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Tag Archives: Clemson
Florida State, Clemson among seven ACC schools examining grant of rights agreement, per reports – CBS Sports
- Florida State, Clemson among seven ACC schools examining grant of rights agreement, per reports CBS Sports
- ACC realignment rumblings: 7 schools are examining the grant of rights. But can they leave? The Athletic
- Report: FSU, 6 Other ACC Schools Exploring ‘How Unbreakable’ Grant-of-Rights Deal Is Bleacher Report
- NC State among seven ACC schools probing for outs from league’s grant-of-rights Backing The Pack
- Conference Realignment News: FSU reportedly adding allies in exploring attempt to break ACC’s Grant of Rights 247Sports
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Clemson reportedly finalizing deal with TCU’s Garrett Riley
Dabo Swinney is working on making a big splash for offensive coordinator.
The same day word broke that he was parting ways with offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter, multiple reports share that Swinney is finalizing a deal with TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
Ross Dellenger led the way with the story initially.
Riley, who won the Broyles Award back in December, just helped lead TCU to the national title game and a historic season.
Few coaches have risen as fast as the 33 year old offensive play caller, who landed his first coordinator opportunity with Sonny Dykes and SMU back in 2020.
Now he’s poised to take over the offense at one of college football’s premier programs that has proven the last several years with coordinators like Chad Morris, Brent Venables, Jeff Scott, Tony Elliott and others that they’re willing to pay for top-notch coordinators.
The Clemson offense has become stagnant the last severals years, and Dabo thinking big and nabbing Riley shows exactly what he expects as Clemson looks to the future.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
Nebraska football picks up commitment from CB with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Clemson
Ethan Nation, a 2023 cornerback out of Rosewell (Ga.), has committed to Nebraska. Nation’s decision gives the Huskers another pledge from a recruit with an absolutely loaded offer sheet.
Nation, a three-star prospect, holds approximately 50 offers, most notably from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and USC.
His offer list also includes Auburn, Colorado, Florida, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Utah and Wisconsin.
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He ultimately picked Nebraska over Auburn, Houston and Ohio State – the other three programs in his final four – because he sees a program on the rise that is being led in the right direction.
“I like how they are coming on the map because of their new coaching staff,” Nation told Rivals’ Ryan Wright. “They will have a lot of buzz on them because they are a professional staff going to the college level. That will be exciting to see how that plays out.”
Nation said that his decision was “really easy” when he compared everything.
“They flew me out, they showed me that they needed me and wanted me, and it was pretty simple for me,” Nation said. “They showed me that they weren’t going to BS me. If I go there and put in the hard work, it’s going to go off.”
Nation is the fourth defensive back commitment in the Huskers’ 2023 class. He joins CBs Syncere Safeeullah and Dwight Bootle II and Philadelphia safety Rahmir Stewart, who held a similarly impressive offer sheet as Nation with offers from Alabama, Clemson and Georgia among over 30 offers.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Nation is ranked in the top 70 among Georgia’s 2023 prospects and top 75 nationally among cornerbacks.
Nation’s recruitment has been considered by some to be a bit of a wild card throughout the process in terms of where he would eventually land. No school had emerged in a major way from the pack over the last few months. That opened the door for secondary coach Evan Cooper, head coach Matt Rhule and the Huskers.
>>> RELATED: Meet the Huskers’ 2023 signing class
Nebraska offered Nation on Dec. 16, and he immediately scheduled an official visit for the Dec. 16-18 weekend. Nation trains with Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn, who Cooper coached the past two seasons as the Panthers cornerbacks coach.
That’s how Nation initially got on the Huskers’ radar. He made the trip to Lincoln and built on what had become an instant connection with Cooper and the Husker staff. Those relationships became even stronger just before the early signing period.
“I usually ask people who have been coached by them previously,” Nation said. “With Coach Rhule being with the Panthers, I trained with some guys that were with the Panthers. I picked their brains. I talked to JT (Ibe) about their coaching because Coach Rhule was with them and Coach Cooper, and their strength coach (Corey Campbell) was with the Panthers as well. I was just picking the brains of the professional guys to see how they deciphered them from the professional level to college.”
Tennessee tops Clemson in Orange Bowl to cap best year since ’01
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The only thing that stopped Tennessee fans from singing “Rocky Top” as time was expiring Friday night was the need to serenade Joe Milton with something else.
