Clemson can erase bad month with ACC Championship

The Clemson Tigers will walk into Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night with a wonderful opportunity to make amends for a positively horrible month of football. For Clemson, the beautiful thing about winning the Atlantic Division title and earning a spot in the ACC championship game is that it gives the Tigers a new lease on their football season. Had it ended with last weekends 34-13 loss at arch rival South Carolina, the lingering taste in Death Valley mouths would have been difficult to accept. Ranked No. 5 in the nation just a month ago, Clemson has lost three of its last four games, and the only victory mixed in was a come-from-behind win over a Wake Forest team that finished 6-6 and was blown out by Vanderbilt last weekend. As well as the Tigers played in starting the season 8-0, they are playing poorly over the last month. Well, it started with turnovers, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said, explaining how things derailed. Thats been the biggest thing the last four ballgames. The first eight games we had six turnovers and won eight games. The last four games I believe weve had 12 turnovers now And then weve just not done some of the things well that we were doing well. Were missing some plays, were not protecting quite as well, and theres a combination of things, got a few guys that arent playing quite as well as maybe they played earlier in the season. The Tigers averaged 40.1 points per contest over the first eight games but just 18.5 in the last four. They have a meager two touchdowns in the last two games, and one came in the final minute of a blowout loss at N.C. State against the Wolfpacks third team. Sophomore quarterback Tajh Boyd was intercepted only three times in first eight games but has been picked off seven times in the last four. While there is plenty of blame to go around on offense, as Swinney noted, Boyds numbers are the beginning and ending points when articulating Clemsons struggles. I would say hes not playing with the confidence that he was, Swinney said. I think just the pressure and the sacks, quarterback pressure and the sacks, have been a problem, and then the turnovers. You know, all of those things affect especially a younger player. Hes a first-year starter and everything was going perfect for him, and then all of a sudden hes had some mistakes, and hes got to fight his way through it. Not to make Clemson Nation even more discouraged at the prospects of beating Virginia Tech in Charlotte on Saturday, but Boyds worst completion-rate game came in a 23-3 win in Blacksburg earlier this season. He completed only 13 of 32 pass attempts. That was tailback Andre Ellingtons least productive game, as well. Ellington ran the ball 16 times for 40 yards an average of 2.5 yards per carry. Even still, Ellington averaged 106 yards per game over Clemsons first seven games before getting hurt in the eighth game, a 59-38 victory over North Carolina. Since, however, hes gained a just total of 192 yards. But none of that matters now. Clemson has to find a way to dust itself off and look at this opportunity as a new, one-game season, which is exactly what it is. Just letting the young guys know what were playing for, Tigers tight end Dwayne Allen said when asked how they plan on wiping the slate clean. Thats the first ACC title in 20 years here at Clemson. Thats the opportunity to go and play for a BCS Bowl game, which hasnt been done here in 30 years. So theres a lot on the line with this game. In addition to what Allen said, theres a thing called pride on the line. And given Clemsons play over the last month, that has to be at the top of its priority list. If thats the starting point, a spot in the Orange Bowl is more realistic.