On Tuesday afternoon, the ACC and University of Miami announced kickoff time and television coverage for this year’s ACC Championship game.

Here’s the full release on this announcement from the ACC’s official website

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have announced that the 2017 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game between second-ranked Miami (Coastal Division) and No. 4 Clemson (Atlantic Division) will kick off on ABC in prime time at 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This marks the ninth consecutive year that the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game has been held in prime time, and the fifth consecutive year the game has been televised by ABC in its coveted 8 p.m. time slot. The winner of the conference championship game has gone on to play in the National Championship Game or compete in the College Football Playoff each of the previous four seasons.

The game which will be played on December 2nd will mark the first appearance in the Conference’s Championship game for the Miami Hurricanes. They will face the Clemson Tigers, 3-time defending ACC Coastal Division champions and 2-time defending ACC Conference champions.

Before this game, however, Miami faces Virginia on Senior day (November 18) and Pittsburgh on Black Friday (November 24) to conclude the regular season. The Hurricanes, undefeated at 9-0, look to continue their nation-long 14 game win streak ahead of this clash of titans against the Clemson Tigers.

More on the ACC Championship game as it nears.

Ole Miss and Texas A&M will do their annual thing this Saturday at 6 p.m. CT in Oxford, and according to sports books monitored by Oddsshark, the Rebs are favored slightly at -3. The over/under currently sits at 69.5 total points, and most bettors think this game will achieve the over and that A&M will not only cover but win it outright. Those numbers are all sure to move this way or that as the week progresses.

Ole Miss currently ranks No. 51 overall in Bill C.’s advanced stats profiles enumeration, while the Aggies sit not far behind at No. 57. These teams are closely matched on paper, sure, but they practice fairly different styles of play on either side of the ball, with starkly different levels of success therein.

Now, about that over/under. Bill C. is predicting a score of 34.0-30.2, advantage Ole Miss. That seems keeping in line with Vegas and bettors’ feelings. However, Ole Miss’ defense is currently surrendering nearly 45 points per game, excluding garbage time, and there’s where bettors see the over prevailing on Saturday. A&M is scoring at a rate of 40.1 points per game — good for No. 40 in the S&P+ — while the Rebs are handing in 42.4 per outing.

Where the real difference will undoubtedly be felt is when the Rebs have the ball. The Aggies are allowing 34.4 points per game, 11 fewer than Ole Miss. That’s the wrinkle and difference maker in trying to predict the outcome here, because one essentially must ask the question: Can the Rebel offense maintain its eight-point production advantage over the Aggies’ defensive output? STAY AWAY.

How to watch:

Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss.
When: 6 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
Online streaming: WatchESPN

So, let’s take as given that this betting line is essentially a push. Ole Miss gains a three-point advantage because that’s the traditional upward betting thrust that home teams receive in college football. These posts aren’t betting guides — they are in this circumstance — so much as explainers of “Why the hell is Ole Miss favored against an SEC West opponent?” and the like.

Things will undoubtedly get interesting in a hell of a hurry on Saturday night.

Brian Kelly got in front of the media for the third time since the loss to the Miami-Florida Hurricanes, and had to answer more questions about that game than this upcoming Saturday’s game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Navy Midshipmen.

As much talk as there has been about Notre Dame’s running game coming out of the 41-8 loss to the Canes, it’s Notre Dame’s run defense that springs the most interesting question for me.

It was pointed out that over the past two weeks against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Hurricanes, the Irish allowed 237 and 239 yards rushing – and now they take on the best rushing attack in the country in Navy. How can the Irish improve?

Just we have to have a better attention to detail. Our fits have got to be better. We’ve got to get off blocks. We’ve got to get back to that mentality of dominating those one-on-one matchups. You’ve got to win some matchups. We had guys in position to make plays. We’ve got to simply make the plays.

Look, they ran — their first half running attack was one that we felt really comfortable that we should be more effective with. We’ve simply got to be better in our preparation and coach our guys better, go back and make sure that we’re teaching him the fundamentals so we can make the plays necessary.

So there’s no high science here. There’s nothing that can’t be prepared during practice for us to get back to playing the kind of run defense we need to play, simply stated.

