2017 ACC Championship Game

The 2017 ACC Championship Game was played on December 2, 2017. It was the 13th annual ACC Football Conference Championship Game to determine the 2017 champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The game was held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and featured the Clemson Tigers and the Miami Hurricanes. Clemson won the game, 38-3.

2017 Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game
Conference Championship
Miami Hurricanes Clemson Tigers (10–1) (11–1) 3 38 Head coach:  Mark Richt Head coach:  Dabo Swinney AP Coaches CFP 7 7 7 AP Coaches CFP 1 1 1
1 2 3 4 Total Miami 0 0 0 3 3 Clemson 14 7 17 0 38
Date	December 2, 2017
Season	2017
Stadium	Bank of America Stadium[1]
Location	Charlotte, NC
MVP	Kelly Bryant (QB, Clemson)
Favorite	Clemson by 12 [2]
Referee	Jeff Flanagan
Attendance	74,372
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC/ESPN Radio
Announcers	Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria Taylor, and Tom Rinaldi (ABC) Bill Rosinski and David Norrie (ESPN Radio)
ACC Championship Game  < 2016  2018 >

2017 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 4 Clemson xy$^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 23 NC State		6	–	2					9	–	4
Boston College		4	–	4					7	–	6
Louisville		4	–	4					8	–	5
Wake Forest		4	–	4					8	–	5
Florida State		3	–	5					7	–	6
Syracuse		2	–	6					4	–	8
Coastal Division
No. 13 Miami (FL) xy		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 24 Virginia Tech		5	–	3					9	–	4
Georgia Tech		4	–	4					5	–	6
Duke		3	–	5					7	–	6
Pittsburgh		3	–	5					5	–	7
Virginia		3	–	5					6	–	7
North Carolina		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: Clemson 38, Miami 3
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

History

The 2017 Championship Game was the 13th in the Atlantic Coast Conference's 65-year history. Last season, the ACC Championship Game featured the Clemson Tigers, champions of the Atlantic Division, and the Virginia Tech Hokies, champions of the Coastal Division. Clemson won the game 42–35, and went on to win the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship.

Site selection

The championship game had been hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina from 2010 to 2015, and had been slated to host through at least 2019.^[3] However, in response to North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (HB2), the ACC voted in September 2016 to move the 2016 championship out of North Carolina.^[4] Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida was chosen as a replacement site for the 2016 game. ACC Commissioner John Swofford delayed the decision on where to hold the 2017 football Championship Game due to the ongoing controversy.^[5][6] On April 19, 2017, the ACC announced that the football championship game and other neutral site conference events would return to Charlotte in 2017.^[1]

Teams

#7 Miami Hurricanes

Main article: 2017 Miami Hurricanes football team

Miami secured its spot in the game by winning the Coastal Division. This was the first ACC divisional title and first appearance in the ACC Championship Game for the Hurricanes.^[7]

#1 Clemson Tigers

Main article: 2017 Clemson Tigers football team

Clemson qualified for the game by winning the Atlantic Division with a 7–1 record. Their only loss was to Syracuse, while the Tigers defeated: Louisville, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, NC State, and Florida State. This is the Tiger's third straight appearance in the ACC Championship game.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Miami Clemson 1 10:36 10 68 4:24 Clemson Travis Etienne 4-yard touchdown run, Alex Spence kick good 0 7 1 3:02 7 71 3:07 Clemson Kelly Bryant 11-yard touchdown run, Alex Spence kick good 0 14 2 12:49 9 41 3:46 Clemson Adam Choice 1-yard touchdown run, Alex Spence kick good 0 21 3 10:14 6 16 2:36 Clemson 46-yard field goal by Alex Spence 0 24 3 3:13 6 43 3:13 Clemson Tavien Feaster 11-yard touchdown run, Alex Spence kick good 0 31 3 1:01 2 13 0:55 Clemson Deon Cain 27-yard touchdown reception from Kelly Bryant, Alex Spence kick good 0 38 4 3:29 9 54 4:05 Miami 22-yard field goal by Michael Badgley 3 38 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 3 38

Source: ^[8]

Statistics

Statistics[8]	MIA	CU
First Downs	10	18
Total Yards	214	331
Rushing Yards	104	77
Passing yards	110	254
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	14-29–2	25-34-0
Time of possession	25:54	34:06

References

1. "ACC football championship back in Charlotte". WCNC.com. WCNC-TV. April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
2. "Miami-FL Hurricanes vs Clemson Tigers". Odds Shark. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
3. "ACC, Charlotte look ahead to even better things". theacc.com. February 28, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
4. "'Historically bad:' ACC pulls championships from NC". WRAL.com. September 14, 2016.
5. McGuire, Kevin (January 8, 2017). "No decision on where 2017 ACC Championship Game will be played yet". NBCSports.com. NBC Universal. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
6. Brenner, Aaron (January 8, 2017). "Swofford discusses ACC title events in NC, Wakeyleaks consequences". postandcourier.com. Post and Courier. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
7. Cabrera Chirinos, Christy (November 12, 2017). "With Coastal Division clinched, Hurricanes have eyes set on new goal: the College Football Playoff". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
8. "Miami vs Clemson (Dec 02,2017)". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University Athletic Department. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.