Clemson Tigers. Hey, it was just now! Logan Thomas struck a wide open D.J. Coles for a 45-yard score to tie up the ACC Championship Game at the end of the first quarter.

Stay tuned here for ACC Championship Game score updates and conversation.

Thomas is now six-of-eight for 68 yards, which is good because VT still has yet to get a ground game up to speed against the Tigers. David Wilson has three yards on two attempts.

A spirited crowd in Charlotte, with two nearby fan bases hoping for a trip to the Orange Bowl to play the (probably) West Virginia Mountaineers, who boast a likewise spirited crowd. Lots of spirit on the line.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' the Southland.

Virginia Tech Vs. Clemson Score: Tajh Boyd Strikes First

ABC must know something we don't, as they've put their No. 1 announcing team on the ACC Championship Game. Well, all right. The Clemson Tigers have announced themselves (HELLO) first, with Tajh Boyd finding Dwayne Allen for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 7-0, Tigers.

Stay tuned here for ACC Championship Game score updates and conversation.

The Clemson defense also forced a Logan Thomas fumble back to get the ball again in their own territory, and so far Clemson has outscored VPI 30-3 on the year. This may not continue, but the Tigers are already driving again in Charlotte.

Minus the suspended Mike Bellamy, the Tigers will lean on Andre Ellington in the running game. He's got seven carries so far, one of which went for a short-yardage first down.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' the Southland.

Clemson Suspends Mike Bellamy For ACC Championship Game For Violation Of Team Rules

Clemson's drive to the ACC Championship Game was basically a dramatic rise to the top of a hill followed by a frantic effort to head in reverse and run themselves off the road late in the regular season. With the announcement that Clemson has suspended freshman running back Mike Bellamy for the ACC Championship Game for a violation of team rules, it seems that Clemson's bandwagon is, indeed, capable of losing a few more wheels.

Bellamy is Clemson's second-leading rusher despite being the Tigers' change of pace back, and has rushed for 343 yards and three touchdowns in 2011. But while starter Andre Ellington, who began the season on a hot streak until getting hurt against North Carolina in October, has lagged of late, with just 182 yards in his three games since returning from his injury, Bellamy has not exactly stepped up. The freshman had just 38 yards on the ground in Clemson's three games in November.

For more on the Tigers, visit Clemson blog Shakin the Southland.

Clemson Vs. Virginia Tech, ACC Championship 2011 Game Time, TV Schedule And More

The Clemson Tigers defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies in their first meeting this season, but currently appear to be in freefall. They meet again in the ACC Championship and the Hokies are slight favorites, but predicting a game with these sorts of circumstances surrounding it is nearly impossible. Then one remembers that, not only are these circumstances in place, but they are currently being applied to Clemson. All bets are off.

Can we make sense of this game? No, that's highly unlikely, but let's give it a shot anyway. Virginia Tech Hokies blog Gobbler Country thinks that it's likely we're going to see turnovers. Turnovers everywhere.

Expect turnovers and pressure to be the difference. Clemson has only forced two turnovers in its last four games and none in its last three. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech has committed four turnovers since its last meeting with Clemson and is +7 in those games. And as I mentioned before, Boyd has struggled the last four times with increased pressure while Clemson's front four caused hell for Logan Thomas in the first meeting.

Clemson Tigers blog Shakin The Southland acknowledges Virginia Tech's good season and right to be here, but points out that they've been less than convincing.

Va Tech scored 30 or more points five games since the Clemson game and 24 or more 6 of the last 7. The Hokies were impressive in most of the games since Clemson but did have two qty three point wins (UNC and Miami) and a four point victory at Duke. Va Tech's massacre of in-state rival Virginia last week was very impressive and I'll say that VTech took advantage of Georgia Tech's mistakes/stupidity to pull away impressively several Thursdays ago.  

Game date, time: 8 p.m. ET, Saturday, Dec. 3

Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

TV channel: ESPN/ESPN3

Spread: Virginia Tech favored by 6 1/2 points

Series history: Clemson leads 16-12-1

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' The Southland. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Football for more on Championship Weekend.