“M-V-P!” they chanted, over and over. With good reason.
Milton, who regained the starting job only after his close friend Hendon Hooker got hurt late in the year, led Tennessee to one of its finest moments in the past couple of decades.
He completed 19 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 6 Tennessee never trailed on its way to a 31-14 victory over No. 10 Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
“I trust myself, I trust my coaching and I just let it happen,” Milton said.
The Volunteers, who hadn’t had an 11-win season since 2001, finished 11-2 and capped a year in which they beat Alabama, LSU and Clemson, programs that combined to win six of the seven recent College Football Playoff national titles.
“All the adversity this group’s faced during their careers, what they’ve done the last 23 months, I couldn’t be prouder of a group of individuals,” said Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, who won a national title as an Oklahoma player in the Orange Bowl. “These players, our staff, Vol Nation, everybody’s been along for the journey.”
Squirrel White, Bru McCoy and Ramel Keyton had the scoring catches for the Volunteers. Jaylen Wright rushed for 89 yards, and Jabari Small had a touchdown run for Tennessee.
Cade Klubnik, making his first start for Clemson, completed 30 of 54 passes for 320 yards with two interceptions. But Clemson (11-3) just kept coming up empty on prime scoring chances; the Tigers got into Tennessee territory on nine of their first 10 possessions and turned those trips into only two field goals.
Clemson finished with 484 yards on 101 plays and still lost by 17.
“You don’t get any points for yards,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “The name of the game’s points. … You have to finish and execute, and we did not do that.”
Klubnik ran in from 4 yards out to get Clemson within 21-14 with 10:01 left, but Milton connected with Keyton for a 46-yard score on the next Tennessee possession. The Volunteers intercepted Klubnik on a desperation fourth-down heave about a minute later, just about sealing the outcome.
“Wish we could have sent out these seniors with a win,” Klubnik said. “I think we gave it all we had until the last play.”
In this very orange Orange Bowl — both teams have it as their primary color — it was the Tennessee hue that was superior. Hooker was there, having flown in about a week ago to be with his team and help Milton prepare for the game.
“Blood can’t make us closer,” Milton said. “That’s my brother ’til the end.”
Milton opened the scoring with a 16-yard pass to McCoy, and Small’s 2-yard rush pushed the lead to 14-0 with 9:03 left in the half. The Vols’ offense, which led the nation this year in yards and points per game, wasn’t at its best, but it didn’t have to be.
Clemson got the ball seven times in the first half, getting inside Tennessee territory all seven times and getting to the Vols’ 25 on four occasions.
Somehow, that became only three points.
The other six possessions: a stuffed fake field goal run by Drew Swinney, the son of Clemson coach Dabo Swinney; a punt; three missed field goals by B.T. Potter, the most prolific kicker in school history; and a brutal final drive when Klubnik was tackled on a keeper with 6 seconds left. Clemson was out of timeouts, couldn’t get the field goal unit on the field and went into halftime trailing 14-3.
“Lot of missed opportunities,” Dabo Swinney said.
Potter opened the second half with a 40-yarder of the no-problem variety, the 73rd field goal of his career, a school record for the Tigers. But White caught a 14-yard pass with 5 seconds left in the third, giving the Vols a 21-6 lead going into the fourth.
When it was over, Milton took a knee, tucked the game ball under his left arm and simply would not let it go. He’ll enter 2023 as Tennessee’s presumed starter, and expectations will be high for a program that went 20-27 in the four seasons before Heupel’s arrival, went 7-6 last year under him and now won an Orange Bowl.
“It’s been a fun climb,” Heupel said. “The best is yet to come.”
Tennessee might climb a spot or two, depending on what happens in the College Football Playoff games. It’ll be the Vols’ best finish in at least 20 years; they were No. 4 in 2001 and No. 1 in 1998.
Clemson will be part of the final poll for the 12th consecutive year, extending the longest such run in school history. The Tigers were in six straight season-ending AP polls from 1986 through 1991.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tennessee vs. Clemson live stream, watch online, TV channel, Orange Bowl odds, spread, prediction, pick
The fIrst New Year’s Six showdown of this postseason headlines the Friday bowl game schedule as No. 6 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson meet in the 2022 Orange Bowl. The Volunteers were very much in line for a College Football Playoff berth deep into November, but a blowout loss to South Carolina ended those hopes. The Tigers returned to the top of the ACC thanks to the work of backup quarterback Cade Klubnik, who was named the MVP of the ACC Championship Game win over North Carolina.