High science. Last Saturday I felt like I was high and doing an odd science experiment with my emotions. *sigh*

The rest of the press conference is in the video below.

The Virginia Tech Hokies suffered their second straight loss on Saturday with a 28-22 defeat at the hands of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Tech, already eliminated from Coastal Division contention after last week’s loss to Miami, was hoping to finish the season strong. Unfortunately, Georgia Tech and the triple option had other ideas.

Now that we’ve had a couple of days to digest this ugly loss, here are five takeaways from Virginia Tech’s loss at Georgia Tech.

Jackson regressing

Freshman quarterback Josh Jackson has started slowly in most of Tech’s games this season. Saturday was no different. It doesn’t help Jackson that most of his receiving options are also young players, too. On Saturday, Jackson didn’t get a lot of help from his receivers, including Cam Phillips.

However, Jackson has struggled at times recently. Whether it’s accuracy or not trusting his protection, Jackson’s play has gotten worse. In his press conference after the game, head coach Justin Fuente hinted at Jackson’s shortcomings without saying as much. Fuente knows what Jackson is. And he’s solid. But what’s his ceiling? Moving forward, Jackson will have his hands full holding off both Herndon Hooker and Quincy Patterson.

Let’s not write Jackson off yet, but recent offensive shortcomings have certainly created cause for concern.

About the offense

The offensive struggles are certainly not all Jackson’s fault. Not even close. This team, outside of Wyatt Teller, struggles to hold their blocks. With left tackle Yosuah Nijman out, their shortcomings are even more glaring. The Hokies can’t consistently run the football which makes Jackson’s job even harder.

As far as the running backs go, there’s no consistency. Travon McMillian is up and down. Why not give more opportunities to Jalen Holston? He carried the ball 10 times on Saturday. Give him a game full of action. It’s time to see which players are ready for larger roles next season. Holston looks like the most complete back on the roster.

As a whole, Tech’s offense finished the game with just 258 total yards. Keep in mind, Georgia Tech’s defense won’t remind anyone of Clemson or Miami’s units. Still, the Hokies could get nothing going.

A lack of playmakers on offense is a major problem. Fuente knows the limitations of this group and on Saturday tried to coach around them and be even more aggressive.

Phillips invisible

After a red-hot start to the season, Phillips has hit a funk. Sure, he’s battled an injury and is always the focus of opposing defenses. Still, the Hokies need more from Phillips. He had just two catches for eight yards and had a critical—and ugly—drop.

If the Hokies are going to win their final games and extend their winning streak over Virginia, the offense must go through Phillips and he must produce, too.

Stop with the Fuente needs to go talk

Sadly, if you hopped on social media Saturday or visited any Tech message boards, you’d see numerous “fans” calling for Fuente’s head. How ludicrous is that? The second-year coach now has a record of 17-7, with two straight losses. Fans are mad about play-calling, and I get that.

But, as mentioned earlier, Fuente realizes what he has on offense. And he knows what this group is capable of, or more importantly, what they aren’t capable of.

Fans want the backup quarterback. Fans always think the backup quarterback is better. If AJ Bush played and made mistakes, fans would be begging for Jackson. And vice versa. That happens to any fanbase.

And Fuente took a lot of uncharacteristic chances on Saturday. Why not? If they work, Tech wins, if not, the Hokies aren’t winning the ACC anyway. So why not be aggressive and go for it all?

Some Virginia Tech fans have delusions that this program is Alabama. It’s not. Do you realize how many programs would love to have Fuente? So, can we officially stop spouting this nonsense?

Defense beaten for big plays

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets finished the game with 401 total yards. However, the Jackets had three plays that totaled 209 yards, two of which were scores, while the other set up a score. Outside of three plays, the Hokies gave up just 192 total yards. GT had 65 total offensive plays, 62 of those plays went for just 192 yards, while three went for 209 yards. Again, let that sink in. It wasn’t a horrible defensive performance, but it’s the same things that continue to beat this team. The Hokies struggle to stop the big plays.

Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall completed just two of eight passes for 140 yards. Both of his completions went for touchdowns. How does that happen?

