CLEMSON, S.C. — The ACC still runs through Clemson.
There’s a lot of change from year to year in college football, but one thing that remains the same: the Clemson Tigers are the class of the ACC.
They proved that once again Saturday night, knocking off the No. 10 NC State football team in the game that will likely decide the ACC Atlantic Division.
The No. 5 Tigers (5-0, 3-0 ACC) have been here before. It’s in their DNA. The Wolfpack (4-1, 0-1 ACC) has not. While an experienced group, this is a team that simply isn’t used to the big stage.
“It’s a big missed opportunity for us, we realize that,” said graduate linebacker Isaiah Moore. “This one definitely hurt. We had an opportunity to be in the driver’s seat, and we missed out on it.”
That’s not to say the Pack didn’t have a chance. It had several chances. But the hostile environment of Death Valley ultimately proved to be too much.
There are two drives that will stick with NC State perhaps more than any other. When Clemson kicker B.T. Potter missed a 46-yard field goal with 6:06 left in the third quarter, NC State was presented with a golden opportunity to go down and score, but the Pack went three-and-out.
In the fourth quarter, down 23-13, the Pack got it in Clemson territory, but a fumbled snap by redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary on 4th-and-13 turned the ball over and led to a Tigers touchdown that essentially put the game away.
“It was just a miscommunication between me and [graduate center Grant Gibson],” Leary said. “We go on the clap a lot; I think something was heard. … It’s on me whether I did call for the ball or not to get on top of it.”
Similar to the East Carolina game in week one, missed opportunities were a theme in this one, and something the Pack will look to shore up as it tries to at least keep pace in the Atlantic.
Leary finished the game 28-47 with 245 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Like his team, Leary didn’t play poorly, but he needed to put on something extraordinary to pull off the upset.
It was a field goal fest to begin the game, with each team kicking a field goal on their first offensive possessions and the Tigers taking the lead on a kick to go up 6-3 with 5:47 left in the first half.
On a drive that featured some calls Clemson fans didn’t quite agree with, the Pack scored the game’s first touchdown on a pass from Leary to redshirt freshman tight end Cedd Seabrough to go up 10-6 with less than two minutes in the half. However, that was just enough time for the Tigers, which went down and retook the lead on a one-yard rush by quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, sending it to halftime 13-10.
After NC State went three-and-out to begin the second half, the Tigers went right back down the field, utilizing a big 38-yard run by Uiagalelei, who soon found Jake Briningstool in the endzone to give Clemson a 20-10 cushion.
A 49-yard field goal by graduate kicker Chris Dunn on the ensuing possession made it a one-score game, but the Pack couldn’t get it any closer than that. NC State’s final score was on a four-yard rush by Leary late in the fourth, but that was in garbage time as the Tigers had all but clinched it.
In one of the toughest places to play in college football, where no visiting team has won in 37 tries, NC State had to be near-flawless tonight. The Pack was not, only amassing 34 rushing yards and turning the ball over twice. That’s just not going to get it done in Death Valley.
“This is a good football game against a good football team,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “We didn’t play our best. I think we’re a really good football team, but they were better than us.”
While the season is not even halfway over, this game likely determined who will be representing the Atlantic division in the ACC Championship game, and with both NC State and Wake Forest behind them, the Tigers are surely in the driver’s seat to make it back to Charlotte. However, anything can happen in college football, and if the Pack wants to keep hope alive, it must regroup against Florida State next week.
“The championship game wasn’t played tonight,” Moore said. “There’s still a lot at stake left. It’s a long season ahead.”
Kickoff against the Seminoles is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, with the broadcast on ACC Network.
