2016 ACC Championship Game

The 2016 ACC Championship Game was the 12th football championship game for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Clemson Tigers defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies, 42–35. The two programs also met five years earlier in the 2011 ACC Championship Game. The ACC Championship Game had been played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2010, but the ACC announced it would move its neutral site championships out of North Carolina for the 2016 season in response to the state's controversial HB2 law.^[2] The 2016 championship game was played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.^[3]

2016 Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game
Clemson Tigers Virginia Tech Hokies (11–1) (9–3) 42 35 Head coach:  Dabo Swinney Head coach:  Justin Fuente AP Coaches CFP 3 3 3 AP Coaches CFP 19 18 23
1 2 3 4 Total Clemson 14 7 14 7 42 Virginia Tech 7 7 7 14 35
Date	December 3, 2016
Season	2016
Stadium	Camping World Stadium
Location	Orlando, Florida
MVP	Deshaun Watson (QB, Clemson)
Favorite	Clemson by 11
Referee	Jeff Flanagan[1]
Attendance	50,623[1]
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC/ESPN Radio
Announcers	Chris Fowler (Play-by-Play), Kirk Herbstreit (Analyst), and Samantha Ponder (Sideline Reporter) (ABC) Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, and Ian Fitzsimmons (ESPN Radio)
ACC Championship Game  < 2015  2017 >

2016 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 1 Clemson xy$#		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 21 Louisville x		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 8 Florida State		5	–	3					10	–	3
NC State		3	–	5					7	–	6
Wake Forest		3	–	5					7	–	6
Boston College		2	–	6					7	–	6
Syracuse		2	–	6					4	–	8
Coastal Division
No. 16 Virginia Tech xy		6	–	2					10	–	4
North Carolina		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 20 Miami (FL)		5	–	3					9	–	4
Pittsburgh		5	–	3					8	–	5
Georgia Tech		4	–	4					9	–	4
Duke		1	–	7					4	–	8
Virginia		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Clemson 42, Virginia Tech 35
# – College Football Playoff champion $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Teams

Clemson Tigers

The Tigers qualified for the game by winning the ACC Atlantic Division with a conference record of 7–1, tied with the Louisville Cardinals, who Clemson beat on October 1, 2016, 42–36.

Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hokies qualified for the game by clinching the ACC Coastal Division following North Carolina's loss at home on November 25, 2016, to NC State, 28–21. The Hokies' conference record was 6–2.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Clemson Va. Tech 1 11:47 9 75 3:13 Clemson Deshaun Watson 3-yard touchdown run, Greg Huegel kick good 7 0 1 5:57 9 83 4:06 Clemson Jordan Leggett 21-yard touchdown reception from Deshaun Watson, Greg Huegel kick good 14 0 1 0:51 12 77 5:06 Va. Tech Travon McMillian 1-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good 14 7 2 11:46 10 75 4:05 Clemson Jordan Leggett 10-yard touchdown reception from Deshaun Watson, Greg Huegel kick good 21 7 2 4:09 5 70 1:58 Va. Tech Jerod Evans 11-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good 21 14 3 9:17 9 89 3:38 Clemson Wayne Gallman 8-yard touchdown run, Greg Huegel kick good 28 14 3 4:45 4 51 1:19 Clemson Deshaun Watson 2-yard touchdown run, Greg Huegel kick good 35 14 3 2:27 5 75 2:18 Va. Tech Travon McMillian 27-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good 35 21 4 11:35 12 65 4:24 Va. Tech Jerod Evans 5-yard touchdown run, Joey Slye kick good 35 28 4 7:33 8 75 4:02 Clemson Hunter Renfrow 15-yard touchdown reception from Deshaun Watson, Greg Huegel kick good 42 28 4 5:43 6 76 1:50 Va. Tech Cam Phillips 26-yard touchdown reception from Jerod Evans, Joey Slye kick good 42 35 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 42 35

Source: ^[1]

Statistics

Statistics[1]	CU	VT
First Downs	29	19
Total Yards	470	386
Rushing Yards	182	102
Passing yards	288	284
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	23-34-1	22-36-2
Time of possession	31:52	28:08

References

1. "ACC Championship: Clemson vs. Virginia Tech". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
2. "ACC football championship game headed to Orlando after move from Charlotte". USA TODAY Sports. USA TODAY. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
3. "Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Set For Orlando". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.