Clemson vs. North Carolina Post-game notes |
Clemson Postgame Notes
Team - Established ACC title game records in total offense (608), first downs (33) and offensive plays (98) - Only the second team in ACC title game history with two 100-yard rushers (Watson-131, Gallman-187) - Third quarter 97-yard scoring drive ties for the longest in title game history (GT, 2014) - First team in ACC title game history to have two scoring drives of 90+ yards. - Led at the half for 12th time in 13 games but for the first time in its three ACC title games. - Trailed at the end of the first quarter for only the second time this season (Florida State 3-7, N15) - Its 97-yard TD drive in the third quarter was the second longest (98 yards by GT, 2014) scoring drive in ACC title game history. With the win, Clemson... - Ties Florida State with its 15th ACC title. - Becomes only the third ACC teams with 13 or more wins. - Head coach Dabo Swinney improves to 74-26, including a 2-1 mark in ACC title game play. - Extends its school record with nine consecutive games of at least 500 yards of total offense. - Posted its third win of the season over a team with 10 or more wins (UNC, FSU and Notre Dame). - The two teams combined for an ACC title game record 990 yards in total offense, breaking the previous record of 953 yards set last year by Georgia Tech and Florida State. Individual - Named the game MVP after setting the title game record for TD responsibility with five scores (3 passing, 2 rushing) and becoming the first player in ACC title game annals to have 400 or more yards of total offense (411). - Set an ACC title game record with 13 straight pass completions - His 26 pass completions rank second all-time in ACC title game history. - Rushed for over 100 yards (131) for the fourth time in five games. - His 290 yards of total offense in the first half was the most ever in an ACC title game. - His 33-yard second quarter run is the longest by an ACC quarterback in ACC title game history. - Ran for a game-high 187 yards on 28 carries, including 170 yards in the second half alone, leading the Tigers in rushing for the ninth time this season. - The 187 yards rushing are the second third highest total in ACC title game history. - The first player in ACC title game history to have both a rushing and receiving touchdown. - Set the Clemson single season with his eighth 100-yard rushing game. - Seven receptions tie for the sixth most in ACC title game history. North Carolina Postgame Notes Team - North Carolina’s all-time record versus Clemson now favors the Tigers 37-19-1. Tonight marked their first neutral-site meeting since 1915 – a 9-7 Tar Heel victory in Greensboro. - Carolina (382) and Clemson (608) combined for 990 yards of total offense, breaking the ACCFCG’s previous record of 953 by Florida State (488) and Georgia Tech (465) in 2014. - Carolina’s only two setbacks this season have come at Bank of America Stadium. It dropped the season opener, 17-13, to South Carolina in the inaugural Belk College Kickoff. - Carolina is now 16-7-2 all-time when playing in the city of Charlotte, 3-5 in Bank of America Stadium, and is 0-2 versus Clemson in the Queen City (22-10 loss in 1901). - Carolina allowed a season-high 45 points. Its previous season highs were 34 at NC State (45-34 win) and 31 at Georgia Tech (38-31 win). - Carolina had its 11-game winning streak snapped. It was the nation’s third longest, behind Clemson’s now 16-game streak and Iowa’s 12-game streak, which also ended tonight. - Carolina has scored 38 rushing touchdowns this season – 20 of which have come over the season’s last five games, including two tonight. - Carolina has scored in 28 of the last 31 quarters, including all four quarters tonight. - Carolina scored the game’s first points – a 30-yard field goal with 8:45 remaining in the first quarter, marking the first time Clemson had trailed in four games. The Tigers last deficit was 10-6 in the third quarter of its game versus Florida State on Nov. 7. That totaled 206:14 of game time since Clemson last trailed in a game. - Carolina last played the No. 1-ranked team in 1999 – a 42-10 loss versus Florida State and is now 0-9 all-time versus the nation’s No. 1-ranked team. Carolina is now 2-18-1 all-time versus a ranked Clemson team. Carolina fell to 115-56-4 when playing as a ranked team and 3-6 when playing versus Clemson as a ranked team. - Carolina, which leads the ACC and entered the game ranked sixth nationally in passes defended, broke up two passes on the night and had one interception. The Tar Heels have had at least one interception in five consecutive games and in 10 of 13 games this season. - Carolina trailed at the half for just the second time this season (21-14 at Georgia Tech on Oct. 3). - Carolina’s one-play touchdown drive – a 46-yard TD pass – was the team’s third one-play scoring drive this season and the third one-play scoring drive in ACCFCG history. Clemson (56 yards) in 2011 vs. Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech (10 yards) in 2008 vs. Boston College. Individual - Tonight marked head coach Larry Fedora’s second appearance in a conference championship game. In 2011, he led Southern Miss to the Conference USA title with a 49-28 win over Houston. - QB Marquise Williams finished with 305 yards of total offense and in the game (224 passing, 81 rushing) and became the fifth player in ACC history with 10,000 yards of total offense. He now has 10,099 yards in his career. The others: Philip Rivers of NC State, 2000-03 (13,582); Tajh Boyd of Clemson, 2010-13 (13,069); Joe Hamilton of Georgia Tech, 1996-99 (10,640); Logan Thomas of Virginia Tech, 2010-13 (10,363). - Williams was responsible for four touchdowns in the game (three passing, one rushing) and is the sixth player in ACCFCG history to account for four or more TDs in a single game. -The 46-yard TD catch by T.J. Logan in the first quarter was his first career receiving touchdown. That play stands as tied for the third-longest touchdown pass in ACCFCG history and the longest since a 46-yard TD pass from Florida State’s Jameis Winston to Nick O’Leary in last year’s game versus Georgia Tech. - Logan also accumulated 95 yards of kickoff returns, the fourth-most in ACCFCG history and the most since Virginia Tech’s Tony Gregory had an ACCFCG record 135 yards versus Clemson in 2011. - Ryan Switzer’s 29-yard punt return in the first quarter stands as the second-longest in ACCFCG history. The record is an 83-yard return by Florida State’s Willie Reid in 2005 versus Virginia Tech. - Elijah Hood now has 17 rushing touchdowns this season to tie for third on Carolina’s single-season list. - Kicker Nick Weiler now has 119 points scored this season, moving him to second on Carolina’s single-season scoring list behind 126 points by Don McCauley in 1970.
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