Simply put, this is a fascinating postseason matchup. Despite the late-season struggles, Tennessee still has plenty of hope for the future. Meanwhile, Clemson could set the tone for a return to the CFP by getting its youngsters some experience on a big stage.
So how will things shake out inside Hard Rock Stadium on Friday? Let’s break down this New Year’s Six battle between the Volunteers and Tigers.
Follow along LIVE as the Tigers and Volunteers square off in Miami Gardens here.
How to watch Orange Bowl live
Date: Friday, Dec. 30 | Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Hard Rock Stadium — Miami Gardens, Florida
TV: ESPN | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)
Tennessee vs. Clemson: Need to know
The Klubnik factor: The Tigers freshman quarterback was tremendous in the 39-10 win over North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game when he threw for 279 yards and a score while tossing just four incompletions. Fans have been clamoring for the former blue-chip recruit after another disappointing season from two-year starter DJ Uiagalelei — who has since announced a transfer to Oregon State. Now that Klubnik is entrenched as the starter, and coach Dabo Swinney has had some time to work with him after the end of the regular season, it’ll be fascinating to see how much of the playbook Swinney gives his likely 2023 starter.
Josh Heupel hype: The second-year coach of the Volunteers orchestrated one of the most remarkable turnarounds of the season but will be without starting quarterback Hendon Hooker (injury) and star wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (opt-out). However, expect Heupel to let quarterback Joe Milton to air it out due in an effort to show off his system to recruits not only in South Florida but around the country.
Swinney’s success: The head coach of the Tigers has two national championships under his belt, but his bowl record overall has been vastly overlooked. Counting national title games and CFP semifinals, Swinney has won 10 of his last 14 postseason appearances including last season’s Cheez-It Bowl. The veteran coach knows how to get his team prepared and, more importantly, keep his team motivated even in games that aren’t within the playoff rotation.
Orange Bowl prediction, picks
Featured Game | Clemson Tigers vs. Tennessee Volunteers
This one will be a shootout, and while Clemson might get the win, expect Klubnik to make a couple of mistakes that will allow Tennessee to have the ball late with a chance to win. Will the Vols get the job done? Maybe. Don’t underestimate Heupel’s ability to draw up some plays that take advantage of backup quarterback Joe Milton’s incredible arm strength. Prediction: Tennessee +5.5
Which college football picks can you make with confidence during bowl season, and which underdogs will win outright? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the spread — all from a proven computer model that has returned almost $2,500 in profit over the past six-plus seasons — and find out.
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Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei expected to transfer to Oregon State in attempted career restart, per report
It looks like DJ Uiagalelei is turning in the orange and purple of Clemson for the orange and black of Oregon State. Uiagalelei appears poised to join the Beavers for the 2023 season via the transfer portal, according to ESPN, after a career that did not go as expected with the Tigers.
Uiagalelei, a five-star prospect in the Class of 2020, was benched for Cade Klubnik during Clemson’s ACC Championship Game victory over North Carolina. He entered the transfer portal two days later. This after Uiagalelei was pulled during a number of games throughout the season as Clemson’s offense consistently struggled to find its footing.
There had been speculation that Uiagalelei would transfer to UCLA, Washington or Oregon late in the season, but Washington and Oregon saw Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix return for 2023, and Kent State’s Collin Schlee transferred to UCLA. There was even some speculation — including a 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction earlier in the week — that Uiagalelei would end up at Hawaii.
Instead, it’s another Pac-12 program that will look to help the former five-star prospect live up to his potential. Uiagalelei’s decision will come just days after his brother, five-star 2023 EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei, committed to rival Oregon on National Signing Day.
Best move for all parties
The No. 10 player in the 2020 class, Uiagalelei was expected to be the next superstar QB for Clemson, following in the footsteps of Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. He did not live up to the hype. Through two seasons with the Tigers as a starter, DJU struggled to find consistency as a passer. He completed only 59.8% of his passes for 6.6 yards per attempt, and he finished the 2021 season with more interceptions (10) than passing touchdowns (nine). While he rebounded in 2022 with 22 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, the speculation of possibly being replaced by Klubnik in 2023 seemed to weigh on him late in the season. He completed only 10 of 34 attempts over his final two games.
