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Clemson 42, Virginia Tech 35—Final

The third-ranked Clemson Tigers survived a late charge from the No. 23 Virginia Tech Hokies to secure a 42-35 win and the 2016 ACC championship.

Deshaun Watson threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns, adding 85 yards and two scores on the ground to help Clemson win its second straight conference title and effectively lock up a place in the College Football Playoff.

Virginia Tech battled back a 21-point deficit and had a potential game-tying drive, but Cordrea Tankersley's second interception of the night and a Watson run ended the Hokies' upset bid.

Bleacher Report provided scoring updates and highlights throughout the championship tilt.</s>ORLANDO, Fla. – Deshaun Watson bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy by passing for three touchdowns and running for two more to lead third-ranked Clemson to a 42-35 victory over No. 19 Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday night.

Winning consecutive league titles for the first time in 28 years likely will send the Tigers (12-1, No. 3 CFP) back to the four-team College Football Playoff for the second straight year, providing Watson with an opportunity to resolve unfinished business from last January, when his team lost to Alabama in the national championship game.

The Clemson star completed 23 of 34 passes for 288 yards, including TDs of 21 and 10 yards to Jordan Leggett and 15 yards to Hunter Renfrow for a 42-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter. He also rushed for 85 yards on 17 attempts for the Tigers. They've won back-to-back ACC titles for the first time since winning three straight from 1986-88.

Watson's Virginia Tech counterpart, Jerod Evans, was just as impressive. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound ran for two touchdowns and rallied the Hokies from a 21-point deficit to make it close at the end.

The Hokies (9-4, No. 23 CFP) scored on three straight possessions, trimming what was once a 35-14 deficit to seven points on Evans' 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter and Cam Phillips' 26-yard TD reception with just under 6 minutes remaining.

Virginia Tech got the ball back with a chance to force overtime. Evans drove his team to the Clemson 23, where the drive stalled when Tigers cornerback Cordrea Tankersley intercepted a pass on fourth-and-6.

Clemson: It's been a year-long quest to get back to the CFP, and the Tigers survived every test with the exception of a 43-42 loss to Pittsburgh in early November – a game in which the Tigers turned the ball over three times but still came within a fourth-and-1 conversion of winning. Watson was overshadowed early in the season, when ACC player of the year Lamar Jackson was posting gaudy statistics for Louisville, however the Clemson quarterback's performance Saturday night added to the sterling resume he's put together for Heisman Trophy consideration .

Virginia Tech: The Coastal Division winners weren't just happy to be in the title game. Coach Justin Fuente and his players were determined to make the most of the Hokies' first appearance in the title game in five years. And for a half, they kept it close, weathering Clemson scoring on its first three possessions to build a 21-7 lead. Even after being outgained 148 yards to minus-14 while falling behind by three TDs in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, Evans rallied his team to make a game of it in the fourth quarter.

Clemson LB Dorian O'Daniel was ejected in the opening quarter after being penalized for targeting on a high hit on Virginia Tech RB Sam Rogers, who was dropped for no gain on a pass reception. The call, along with Terrell Edmunds' 20-yard reception on a fake punt play and a 15-yard pass interference penalty against Tankersley, fueled the Hokies' first scoring drive, a 12-play, 77-yard march that McMillian finished his TD run.

Clemson: Awaits official word on a berth and seeding in the CFP, which begins with the national semifinals on Dec. 31.

Virginia Tech: Will travel to a bowl game hoping to finish its season under Fuente with 10 wins for the first time since 2011. Fuente also would become the first coach in school history to win 10 games in his first season leading the Hokies.</s>Clemson (11-1) takes on Virginia Tech (9-3) at 8 p.m. Saturday in the ACC Championship Game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The game is on ABC.</s> An error caused Arkansas coach Bret Bielema not to vote for Virginia Tech on his final coaches' poll ballot of the regular season, according to a statement from the Razorbacks athletics department.

The Hokies - Arkansas' opponent for the Dec. 29 Belk Bowl - were not listed in the top 25 poll Bielema submitted for Dec. 4. A member of the communications department in charge of sending Bielema's ballot inadvertently omitted Virginia Tech from the top 25, according to a statement.

"After watching last night's ACC Championship Game, Coach Bielema indicated he wanted to move Virginia Tech up from its No. 17 position in the poll he submitted last week into the top 15 this week," the statement read. "Neither our communications director nor Coach Bielema were aware of the oversight until tonight’s press conference. Coach Bielema takes great pride in being part of the coaches’ poll and thoroughly goes over the national results every week before developing his vote.