Outside of one 69-yard run, VT’s defense held Georgia Tech’s running game to less than four yards per attempt. If you told me that before the game I would’ve said the Hokies win this one going away. However, it all goes back to the big plays.

As good as this defense is, a big play is seemingly always around the corner.

The Oklahoma Sooners received their second commitment of the 2020 class on Monday evening, as four-star Colleyville (Texas) Heritage athlete Drew Sanders announced his intention to play college football at the University of Oklahoma.

What position will Sanders play at the next level? Well, that’s not exactly set in stone. If you’re going by Oklahoma’s graphic (seen above), it appears that they see him as a tight end at this point. However, the 6’5”, 210-pound playmaker is also listed as an outside linebacker or even a dual-threat QB by some services. What is obviously apparent is that he has an enormous ceiling as a football player, and his current offer list is evidence of how highly schools already think of him. As only a sophomore in high school, he already has offers from Baylor, Georgia, Oregon and TCU.

Sanders is ranked as the No. 7 overall player in the state of Texas for 2020, and he joins four-star running back Jase McClellan (No. 1 2020 recruit in Texas) as one of two members of Oklahoma’s class. With so many elite 2019 and 2020 prospects already committed, it’s obvious that Riley is taking a very proactive approach to recruiting, and I think that’s certainly an encouraging sign for the future of the program. It’s very early in the process for those guys, but this is at least a great barometer of how things have been going out there on the trail.

The postgame show continued.

Neil Price, in his first year as the radio “Voice of the Bulldogs”, reminded listeners that coach Dan Mullen would appear on the program in a matter of moments. Although he had been calling Bulldog football for just two months, Price witnessed one of the most heartbreaking games in Mississippi State history.

A game against the best team in the United States. A game against a team that State had not beaten in a decade. A game that State won for three quarters. A game in which State had a touchdown lead in the final stanza. A game that State lost in the final 30 seconds.

A 31-24 loss to Alabama.

Mullen showed up to be interviewed. He has been in plenty of these situations before, having to be asked questions about a loss that grabs hold of your heart, rips it out of you, and throws it into a garbage can.

He sounded defeated. Dejected. Desolate. It was the saddest he had ever sounded in his nine years as head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

However, in his depressing tones and quips about drinking “a product made in Lynchburg, Tennessee”, there was a sense of optimism.

He elaborated on the game. He talked about the program. He reminisced to when he arrived in Starkville in December of 2008, inhering a losing program. He mentioned his desire to win a championship at Mississippi State and his dedication to winning a second one, right after winning the first. He admitted we haven’t gotten there yet, but that we were close, and he was convinced that we’ll get there.

Neil Price thanked Mullen for his time. Mullen responded with an emphatic “Hail State”.

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Winning a championship at Mississippi State has always been extremely unlikely. Only twice has it happened, winning the SEC in 1941 and the SEC West in 1998. Other than those instances, State hasn’t come close or have finished within a hair.

In present day, it has been especially difficult with the presence of one of college football’s greatest dynasties, Nick Saban’s Alabama. From 2008-2016, State had averaged 7.7 points per game against the Tide, had scored in double digits only twice, and scored multiple touchdowns once, in 2014. It seemed impossible to conquer that mountain.

That is no longer the case.

Mississippi State entered Davis Wade Stadium this past Saturday with a true belief that they can take down Alabama. They battled in a heavyweight championship boxing match, throwing punches and answering every swing the Tide sent flying. State scored three offensive touchdowns for the first time since the inception of this millennium. They controlled the line of scrimmage and moved the ball at will; an occurrence that had not been witnessed in years. The Bulldog defense was able to wreak havoc on the mighty Crimson Tide. Even Nick Saban, college football’s version of the Terminator who is seemingly infuriated by any sluggish performance his team fields, was “proud as hell” of his guys.

We had them beat.

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Mississippi State lost on Saturday. You can blame it on bad play calling, the officials, or whatever you want. It was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, demoralizing.

However, for the first time in a decade, the Bulldogs matched toe-to-toe with Alabama. It is the one hurdle State has to overcome in order top finally bring a championship back to Starkville.

Dan Mullen has repeatedly and painstakingly promised a championship to Mississippi State fans. It seemed impossible.

