Tigers return to the ACC Title game in 2017 to defend their 2016 ACC Crown against the Hurricanes from Miami and the Coastal side of the conference.
This marking the Hurricanes first ever title game appearance, since joining the ACC in July of 2004. No one thought when the Canes joined the league it would take this long for the much heralded program mired in college football history, with its past going back into the early 80’s, when a more dominate program could not be found anywhere on the college football landscape. Would take as long as it did to reach the Conference Title Game.
Fast forward to 2017 and we find a program that has been mired in mediocrity for almost a decade, and post a few bad coaching hires later ….they find themselves heading in the right direction post the insertion of Miami Alumni and ex Georgia head coach Mark Richt and staff into the lead role in Coral Gables.
Since his arrival, Richt in two season has turned the fortunes 180 degrees and had the Canes ranked as high as 2nd in the Nation in recent weeks and find themselves at #7 going into this Prime time match up on Saturday Night in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.
As far as recruiting goes, Miami has put a lid on its territory as best it can since the Richt arrival . Who has cited an older Miami recruiting method of “locking down south florida” as their mantra as they try to build depth on the roster in Miami.
Clemson has made a living in south Florida in recent years recruiting the likes of Sammy Watkins, Mackenzie Alexander, Adrain Baker, Richard Yeargin and Trayvon Mullen just to name few that in past years would not have made it out of the region.
So this match up will play big in the homes of South Florida recruits and nationwide as the Tigers and Canes will finds themselves on more than one occasion vying for the same prospects and the results of this upcoming Championship contest could weigh heavily in favor of the winning side when recruits are A/B-ing schools .
Stay tuned as the Bug Match up in Charlotte will have repercussions on the recruiting trail down the road in 2018 and 2019 all over the recruiting map.
**** Clemson Commits and Targets predict ACC Championship versus Miami
Xavier Thomas
@atxlete
“I say we dominate their offense and beat them 28-3. Because our defense is such a force will give our offense multiple opportunities to score with a lot of time”
Jake Venables
@_jakevenables
“31-3 Tigers “
“Defense dominates!”
Mike Jones Jr
@_mjones24
“ 38-17 I feel like we shut them down on defense”
Aidan Swanson
@a_swanson39
“33-20 Clemson gets off to fast start”
BT
@btpotter10
“35-10 i feel like our offense is going to continue to show out and our defense is one of the best in the country so we will shut them down.”
Cam’Ron Kelly
@CamRonJKelly
“34-14 clemson”
Josh Belk
@jbelk50
“31-17 I feel like it’s going to be hard taught from both sides. Of course I feel like the tigers are going to come out on top. Those boys work for it everyday. I’ll be in the stands Saturday to witness the victory.”
Brannon Spector
@BrannonSpector
“Clemson-31 – Miami-21 .. it will be a low scoring game but Clemson will pull out with the win!”