"The Arkansas Razorbacks sincerely apologize to the Virginia Tech football program and the coaches’ poll for the mistake in submitting that vote this week."

During a news conference previewing the bowl on Sunday, Bielema was asked why he didn't vote for Virginia Tech.

"They're in there," Bielema said. "If (they aren't) then we need to file a grievance because I have them ranked."

The Hokies (9-4) are ranked 19th in the coaches' poll following a loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. Virginia Tech is No. 18 in the AP Top 25 and No. 22 in the College Football Playoff poll.</s> Arkansas essentially played in a home game when it beat Kansas State last season in the Liberty Bowl.

The Razorbacks likely will be playing in a hostile environment this time around.

Arkansas is scheduled to play Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 29 in Charlotte, N.C. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN.

Charlotte is a more than 900-mile drive from Arkansas' campus in Fayetteville, as opposed to less than 175 miles from Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg, Va. The Hokies are expected to sell several-thousand tickets to the game at the 75,412-seat Bank of America Stadium.

Virginia Tech fans accounted for about half of the more than 156,000 in attendance for a first of its kind game against Tennessee earlier this year at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Virginia Tech first-year coach Justin Fuente has improved the Hokies' win total by two over last season.

Here are five things to watch in this year's Belk Bowl:

Improved Pass Game: Fuente has developed a reputation as a quarterback guru, working with future NFL starters Andy Dalton at TCU and Paxton Lynch at Memphis. Fuente has had similar success in his first year with the Hokies as junior college transfer Jerod Evans has transformed into one of the nation's best passers. Evans (6-3, 238 pounds) ranks among the NCAA top 20 in multiple statistical categories this season after passing for 3,309 yards, 27 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Evans has college football's 16th-highest passer efficiency rating this season.

Strong Defense: Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster has long been considered one of the nation's best assistant coaches, evidenced by his Broyles Award win in 2006. Fuente retained Foster from Frank Beamer's staff and the Hokies' defense has remained strong. Virginia Tech ranks 19th nationally in total defense (342.8 yards per game) and 13th in pass defense efficiency. The Hokies are also ninth nationally in tackles for loss (7.9 per game), led by Woody Baron who averages 1.3 per game.

Good Kicking Game: Virginia Tech's Joey Slye is one of the nation's most accurate kickers. The junior has made 20 of 26 field goal attempts and 53 of 54 extra-point attempts this season. After making 13 of 19 kicks of 40 yards or longer last season, Slye has struggled with long kicks this year, connecting on just 1 of 6 attempts from 40 yards or more. Slye has 68 touchbacks on 87 kickoffs this year.

Turnover Prone: Only 14 teams in college football have more turnovers this season than the Hokies. Virginia Tech committed 24 turnovers - 17 interceptions and seven lost fumbles - in 13 games.

Bowl Tradition: Virginia Tech is playing in a bowl game for the 24th consecutive season, which is the second-longest streak in college football behind Florida State (35). The Hokies are 11-12 in the postseason during that span, including 2-3 vs. SEC teams.</s>Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson added another team record to his résumé on Saturday in the ACC Championship game.

The Heisman Trophy candidate completed his first 10 passes against Virginia Tech after completing his final nine against South Carolina. The 19 consecutive completions is a Clemson record, breaking Nealon Greene’s record of 17 from 1997. Green completed his last 13 passes against Virginia and first four against Maryland.

Watson entered the game as the hottest quarterback in the country.

In the month of November, he passed for 1,298 yards and 12 touchdowns while completing 75.5 percent of his passes.

Tigers starting linebacker Dorian O’Daniel was ejected from the game in the first quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Virginia Tech fullback Sam Rogers.

The ejection was the first of the year for Clemson. Fellow linebacker Ben Boulware was called for targeting against Boston College, but after replay the call was overturned.

O’Daniel was replaced in the lineup by Jalen Williams. Williams made four tackles in the first half with a tackle for loss and pass breakup.

No one was sure what the crowd for the ACC title game would be like after the game was moved from Charlotte to Orlando, but Clemson fans provided a home-field advantage for the Tigers, despite having to travel to the Sunshine State.