Now, Uiagalelei gets a fresh start in the Pac-12 with the Beavers. He’ll be playing in the same state as another transfer quarterback who needed a fresh start out West and found one in Bo Nix out of Auburn. Meanwhile, Clemson can move on to Klubnik. Many Clemson fans will argue that Dabo Swinney waited too long to make the move, and it’s possible that if Uiagalelei had returned in 2023, he’d still be the starter and the Tigers would’ve risked losing Klubnik to the transfer portal.
DJU is an upgrade for Oregon State
While Uiagalelei is unlikely to ever live up to the hype surrounding him out of high school, it’s not as if he isn’t a talented player. Now he’ll be playing in an offense under Jonathan Smith that, frankly, is better equipped to take advantage of his talents. While Uiagalelei did himself no favors at Clemson, the Tigers’ scheme deserved a considerable share of the blame, too.
At Oregon State, Uiagalelei joins a team that went 10-3 this season despite losing starting QB Chance Nolan to an injury five games into the season. Nolan was replaced by Ben Gulbranson, who performed admirably but was not a difference-maker Uiagalelei could be.
Pac-12 is deep at QB league
Now, plenty of people — myself included — were saying the same thing about the ACC in 2022, and we saw how that worked out for Uiagalelei, Clemson and the conference as a whole. Still, the Pac-12 will have reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams back next season. Nix is back at Auburn, and Penix is at Washington. Schlee isn’t a household name, but he put up big numbers at Kent State, and the Bruins also have a five-star freshman in Dante Moore coming to Brentwood.
Add Uiagalelei to the mix — with Cam Ward at Washington State, Jayden de Laura at Arizona, Drew Pyne at Arizona State and Sheduer Sanders at Colorado — and the Pac-12 looks to have some considerable QB depth.
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Clemson finally makes QB switch, trounces North Carolina to win ACC title
With quarterback DJ Uiagalelei playing inconsistently for much of the season, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney scoffed about the idea of making a change when the idea was brought up by the media.
But after the Tigers’ first two possessions of the ACC title game vs. North Carolina resulted in a total of seven yards and two punts, Swinney did just that.
He removed the veteran Uiagalelei in favor of the hyped-up freshman, Cade Klubnik. Klubnik provided an instant spark to the offense and led Clemson to its seventh ACC title in eight seasons.
In the 39-10 win, Klubnik threw for 279 yards on 20-of-24 passing, rushed for 30 yards and combined for two total touchdowns.
Amid its slow start with Uiagagelei at quarterback, Clemson fell behind 7-0 and looked lifeless — until Klubnik came to the rescue.
Clemson marched right down the field and evened the score on Klubnik’s first series on the field. And after a UNC fumble, Clemson was quickly ahead 14-7 with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.
On Clemson’s ensuing possession, Klubnik connected with Cole Turner on a gorgeous deep ball down the left sideline for a 68-yard gain, setting himself up for a one-yard rushing score.
Clemson then added to the lead with a field goal before halftime, turning that early 7-0 deficit into a 24-10 lead at the break.
In the second half, the defense took over. UNC, led by its own star freshman quarterback, Drake Maye, drove deep into Clemson territory in the third quarter. But Maye made a horrible mistake, throwing the ball into traffic on third-and-goal. Nate Wiggins picked off the errant pass and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown.
That defensive touchdown added to a lead that was far too large to overcome as the Tigers completely controlled play in the second half en route to a blowout victory.
While returning to the top of the ACC after falling short last year is something Clemson will celebrate, it’s hard not to wonder what the ceiling of this Clemson team may have been had Swinney made a quarterback switch at some point during the regular season.
Uiagalelei struggled mightily in 2021 as Clemson lost three regular season games for the first time since 2014. With Klubnik, a five-star recruit from Texas, joining the roster, many wondered if the younger QB would be in position to move past Uiagalelei on the depth chart — much like Trevor Lawrence did to Kelly Bryant a few years back.