Clemson vs. Virginia Tech, ACC Championship 2011 Preview: Hokies Looking For Payback

Making their fifth appearance in the ACC Championship Game, the fifth-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies take aim at the 21st-ranked Clemson Tigers this weekend, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

It went down to the wire for Frank Beamer's Hokies, who didn't clinch the Coastal Division title until last weekend with an emphatic 38-0 rout of Virginia. With the win, Tech moved to 11-1 on the season. Virginia Tech is the only school in the FBS to win 10 or more games in eight straight seasons. The Hokies' one blemish on the year was a 23-3 loss to Clemson in Blacksburg back on October 1st.

Dabo Swinney's Tigers have had the Atlantic Division title locked up for a few weeks now. That could explain why the team has dropped two straight games to close out the regular season, falling at NC State (37-13) and then at South Carolina (34-13). At 9-3, Clemson certainly had a magical season. The team was as high as fifth in the BCS poll at one point, its highest ranking ever. The Tigers also beat three ranked opponents in succession, with wins over Auburn, Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Game date, time: 8:00 pm ET, Saturday, November 26

Location: Bank of America Stadium - Charlotte, NC

TV channel: ESPN

Spread: Virginia Tech  favored by 6 1/2 points

Series history: Clemson leads all-time series 18-12-1

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' The Southland. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Football for more on Championship Weekend.

ACC Championship 2011, Clemson Vs. Virginia Tech: Hokies Need To Pressure Boyd To Minimize Matchup Problems

In their first meeting at Lane Stadium, the Clemson Tigers defeated the Virginia Tech Hokes easily, dismantling them in a 23-3 beating. While Virginia Tech have improved as a team since that game while the Tigers have gone backwards in recent games, the same matchup problems that caused that result still exist.

Virginia Tech Hokies blog Gobbler Country has picked out some of the key personnel matchups and outlines what needs to happen for VT to avoid a repeat of the first meeting between these two teams.

One guy who killed us in the first meeting and still has the ability to kill us is TE Dwayne Allen. We don't have anyone who can match-up with him and if we aren't able to get pressure on Tajh Boyd, he'll be able to find Allen in the middle of the field. I'm interested to see what Bud Foster will dial up to try and take away the success they had with Allen and what effect that will have in other parts of the field.

Every team that has had success against Clemson has gotten pressure on Tajh Boyd and forced him into difficult throws and bad decisions. The ACC Championship should be no different for the Hokies.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' The Southland. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Football for more on Championship Weekend.

ACC Championship 2011, Clemson Vs. Virginia Tech: Hokies' Blake DeChristopher Sports Awesome Beard, Voted ACC's Top Lineman

The ACC Championship Game between Clemson and Virginia Tech is arguably the best matchup on the championship game slate, outside of a SEC Championship game with actual national title implications. If you needed another reason to tune in, Hokies right tackle Blake DeChristopher's beard should be taken into strong consideration.

DeChristopher is reportedly famous for his late-night antics come time for bed checks the night before games. What exactly that entails, coaches wouldn't say. DeChristopher blames the beard.

"I don't know if it'll let me cut it," DeChristopher said. "It'll probably slap me. ... I told Coach Beamer I was going to shave it for [the awards banquet] Friday, that little ceremony, and he said, 'No way. It's lucky for us.'"

DeChristopher has yet to allow a sack all season, within a unit that has allowed just 12 this year. This week, he was awarded the ACC's Jacobs Blocking Trophy, given to the conference's best offensive lineman as voted on by the league's head coaches and defensive coordinators.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' The Southland. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Football for more on Championship Weekend.

ACC Championship 2011, Virginia Tech Vs. Clemson: Teams Have Gone In Different Directions Since Last Meeting

The last time Virginia Tech played Clemson, there seemed to be a changing of the guard. The Hokies had dominated the ACC of late, winning three of the four past titles, but the Tigers were victorious in that meeting two months ago. Since then, however, the teams have gone in wildly divergent directions.

