Clemson football vs. SMU in ACC title game today: Kickoff time, TV channel, spread
It’s ACC championship week.
The No. 17 Clemson football team is coming off a disappointing home loss to South Carolina, but the Tigers can still make it into the 12-team College Football Playoff with a win over No. 8 Southern Methodist, a first-year member of the conference.
Here’s your gameday guide heading into the league title game in Charlotte.
“This is the first round of the playoff for us,” Swinney said Friday in a pregame media availability at Bank of America Stadium. “That’s how we have to look at it. This is a goal. The season is over. Now you’re into the postseason, and you’re where you wanted to be. Doesn’t really matter what’s happened behind you.”
“It’s all about this opportunity.”
2024 ACC championship game, TV info
- Who: No. 8 SMU (11-1, 8-0 ACC) vs. No. 17 Clemson (9-3, 7-1 ACC)
- When: 8 p.m. Saturday
- Where: Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC
- TV: ABC
- Broadcast crew: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath
- Stream: Via ESPN or the ESPN app
- Radio: 105.5 FM in the Clemson area (see all Clemson radio affiliates here)
- Satellite radio: SiriusXM Channel 119 or 193
- Series history: First ever meeting
Clemson vs. SMU Vegas odds
SMU, which previously competed in the American Athletic Conference, is a 2.5-point favorite against Clemson, according to the VegasInsider.com consensus line.
The Tigers aren’t used to being underdogs: This is only the second team time all season they’ll enter a game not favored and the first time since the season opener against then-No. 1 Georgia. Clemson had been favored in 11 straight since.
As of Saturday, SMU has also picked up 59% of bets against the spread, meaning the majority of gamblers think they’ll beat Clemson by two or more points.
Weather forecast for Charlotte, NC
Clear skies and chilly, per Weather.com. Charlotte’s Saturday outlook calls for a high of 51 degrees during the day and a low of 27 degrees at night. Rain isn’t in the forecast, and the sun will set around 5:10 p.m., about three hours before kickoff.
Top storylines for the game
Clemson experienced quite the emotional roller coaster on Saturday. The Tigers lost 17-14 at home to South Carolina in one of their bigger rivalry games in recent memory. At that point, they’d lost any outside shot of making the 12-team CFP as an at-large team and were facing a fourth straight year out of the playoff. About two hours later, Syracuse completed an upset of Miami and gave the Tigers one more shot at making it in. Many coaches and players were tied up in postgame duties and/or traffic and didn’t make it home until the final minutes of the Syracuse-Miami game. But once the result went final, coach Dabo Swinney said this week, “you could almost just feel the wind at our back again. … That was a range of emotions for sure.” Now, the lingering question: Can Clemson – which is 0-3 against the three best teams it’s faced this year, in terms of final record – come up big on a national stage in Charlotte against a red-hot opponent?
One key factor in SMU’s 8-0 debut season (and 11-1 overall record) was coach Rhett Lashlee’s decision to switch quarterbacks. Redshirt sophomore Kevin Jennings was named the full-time starter over Preston Stone after three games, and he’s been one of the best quarterbacks in the country ever since. Jennings – who narrowly beat out Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik for the third-team All ACC quarterback spot earlier this week – throws a great deep ball and is a dual-threat, too, with 416 rushing yards excluding sacks. That was a major point of weakness last week for Clemson, as USC quarterback LaNorris Sellers torched the Tigers for 178 rushing yards (excluding sacks) and forced 18 missed tackles.
Clemson starting defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart (ankle) returned against South Carolina after a three-game absence, but he only played nine defensive snaps. Swinney said earlier this week Capehart is not 100%. Starting safety R.J. Mickens is also questionable. Wide receiver Tyler Brown (ankle) is also practicing this week after playing in just four games and taking an injury redshirt, but his status is TBD. Swinney was coy in his final media availability of the week on their statuses. “They all made the trip,” he said in Charlotte, grinning. “They’re all on the bus. They’ll be getting off doing a walk-through here soon. So we’ll see.”
