ACC Championship game live updates: Clemson dominates Irish to win conference title
The Clemson Tigers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish battle Saturday in the 2020 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. The game kicks off at 4 p.m. on ABC.
Final: Clemson 34, Notre Dame 10
The Tigers won their sixth straight ACC championship victory and will be headed to the College Football Playoffs.
Tyree TD: Clemson 34, Notre Dame 10
Chris Tyree scored Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the game on a 21-yard touchdown run with 8:09 left. The score came right after Clemson’s Nolan Turner was ejected for targeting.
Clemson’s Turner ejected
Clemson starting safety Nolan Turner will miss the first half of Clemson’s College Football Playoff game after being called for targeting during the second half of Saturday’s game against Notre Dame
.Turner has started every game for Clemson this season. He entered Saturday second on the team with 52 tackles, including five tackles for loss.
Potter FG: Clemson 34, Notre Dame 3
BT Potter hit his second field goal of the game by hitting a 37-yarder with 10:31 to go. Clemson went over 500 yards of total offense in the drive
Lawrence TD: Clemson 31, Notre Dame 3
Clemson’s offense had been quiet in the second half but Trevor Lawrence took care of that with a 34-yard touchdown run 3:43 left in the third quarter. Clemson has outgained ND, 444-,170 so far.
Williams makes incredible catch
Clemson receiver EJ Williams, who had a TD earlier in the game, made the catch of the day with a one-handed grab from Trevor Lawrence for 22 yards for a Tigers’ first down. The officials reviewed the catch but he had both feet inbounds.
Etienne TD: Clemson 24, Notre Dame 3
On fourth-and-one, Travis Etienne ran 44 yards for a touchdown with 21 seconds left in the second quarter.
Etienne has 8 carries for 98 yards in the first half.
Potter FG: Clemson 17, Notre Dame 3
BT Potter hit a 27-yard field goal with 4:28 left in the second quarter to extend the Tigers’ lead.
Williams’ TD: Clemson 14, Notre Dame 3
Trevor Lawrence threw his second touchdown of game with a 33-yarder to EJ Williams with 9:24 left in the second quarter. Lawrence is 7-of-10 for 142 yards in the first half.
Rodgers TD: Clemson 7, Notre Dame 3
After Notre Dame misses an easy field goal, Clemson responds with his first touchdown of the game when Trevor Lawrence hits Amari Rodgers on a 67-yard TD pass with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.
Doerer FG: Notre Dame 3, Clemson 0
Notre Dame scored on its first possession when Jonathan Doerer hit a 51-yard field goal with 8:16 left in the first quarter. The 51-yard field was the ACC championship record.
The Irish converted on two third downs to extend the drive.
Fans in attendance
Capacity for the ACC championship is set at 5,240 fans.
The capacity limit is based off of North Carolina state and local regulations due to COVID-19. All fans are in the lower two levels or in suites. The fan split is about 50-50 between the two teams.
Xavier Thomas out for Clemson
Clemson will be down a key contributor on its defensive line Saturday against Notre Dame.
Defensive end Xavier Thomas is out for the game, Clemson announced Saturday afternoon.
Thomas is the only surprise on Clemson’s unavailability list. Dabo Swinney announced earlier in the week that receiver Joseph Ngata will miss the game.
Thomas missed the start of the year after battling COVID-19 and strep throat this summer. He has played in seven games, with one start in 2020.Thomas has four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks so far this season.
Here’s the full list of players who are out for the Tigers: DE Ryan Barrett, S Michael Becker, TE Will Blackston, OL Kaleb Boateng, OL Will Boggs, DE Jack Brissey, PK Quinn Castner, LB David Cote, OL Mac Cranford, WR Hampton Earle, DT Nick Eddis, OL Jacob Edwards, DT James Edwards, OL Will Edwards, TE Sage Ennis, DE Justin Foster, WR Hamp Greene, QB Hunter Helms, S Jake Herbstreit, WR Tye Herbstreit, LB Matthew Maloney, S Bubba McAtee, CB Jack McCall, OL Zac McIntosh, LB Matt McMahan, RB Ty Lucas, WR Joseph Ngata, TE Luke Price, DE Klayton Randolph, DE Andrew Roberts, WR Justyn Ross, WR Drew Swinney, QB James Talton, Thomas, LB Jake Venables, PK Jonathan Weitz and DT Tré Williams.
ESPN analysts favor Clemson
All of the members of ESPN’s College GameDay picked the Tigers to win the rematch over the Fighting Irish.
Desmond Howard, David Pollack, guest picker Joel McHale and Lee Corso took the Tigers. Corso donned the Clemson head gear from his home in Florida.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 2:41 PM.