However, Saturday proved that it isn’t.

“The offensive line was blocking well last week in the running game. I wouldn’t say we were re-born.”

-Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins, via Bill Landis, Cleveland.com

Despite two games this season where the Ohio State offense has been utterly inconsistent, the offensive line has remained a high-performing unit through 10 games. Saturday, that high level of performance was apparent against a Michigan State defensive line which, previously, had allowed just 87 yards rushing per game, and had not given up a single 100-yard rusher all season. The Buckeyes, led by Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins, dropped 335 yards rushing on the Spartans, scoring four touchdowns in the process, and much of the credit for that performance has to go to the offensive line opening up gaping holes for the running backs.

The line has also played a crucial role in protecting J.T. Barrett, allowing just 15 sacks this season. Last year, the Buckeyes gave up 28 sacks over 13 games. Saturday, the line didn’t give up a single sack, and allowed just two tackles for loss.

Michigan State entered the game as the nation’s third-best rushing defense, but was completely outwitted by the combination of Jamarco Jones, Michael Jordan, Billy Price, Demetrius Knox and Isaiah Prince. The unit paved the way for Dobbins, who went past the 1,000 yard mark Saturday, matching Weber’s status from last season as a 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman.

The offensive line returned four starters heading into the 2017 season, led by center Billy Price. Only Branden Bowen, who was injured against Maryland and who was replaced by Knox, came into the season without a start. Price set a program record with his 51st-straight start Saturday, having started every game since his first game at right guard as a redshirt freshman. Earning first team All-American honors last season, Price was named to the Rimington Award watch list this year as one of the nation’s top centers–an honor taken home by former Ohio State center Pat Elflein last season.

The idea of the Miami Hurricanes football team’s newly emblazoned turnover chain was born just weeks before this season began, when cornerbacks coach Mike Rumph reached out to a local jeweler to see if he could make a rope chain for when players on his defense forced a turnover. Vince Wilfork happened to intervene, and recommended a Cuban link with an enormous “U” pendant. The finished product weighs in at 2.5 kg and is emblazoned with no less than 900 sapphires which make up the pendant. And the chain seems to have worked. Through eight games, Miami has forced 23 turnovers, including four Saturday against Notre Dame.

As it turns out, the Ohio State Buckeyes men’s wrestling team, which kicked off its season last week, has some bling of its own which, in many ways, is akin to the Hurricanes’ turnover chain–at least according to senior wrestler Kyle Snyder. The “pin chain” was referenced by Snyder in a tweet Sunday following the Buckeyes’ home opener versus No. 11 Arizona State, and appears to be a thick chain with a large scarlet and grey “O” pendant at the end. Snyder had just pinned the Sun Devil’s Austyn Harris to win the heavyweight match and cap off Ohio State’s win when the chain was broken out. Like Miami’s chain, Ohio State’s pin chain was designed by an assistant coach as a motivational tool to encourage more pins in matches.

The Buckeyes, who entered the season ranked No. 2 nationally won the opener by a 31-12 overall mark, earning wins on seven of 10 matches. Snyder is widely considered the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the country, and is seeking a third-straight NCAA championship in his senior season in Columbus. The Maryland native made waves when he became the youngest World and Olympic champion in US wrestling history.

“This is one you want to burn, and you don’t want it to be indicative of how you play all the time.”

-Mark Dantonio, via Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press

It seems that all the top teams in the Big Ten have had an inexplicable loss this season that they simply want to forget about: Iowa trampling Ohio State at Kinnick; Penn State collapsing against the Buckeyes; Michigan getting blown out by Penn State (okay, maybe not everyone wants to forget that one). Now, Michigan State can add their own blowout defeat to the list. After clawing their way back into relevancy after losses to Notre Dame and Northwestern, the Spartans found themselves in control of their own destiny in the Big Ten East. All they had to do was beat Ohio State in Columbus in November as heavy underdogs. As dire as the situation sounds, it was one Sparty had been in before, and, on several occasions, come out on top.

Saturday was a different story, though, and Michigan State wound up on the receiving end of a severe beat-down from Ohio State following the Buckeyes’ loss to Iowa the week prior. It was the worst loss of Dantonio’s career at Michigan State, as the Spartans gave up 524 yards of total offense while themselves not even hitting the 200 yard mark.