But that never materialized as Clemson kept winning games. Clemson started the year 8-0 and was ranked No. 4 nationally when it went into Notre Dame on Nov. 5 and got smacked 35-14. Uiagalelei played poorly in the game, but he wasn’t the only issue as Clemson’s vaunted defensive line got physically overwhelmed by the Fighting Irish.
At 8-1, Clemson was still in the national title picture and stayed in it by rebounding with wins over Louisville and Miami. At 10-1, wins over rival South Carolina in the regular season finale and UNC in the ACC title game would have put the Tigers firmly in the mix for a CFP berth.
But South Carolina changed those plans with a come-from-behind 31-30 win in Clemson, ruining Clemson’s CFP hopes. Uiagalelei went just 8-of-29 for 99 yards in the loss. It was not pretty.
On Saturday night, Clemson’s offense just looked so much more crisp when Klubnik was running the show. North Carolina’s defense makes a lot of offenses look good, but Clemson fans will be left wondering what could have been had Swinney changed things up at some point during the season.
Instead of waiting around for its Orange Bowl opponent, Clemson could have spent Sunday waiting to see if it landed in the College Football Playoff field.
Tomorrow’s Top 25 Today: USC, Clemson playoff profiles improve amid jumps in college football rankings
The razor-thin margin for error in college football was on display throughout the scores and results from Week 12. It was a week where the scoreboard showed a couple upsets for top 25 teams, but we were also a few bounces away from total chaos in the college football rankings.
No. 1 Georgia was backed up into the red zone by Kentucky, holding a 10-point lead with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter before forcing a missed field goal and a turnover on downs to remain undefeated. No. 2 Ohio State, also on the road against an unranked opponent, led by just three points late in a battle with Maryland. Meanwhile, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU both won thanks to last-second field goals. If a few plays (or even just a couple kicks) had different results, the AP Top 25 voters would be faced with a difficult challenge sorting out the carnage in their updated ballots.
That’s not to say the voters job will be easy in the wake of Saturday’s results.
The debates about body of work against recent results will be on full display with the slotting of Tennessee after a stunning 63-38 loss at South Carolina. The Volunteers are now 9-2 and carry wins against both Alabama and LSU, yet Saturday night’s defeat as a 22-point favorite could have Tennessee falling behind one or both of those SEC foes. A similar conservation will be had further down in the rankings after Ole Miss lost for a second straight week, this time at unranked Arkansas. The Rebels are 8-3 and fell just one score short of toppling last week, when looking for quality wins voters must determine how valuable close wins against Kentucky and at Texas A&M are compared to other three-loss teams.
By the end of the night, five teams from the top 16 in the AP Top 25 will have taken losses, providing plenty of opportunities for other teams to move up. Benefitting most from the limited chaos were USC and Clemson, which each took care of business (in quite different fashions) to remain atop their respective conferences entering Week 13. If both can win out, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee may have some extremely tough decisions to make on Selection Sunday.
Here’s how we think the new AP Top 25 will look on Sunday:
1. Georgia (Last week — 1): An absence of an obvious challenger for the No. 1 spot keeps the status quo as the Bulldogs remain at No. 1 following a 16-6 win at Kentucky.
2. Ohio State (2): The Buckeyes could catch a few more first-place votes after pouring on the points late in a 43-30 win at Maryland, but voters tracking scores through the day will note that this was a three-point game deep into the fourth quarter. Freshman running back Dallan Hayden had a breakout performance with 146 yards and three touchdowns, all of them after halftime as Ohio State overcame an early deficit and took control of the game in the third quarter.
3. Michigan (3): There is a lot to be concerned about for Michigan coming out of Saturday’s win against Illinois — from Blake Corum’s health to how often scoring opportunities seem to end in field goal attempts — but merely holding on for a win will be enough to remain in the top five of the rankings.
4. TCU (4): The dream season continues for TCU thanks to quarterback Max Duggan leading a couple of fourth-quarter scoring drives, opening the door for a potential jump into the top three of the rankings. Our projection is that the AP voters will keep last week’s order in place, but the playoff committee has fewer voters can thus can be more volatile. TCU could end up No. 4 on Sunday but No. 3 on Tuesday night thanks to the game-winning field goal at Baylor.
5. USC (7): The Trojans rallied from down 14-0 after the first quarter, outscoring the Bruins by 17 over the final 45 minutes for a 48-45 victory to remain the lone one-loss team in the Pac-12. With Tennessee falling and USC impressing down the stretch as it clinched a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game, the Trojans should jump two-loss LSU into the fifth spot.