If Clemson loses this game, its postseason outcome is clear. The Tigers would finish 9-4, miss the College Football Playoff and head to a second-tier bowl game (likely the Dec. 28 Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando against a Big 12 team). But if Clemson wins? Expect Swinney to do some postgame politicking on why the Tigers deserve one of the four first-round byes awarded to the four highest ranked conference champions in Sunday’s final CFP Top 25. Clemson, with a win, is a lock for the field as one of the five highest ranked conference champions. But the No. 17 Tigers would presumably be in competition with the Big 12 champ (No. 15 Arizona State or No. 16 Iowa State) and the Mountain West champ (No. 10 Boise State or No. 20 UNLV) for a first-round bye. Only two of those three champs would get byes, and the team that doesn’t would likely have play a first-round game on the road.
Clemson vs. SMU players to watch
Clemson RB Phil Mafah: Questions have swirled about the health of Mafah, ad has reportedly been nursing a shoulder injury and lacked top-tier explosiveness in recent weeks. If he’s ineffective on Saturday, could backup Jay Haynes mix in?
Clemson LB Sammy Brown: Brown was named the ACC’s Defensive Rookie of the Year earlier this week but, strangely, sat most of the fourth quarter vs. USC. He’ll be a critical part of defending another good running quarterback.
SMU RB Brashard Smith: A Miami transfer who burned Clemson last year, Smith leads the Mustangs with 1,157 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns this season. He’s also a major factor as a receiver and a return man.
SMU S Isaiah Nwokobia: A productive safety who’s been an every-game starter on defense, Nwokobia has 91 total tackles and three interceptions this season.
Clemson 2024 schedule
Aug. 31: vs. Georgia in Atlanta, L 34-3
Sept. 7: vs. App State, W 66-20
Sept. 14: OPEN
Sept. 21: vs. NC State, W 59-35
Sept. 28: vs. Stanford, W 40-14
Oct. 5: at Florida State, W 29-16
Oct. 12: at Wake Forest, W 49-14
Oct. 19: vs. Virginia, W 48-31
Oct. 26: OPEN
Nov. 2: vs. Louisville, L 31-22
Nov. 9: at Virginia Tech, W 24-14
Nov. 16: at Pitt, W 24-20
Nov. 23: vs. The Citadel, W 51-14
Nov. 30: vs. South Carolina, L 17-14
Dec. 7: ACC championship game vs. SMU in Charlotte, 8 p.m. (ABC)
Clemson 2024 depth chart
As of Dec. 2
Offense
QB: Cade Klubnik (Christopher Vizzina)
RB: Phil Mafah (Jay Haynes OR Keith Adams Jr.)
Outside WR: T.J. Moore (Cole Turner)
Slot WR: Antonio Williams (Misun Kelley)
Outside WR: Bryant Wesco Jr. OR Adam Randall (Cole Turner)
TE: Jake Briningstool (Olsen Patt-Henry)
LT: Tristan Leigh (Mason Wade)
LG: Marcus Tate (Harris Sewell)
C: Ryan Linthicum (Harris Sewell)
RG: Walker Parks (Harris Sewell)
RT: Blake Miller (Mason Wade)
Defense
DE: Jahiem Lawson (A.J. Hoffler)
DT: Payton Page (DeMonte Capehart)
DT: Peter Woods (Tré Williams)
DE: T.J. Parker (Cade Denhoff)
Strongside LB: Wade Woodaz (Jamal Anderson)
Middle LB: Wade Woodaz (Sammy Brown OR Dee Crayton)
Weakside LB: Barrett Carter (Sammy Brown OR Dee Crayton)
CB: Avieon Terrell (Ashton Hampton)
SS: Kylon Griffin OR Tyler Venables (Ricardo Jones)
FS: R.J. Mickens (Tyler Venables)
Nickelback: Khalil Barnes (Shelton Lewis)
CB: Jeadyn Lukus OR Ashton Hampton (Branden Strozier)
Special teams
PK: Nolan Hauser (Robert Gunn III)
P: Aidan Swanson (Jack Smith)
KO: Robert Gunn III
LS (PK): Holden Caspersen
LS (P): Philip Florenzo
H: Clay Swinney
PR: Antonio Williams
KOR: Jay Haynes (Phil Mafah)
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