A report from USA Today on Friday afternoon stated that “tens of thousands of free ticket vouchers went out to Disney employees” as the ACC tried to fill up the stadium. But the bottom two levels of the Clemson side of Camping World Stadium were packed, and several thousand Tigers fans were in the upper deck. Clemson had an obvious advantage in terms of the crowd.

Virginia Tech’s first touchdown drive was aided by coach Justin Fuente digging deep into his playbook.

With the Hokies facing a fourth-and-10 late in the first quarter, punter Mitchell Ludwig found Terrell Edmunds for a 20-yard gain on a flip pass that was caught behind the line of scrimmage.

Virginia Tech was flagged for having ineligible receivers down field, but after review it was determined the pass was caught behind the line of scrimmage, so the offensive linemen were allowed to be downfield.

On the next play, Rogers attempted a pass to Isaiah Ford and the Hokies got 15 more yards on a pass interference call.

Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett had three catches for 44 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. In the process, the senior passed Dwayne Allen for the single-season receiving yardage record by a Clemson tight end. As of halftime, Leggett had 632 receiving yards on the year. He is the first Clemson tight end to top 600 receiving yards in a season.

Tigers running back C.J. Fuller had a career-long 27-yard run in the first quarter.</s>Clemson players and coaches have said throughout the 2016 season that this year feels completely different from 2015, but with 13 games complete the Tigers are back in a familiar place.

No. 3 Clemson (12-1, 7-1) topped Virginia Tech (9-4, 6-2) 42-35 Saturday night in the ACC Championship game to clinch its second consecutive ACC title and second consecutive College Football Playoff berth.

The Tigers held off a furious Virginia Tech rally from down 21 points late in the third quarter to win back-to-back ACC titles for the first time in 28 years.

“I’m so proud of our guys. We certainly made some mistakes and things like that, but we had some huge drives,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “It’s been 28 years since we’ve been back-to-back champions and we wanted to change that tonight and we got that done.”

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was named the game’s MVP for the second straight year after accounting for 373 total yards and five touchdowns. He likely locked up another invitation to New York for the Heisman ceremony in the process.

Watson passed for 288 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 85 yards and two scores. His only turnover came on an interception on a tipped pass.

Watson and the Tigers appeared to have the game in hand leading 35-14 late in the third quarter before the Hokies stormed back.

Virginia Tech cut the lead to 42-35 with 5:43 remaining and got the ball back with four minutes left down a score but drove to the Clemson 25 before Cordrea Tankersley’s second interception of the game wrapped up the win.

The Hokies had three straight touchdown drives with minimal resistance before Clemson’s defense got a stop when it needed it the most.

Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett caught a pair of first-half touchdowns and finished with four catches for 49 yards. He has 637 yards on the year, which is a Clemson record for a tight end.

Tigers receiver Hunter Renfrow caught only two passes but they were big ones.

With Clemson leading 35-28 midway through the fourth quarter, the Tigers were facing a second-and-19 when Watson found Renfrow over the middle for a diving grab.

Later in the drive, Watson found Renfrow for a 15-yard touchdown catch on a run-pass option where Renfrow did most of his damage after the catch.

Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans kept the Hokies in the game with 264 passing yards and a touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.

His favorite target was Cam Phillips, who caught 12 passes for 92 yards and the score.

Kendall Joseph led Clemson in tackles with 11, while fellow linebacker Ben Boulware added 10. Clemson’s third starting linebacker, Dorian O’Daniel, was ejected from the game in the first quarter for targeting.

Clemson will find out its playoff destination and opponent during the College Football Playoff selection show Sunday afternoon.

“We’re proud that we’re 12-1. We’ve earned an opportunity to go play in the playoff,” Swinney said. “I think we’ve got a heck of a football team. We’re going to be a tough out for somebody.”</s> Arkansas will play Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 in Charlotte, N.C.

Belk Bowl executive director Will Webb told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier this week that the Razorbacks were a strong candidate to play in the game.

"We're very much looking at Arkansas and we're very intrigued by the brand, the ratings they could bring and Arkansas' fan travel," Webb said Friday when asked about the Belk Bowl's interest in the Razorbacks.

The No. 22 Hokies (9-4) were the ACC runner-up this season after losing 42-35 to Clemson on Saturday in the ACC Championship Game. Virginia Tech won five of its final six games in the regular season.

Arkansas has never played Virginia Tech. Both teams are making their first appearance in the Belk Bowl.

The Razorbacks have never played a football game in the state of North Carolina.
Clemson defeats Virginia Tech, 42-35, to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.