Five burning questions for Clemson against Virginia — and a score prediction
No. 1 Clemson (2-0, 1-0 ACC) will host Virginia (1-0, 1-0) on Saturday after the Tigers were off last week. Clemson is a 28.5-point favorite for the matchup, which is a rematch of last year’s ACC championship game. The 8 p.m. game will be televised by the ACC Network. Here are our top five questions heading into the game:
1. Virginia picked off Chase Brice 4 times. Can it slow Trevor Lawrence?
Clemson’s star quarterback and the Heisman favorite has been nearly perfect through two games, completing 81% of his passes for 519 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Lawrence will face the best defense he has seen so far this year Saturday as Virginia’s secondary is coming off an impressive performance against a former Tigers QB. The Cavaliers picked off Duke’s Chase Brice, a Clemson transfer, four times in last week’s season opener. The Blue Devils completed only 18 of 40 passes overall and threw five interceptions in the 38-20 loss.
2. Can Virginia test Clemson’s secondary?
The Tigers allowed five pass plays of at least 25 yards in the opener against Wake Forest, and the Demon Deacons had receivers open on a few additional plays but were unable to capitalize. Clemson then faced a triple-option team in The Citadel in Week 2, before an open week. Now the Tigers will face an inexperienced Virginia passing game but one that was impressive in its opener last week against Duke. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong passed for 269 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start, while freshman receiver Lavel Davis Jr. had 101 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Blue Devils. This will be a good test for the Virginia passing game and for Clemson’s secondary.
3. How does Bowman leaving change the RB rotation?
Clemson had a surprising departure from its program Thursday when five-star freshman running back Demarkcus Bowman announced he was entering the transfer portal. Bowman was a part of a crowded running back room led by two-time ACC Player of the Year Travis Etienne. Through the first two games of the season Bowman was third on the team with nine carries, behind only Etienne and Darien Rencher. Clemson still has plenty of talented backs behind Etienne, including Rencher, Lyn-J Dixon, is Chez Mellusi, Kobe Pace and Michel Dukes. If the game is competitive into the second half we will get a chance to see which backs Clemson’s staff trusts the most.
4. How will Clemson’s offensive line hold up against a solid pass rush?
Clemson has four new starters on its offensive line and will go up against a Virginia defense that had five sacks last week against Duke. The top two edge rushers for the Cavaliers are Charles Snowden and Noah Taylor, and they will do their best to rattle Lawrence. The Cavaliers finished seventh in the nation last season in sacks with 46.
5. Will Frank Ladson continue to make a case to be Clemson’s go-to WR
The sophomore had the best game of his young career in Clemson’s last game against The Citadel, hauling in three passes for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns. With Tee Higgins off to the NFL and Justyn Ross out for the year with an injury, the Tigers need someone to step up and become Lawrence’s favorite target. Ladson, Amari Rodgers and Joseph Ngata are the top contenders.
Clemson-Virginia prediction
This is unlikely to be as lopsided as last year’s 62-17 ACC championship game, but Armstrong and the Virginia offense are going to have their hands full against Brent Venables’ Clemson defense. This will be Armstrong’s first career road start, and it will be tough for him to keep up with Lawrence, Etienne and the Tigers.
Pick: Clemson 43, Virginia 13
