Win, and you’re in.
That’s the scenario that the Clemson Tigers have to reach their first College Football Playoff appearance since 2020. With how things have shifted over the last couple of weeks, the team is back in control of its destiny for the first time in a month.
The team will face the SMU Mustangs on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, to decide the ACC champion.
Last Saturday was quite a roller coaster of emotions for Clemson (9-3, 7-1 ACC), who saw a loss to in-state rival South Carolina at Memorial Stadium crush the hopes of an at-large bid, with that being the team’s best bet of making the 12-team postseason at the time.
Another orange team came to the rescue in the afternoon games, slotting the Tigers into the championship game. Clemson needed Miami to lose to leap the Hurricanes in the ACC standings, and with a loss to Syracuse last Saturday afternoon, the team will head to Charlotte to remain hopeful for the postseason push.
“Sitting here and dwelling on the loss to South Carolina isn’t going to help us out on Saturday,” linebacker Wade Woodaz said. “Yes, we have to learn from it. We’ve got to look at our mistakes, see where we have messed up, but in the end, we have another shot, so we have to take full advantage of it.”
The team has had success at this stage over the last 10 seasons, winning seven of the last nine ACC Championships. However, this time may be the first time that many expect Clemson to be the underdog entering the game.
It’s the new kids on the block, the SMU Mustangs, who the Tigers will meet at Bank of America Stadium. The Mustangs (11-1, 8-0 ACC) stormed through the conference in their first season in the ACC, staying perfect in conference play by using one of the most high-powered offenses in the country. The team averages 39.2 points per game, fifth in the country and second in the ACC, only behind Miami.
It will be the first time these two teams play each other in program history, and the stakes have never been higher.
The Mustangs rally behind an offense that uses everybody that they can. Eight offensive players have 250 yards or more receiving yards. The starting running back for SMU, Brashard Smith, is third in the ACC with 1,157 rushing yards total. Head coach Rhett Lashlee’s team uses a balanced attack to score points, which has worked well so far this season.
SMU’s signal-caller behind center is sophomore Kevin Jennings, who uses both his legs and arm to orchestrate the Mustangs’ success. The Oak Cliff, Texas, native was not the starter at the beginning of the season but took the reins and has not looked back, brushing off the team’s loss to BYU earlier this year. The team’s loss to the Cougars remains its only loss of the season.
Jennings has tallied 2,746 yards through the air, passing for 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His impact on the ground sets him apart, rushing for 344 yards and four scores.
With the entire ensemble put together, head coach Dabo Swinney believes that his opponent was destined for success, especially with an older squad that has experience.
“They are explosive. They are fast,” Swinney said to the media on Tuesday. “They play with precision. This is an old football team. If you look at their team, they’re all graduates, a very, very old team that’s played a lot of football outside the quarterback.”
The Tigers will need to keep up on offense while continuing to make stops on defense, which haunted them in their loss to South Carolina. The final two minutes saw missed tackles, a rushing touchdown by Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers and, on Clemson’s final drive, an interception thrown by quarterback Cade Klubnik sealed the game in South Carolina’s favor.
Both of these teams are looking for one final win to boost their resume. While SMU holds valuable wins against Pittsburgh and Louisville, the Mustangs do not hold a win from a current top 25 team. The same goes with the Tigers, who have had multiple chances to do so, facing Georgia and South Carolina but falling short in both contests.
A win, and that narrative is thrown out the window.
All of the losses, the setbacks and the agony that occurred throughout the season can all be changed on Saturday night. Records do not matter at this point in the season, as the team has the easiest way of getting to the postseason.
“It doesn’t matter, everybody’s 0-0, whether you’re 9-3 or 12-0,” Swinney said. “Anybody can win it.”
If the Tigers win the ACC Championship, they will hear their name called in the College Football Playoff selection show on Sunday and perhaps receive a first-round bye if the games shake out into the scenarios that they desire. Lose, and they will just miss out on their destination on the final day to do so.
Swinney is very self-aware about what the team needs to do, and he is excited about the opportunity.
“We got to win to have a shot,” he said. “We have to win because that’s kind of what we’ve earned at this point. We’ve earned the opportunity, but you must win the game.”
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ABC.