6. LSU (6): The Tigers enjoyed the Senior Day festivities with a 41-10 dismantling of UAB. Up next is a trip to College Station to face Texas A&M, then the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.
7. Clemson (9): With a 40-10 win against Miami, the Tigers have now won 40 consecutive home games. Thanks to some of Saturday’s results elsewhere, things are looking up for Clemson’s CFP chances. This marks only the ninth 40-game home winning streak in FBS history, the first since Nebraska won 47 straight home games from 1991-98.
8. Tennessee (5): The injury to star QB Hendon Hooker has added layers of disappointment for a program that saw its playoff hopes dashed with the lopsided loss to a division foe.
9. Alabama (8): No major adjustments for a 34-0 win against FCS Austin Peay.
10. Oregon (12): In defeating Utah, the Ducks seem certain to jump into the top 10, but what’s the ceiling? Look for Oregon to be as high as No. 8, but our official projection is Dan Lanning’s crew will take the Utes’ spot at No. 10.
11. Penn State (11): While chaos ensues all around Penn State’s position in the poll, the Nittany Lions were one of the few ranked teams to absolutely deliver on expectations of dominance with a 55-10 win at Rutgers.
12. Washington (15): The Huskies will move up thanks to shake ups within the top 16 and a dominant 54-7 win against Colorado.
13. Notre Dame (18): Since joining into a scheduling agreement in 2014, Notre Dame is now 40-7 in regular season games against the ACC after a 44-0 win against Boston College. The Fighting Irish, now 8-3 on the year, closed out their home slate with their 28th straight regular season win against an ACC opponent. They face USC on the road in next week’s regular-season finale.
14. Kansas State (19): Winners of three in their last four, the Wildcats are closing in on a Big 12 Championship Game spot after putting 41 points on the board in the first half and defending an early lead en route to a 17-point win at West Virginia. A win against rival Kansas next week secures Kansas State’s shot at a rematch with TCU in Dallas for the conference title.
15. UCLA (16): The Bruins gave up a 14-point lead in the first quarter and four-point advantage in the third as they fell to the Trojans in a key spot. With consecutive losses and now three in the last five weeks, the goodwill UCLA received early in the season can now be overlooked given its rough closing stretch.
16. Utah (10): The bill has come due from a rankings perspective for Utah, a team with three losses on the year but a win against the Pac-12’s lone one-loss team. Beating USC has provided some rankings strength that was overriding losses to Florida and UCLA, but now that Utah enters the debate of three-loss teams following a loss to Oregon, the head-to-head edge for the Bruins could determine how these teams stack up in the rankings.
17. Florida State (20): The Seminoles scored touchdowns on five of six first-half possession and never allowed a visit from Louisiana to become competitive, cruising to a 49-17 win.
18. Tulane (21): A Thursday night AAC showdown with SMU was expected to be a tough test for the Green Wave in the wake of last week’s close loss to UCF, but the Mustangs turned the ball over five times and Tulane seized the spotlight opportunity with a 59-24 win that should impress the voters.
19. Cincinnati (22): Now 9-2 after a 20-point win at Temple, Cincinnati can play its way into a fourth straight AAC title game appearance if it beats Tulane on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
20. Coastal Carolina (23): Saturday’s game against Virginia was canceled as the school and community took Saturday to honor the three UVA players killed in last weekend’s tragic on-campus shooting.
21. North Carolina (13): The best thing North Carolina has going for it in terms of the rankings is only having two losses after falling 21-17 at home to Georgia Tech. Falling from No. 13 all the way out of the rankings is too drastic of an adjustment for this point in the season, but the tumble will be dramatic considering both the disappointing result (losing as a 21-point favorite) and the profile’s lack of high-end wins.
22. Ole Miss (14): The last four results for Ole Miss give little insight into where the Rebels stack up against the best teams in the country. There are three losses — by 25 to LSU, by six to Alabama and by 15 to unranked Arkansas — and a lone win by three at Texas A&M. Ole Miss is a few plays away from 9-2 with a top-10 win but also a few plays away from being 7-4 and out of the top 25. As it stands, we’ve got Lane Kiffin’s team hanging on just inside the rankings after Saturday night’s loss in Fayetteville.
