Clemson Tigers at North Carolina Tar Heels Betting Preview
The ACC Championship will be on the line Saturday night as the No. 10 Clemson Tigers (10-2) take on the No. 24 North Carolina Tar Heels (9-3). This game will be played at the Bank of America Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 pm ET.
The Tigers won the ACC Atlantic easily, finishing with a conference record of 8-0. Still, they come into this game off of a loss as they were defeated by No. 20 South Carolina last weekend 31-30. In the loss, Clemson’s quarterback DJ Uiagalelei threw for just 99 yards, one touchdown, and an interception.
With a 6-2 conference record, the Tar Heels were able to just edge out both Pittsburgh and Duke, who each had a 5-3 record. North Carolina has lost back-to-back games, including a 30-27 double overtime loss last week at home to NC State. In the loss, Drake Maye both threw and rushed for a touchdown, amassing 233 passing yards while also throwing an interception.
Clemson comes in as the favorite in this one. They are -300 to win, while the Tar Heels’ moneyline sits at +240. The spread features North Carolina at +7.5 (-110), and the over/under for total points is 63.5.
Clemson Looking To Get Back On Top
Last season, the Tigers’ streak of six straight years as ACC champions came to an end, but they are looking to start a new streak as they take on the Tar Heels Saturday night.
Clemson currently ranks 22nd in the nation in scoring, averaging 34.3 points per game. They are led by junior quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. This season, he has thrown for 2,511 yards, 22 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Unfortunately for the Tigers, he has thrown an interception in five straight games.
Uiagalelei is also the second-leading rusher with 545 yards and another seven scores.
The leading rusher for Clemson is sophomore Will Shipley. He has rushed 186 times for 1,092 yards (5.9 yards per carry). To date, he has 14 rushing touchdowns. He has another 30 receptions for 195 yards through the air.
Defensively, Clemson ranks 27th in the nation, allowing opponents just 21.7 points per game. Their defense is led by Jeremiah Trotter Jr (71 tackles), Myles Murphy (6.5 sacks), and R.J. Mickens (three interceptions).
Tar Heels Look To Air It Out Saturday Night
On the season, North Carolina has had one of the best passing attacks in the nation. In fact, coming into this game, they rank sixth in the nation, averaging 323.4 passing yards per game.
This success is in large part to freshman phenom Drake Maye. He has already set a single-season record in school history with 3,847 yards. He also has 35 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
With that said, he has slowed down a bit as of late. After passing for at least 280 yards in his first ten games, he hasn’t even eclipsed 235 yards in his last two. In the two losses, he has only thrown one touchdown versus two interceptions. Needless to say, how he goes is how the Tar Heels go.
Maye’s favorite targets to date have been wide receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green. For Downs, he leads the team with 83 receptions, 929 yards, and 11 interceptions. Green is second in all of those categories with 38 receptions, 745 yards, and seven scores.
Take North Carolina And The Points
It has been a rough couple of weeks for North Carolina’s Drake Maye, but his track record thus far has shown that he is better than those two games.
On paper, Clemson does have the edge, both in the rushing attack and on defense, but if Maye can show even a glimmer of the player he was just a few weeks ago, the Tar Heels have a good shot of sticking around in this one.
It might be a lot to think North Carolina pulls off the upset, but there is a lot of value in taking them and the points.
Take North Carolina +7.5 (-110).