Clemson, who was undefeated at the time, has since lost three of their past four games and gone 4-3 since beating Virginia Tech 23-3 on Oct. 1. The Hokies, meanwhile, have gone 7-0 since then, a record that includes road wins over two Top 25 teams. To hear the Hokies tell it, that loss may have been the best thing that could have happened to them.

"(The Clemson loss) was a wake-up call. After that game, we were like, 'This is ACC play,' " Hokies senior free safety Eddie Whitley said. "Obviously, we knew how it was going to be, but I guess we got caught off guard a little bit."

Perhaps the biggest difference for Virginia Tech has been the play of their offense. After gaining a season-low 258 yards and failing to score a touchdown for the first time since 2006, the Hokies have averaged 31.2 points per game and piled up 442.3 yards per game. Quarterback Logan Thomas has accounted for 23 touchdowns in that time, while throwing just two interceptions.

Whether Virginia Tech can avenge their loss will be settled on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' The Southland. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Football for more on Championship Weekend.

College Football Championship Games: SEC Clearly The Hottest Ticket

SB Nation's ticketing partner TiqIQ says the SEC championship game is more than twice as expensive to get in to as any of the other four major championship games.

ACC Championship 2011, Clemson Vs. Virginia Tech: Tigers Fans Far From Optimistic

Thanks to the early season run of the Clemson Tigers and the relative weakness of the ACC, they clinched a bid to the ACC Championship game long ago. Since clinching that bid, Clemson has collapsed. After an embarrassing loss to a below-average NC State Wolfpack team, the Tigers were defeated by Connor Shaw and the South Carolina Gamecocks in last week's Battle for the Palmetto State.

They can still get to the BCS by beating the Virginia Tech Hokies a second straight time, but Clemson Tigers blog Shakin The Southland isn't exactly a place for optimism at the moment. They're currently ripping their team for their predictable offense, their poor defensive fundamentals, and their allegedly terrible strength and conditioning program. They're already predicting an inevitable collapse against VT, lamenting where it all went wrong.

This team is soft. They've shown that over this last month. To start the season 8-0 only to lose three of four is mind-numbing, even for a Clemson fan. On Saturday, Clemson has an opportunity to do what they haven't in 20 years. Win a damn ACC title. Nobody thinks they can do it, not Vegas, not the pundits, and not most of its fans.

A gigantic black cloud is moving northeast from Clemson and will hover over Charlotte on Saturday.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' The Southland. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Football for more on Championship Weekend.

ACC Championship 2011, Clemson Vs. Virginia Tech: Tigers Recovering From Second Straight Loss

A young Clemson Tigers squad was the darling of ESPN following an 8-0 start to the season. Heading into the ACC Championship Game against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday, the Tigers are engaged in full-on damage control, dropping three of their last four games including a 34-13 loss at the hands of South Carolina last Saturday. Coach Dabo Swinney isn't ready to concede anything to the favored Hokies, however.

"We have a chance to win the ACC, and as poorly as we've played the past few weeks, we can't lose sight of the fact that we do have an opportunity to play for our league's championship," said Swinney. "That is something we haven't done in a long time, and certainly nobody was picking us to do that this year."

Clemson beat Virginia Tech 23-3 earlier this season, so there is plenty of reason for optimism for Tigers fans. Still, the team's downswing has come as the Hokies are playing some of their best football. Virginia Tech beat the Virginia Cavaliers last week 38-0 in arguably their most complete performance of the season. Junior running back David Wilson racked up 153 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the win.

For more on this game, visit Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country and Clemson blog Shakin' The Southland. Head over to SB Nation NCAA Football for more on Championship Weekend.

ACC Championship 2011, Virginia Tech Vs. Clemson: Hokies Look For Revenge

The 2011 ACC Championship game features the Virginia Tech Hokies against the Clemson Tigers. This is a rematch of an October contest that the Tigers won. But Clemson enters this contest with losses in its last two games.