23. Oregon State (25): The Beavers have now won eight games for the first time since 2012 after a convincing 31-7 road victory over Arizona State. They will have a chance to solidify their chances of the finishing the season ranked next week against Oregon.
24. Texas (NR): We’re projecting the Longhorns to break back into the rankings. Texas was not only one of the top vote-getters in last week’s balloting outside the top 25, but there will be some “sticker shock” for voters who might have expected Saturday’s game at Kansas to be a potential upset spot and instead saw a dominant 55-14 Longhorns win.
25. UCF (17): There is going to be a drop for UCF on every ballot after the 17-14 home loss to Navy, but the Knights will likely receive enough votes to stay inside the top 25. Now 8-3, UCF does have wins against Tulane and Cincinnati but losses to Louisville, ECU and Navy. The Midshipmen were 3-7 heading into the game, handing the Knights their worst loss of the season. Still, UCF is a team with only three losses and two wins against other teams in the top 25.
Projected to drop out: Oklahoma State (24)
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Notre Dame vs. Clemson score: Irish defense destroys No. 4 Tigers in signature win for Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame delivered a crushing blow to No. 4 Clemson by upsetting the Tigers 35-14 in a banner victory for first-year coach Marcus Freeman. The Fighting Irish used a suffocating defense and elite special teams to frustrate Clemson, limiting the visitors to just 281 yards of total offense and holding the Tigers without a touchdown until the fourth quarter when the game was essentially out of reach.
The Fighting Irish’s offense faced struggles of its own, but Logan Diggs and Audric Estime both surpassed 100 yards on the ground as Notre Dame imposed its will in key situations while averaging 5.6 yards per rush. Initially, however, it was a punt blocked by Jordan Botelho that Prince Kollie returned for a touchdown in the first quarter that gave the home team an early edge.
The defense took over from there as Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei struggled to jumpstart the Tigers offensively. Eventually, he was replaced by five-start true freshman Cade Klubnik late in the third quarter but to no avail. Klubnik’s second pass was intercepted, leading to an Estime touchdown that made it 21-0 with 14:37 remaining.
Marcus Freeman’s signature victory
After embarrassing home losses to Marshall and Stanford earlier in the season, Freeman needed a signature win. This one certainly qualifies. Clemson has consistently been among the sport’s top programs for the past decade, and the Tigers came into the week as one of just six undefeated teams in the sport.
His recruiting work has been stellar; the Fighting Irish currently own the No. 3-ranked class in the 2023 cycle, per 247Sports. But in his first season as a head coach, Freeman needed some on-field accolades to pair with his work on the recruiting trail. He’s got them now, and the Fighting Irish may not be done yet. They figure to be heavy favorites the next two weeks against Navy and Boston College before a big season finale at No. 9 USC. Depending on where the Trojans are in the national landscape at that point, Notre Dame could have yet another chance to play the spoiler role on the national stage.
Clemson CFP implications
The loss does not altogether eliminate Clemson from CFP contention, but it does make the Tigers’ path to the playoff more challenging. With a win over a well-regarded North Carolina team in the ACC Championship Game, Clemson could still make the CFP field as a one-loss team, according CBS Sports expert Jerry Palm. But they may need to win that game convincingly over the No. 17 Tar Heels, who improved to 8-1 with a 31-28 win over Virginia on Saturday.
Clemson still has three must-win regular season games ahead as well, though the Tigers should be heavy favorites in all three contests. Up first is Louisville next week, followed by Miami and South Carolina to close the season. All three are home games.
Clemson quarterback situation
Clemson’s quarterback situation remains unsettled, as evidenced by the fact that coach Dabo Swinney turned to Klubnik for a spark in the second half yet again. But unlike in a 27-21 win over Syracuse two weeks ago, the move backfired. Swinney quickly pulled Klubnik and put Uiagalelei back in the game after Klubnik’s first pass was intercepted.
Where Swinney goes from here will be fascinating to see. Though Uiagalelei has obviously improved since last season, the Tigers do not inspire fear in opponents offensively and Klubnik appears to be the program’s quarterback of the future. With Clemson’s CFP hopes on shaky footing, Swinney’s insistence on sticking with Uiagalelei figures to be tested again in the season’s remaining weeks.
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