On offense, the Buckeyes did an outstanding job defensively of outmaneuvering the Michigan State offensive line, pressuring quarterback Brian Lewerke and forcing inaccurate passes while hindering the running game. On the other side of the ball, the Spartan defense couldn’t seem to get lined up against a fast-paced Buckeye offense.

The loss didn’t look any better on tape, according to Dantonio, acknowledging that it was “one you want to burn.” The coach said that “everything seems like a scramble” when things are going against you, but that the team has to be ready to move forward and control what they can control in order to get to eight wins.

STICK TO SPORTS

There are only three college football games tonight.

The first one kicks off at 4 pm PT on ESPN2 when the Temple Owls visit the Cincinnati Bearcats. This game features two bad teams in an AAC matchup that probably just isn’t worth watching. After all, neither team is above .500 at this point in the season, even though a win by Temple would move them to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the AAC.

Once that game is done, ESPN2 will feature a game between the BYU Cougars and the UNLV Rebels. This one is another one worth skipping. In part, that’s because BYU is just 2-8 so far this year. On the other hand, UNLV continues to make progress under Tony Sanchez. The Rebels are 4-5 so far this year and 3-3 in the Mountain West. That’s 1-1/2 games behind Fresno State in the Mountain West’s Western Division.

But, compared to the third game tonight, this one doesn’t compare.

The third game kicks off on Fox Sports 1 at 7:30 pm PT and it features a pair of Pac-12 North foes in the #9 Washington Huskies and the Stanford Cardinal. And, this game could go along way towards deciding what team wins the Pac-12 North, especially if Washington wins. On the other hand, if Stanford wins, it will create a three-way tie in the North between Stanford, Washington, and the Washington State Cougars.

So, while you’re waiting for tonight’s UCLA Basketball game to start in Shanghai, it would definitely be worth checking this game out.

Go Bruins!

“Each team is 7-2 and has one loss in Big Ten play. It would be easy to act like this game’s a toss-up. But it’s a lot likelier that Ohio State wins because the Buckeyes are better at football overall.”

–Alex Kirshner, SB Nation

Despite what the record books say about the past six times Ohio State and Michigan State have squared off, there’s reason to believe that this year’s matchup will break with tradition. Typically, whichever team is on the road leaves with the win, but coming off a big loss to Iowa last week, the Buckeyes will be filled with all sorts of anger when they take the field in Columbus.

Kirshner argues in the article above that Ohio State’s talent simply overrides that of the Mark Dantonio-led team — and Urban Meyer doesn’t lose back-to-back games. It’s rare for Meyer to lose two games in a season (not including the bowl game), but now that we’ve crossed that bridge, here’s hoping his record coming off a loss doesn’t take a hit too.

After a complete shock to the system last week in Iowa, it’s no wonder that fans and pundits are hedging their bet on what opened as a 15.5 point matchup tilting in favor of the Buckeyes. A blowout would be great, but it’d also be silly to doubt Michigan State’s potential — especially with the momentum coming off a big win over Penn State. The Spartans might not be Ohio State’s bitter rival, but as we say — we don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan.

“Urban Meyer freaks out on the sideline and that’s probably not the best way to go about it when dealing with 20 year old kids.”

–James W Snyder, Off Tackle Empire

There have been a lot of comparisons between Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer, but one of the rarer hot takes I’ve come across this season is the comparison between their sideline demeanor. Granted, neither of the two ever really compared to the Brian Kelly’s of the world, but Meyer certainly is more colorful than Tressel was.

That’s not to say that’s a problem though. Meyer isn’t just screaming to scream. He isn’t throwing players under the bus. And sometimes you do need to yell at 19- and 20-year olds to get them to start paying attention.

More so than yelling out of anger, Meyer has to be disappointed in the wasted potential of this year’s Buckeye squad. What started out questionable, turned into a run with serious potential for the College Football Playoff, only for the team to see it squandered by a completely out of sync game with only three weeks to play.

There are a lot of very valid arguments and comparisons to be made between Ohio State teams under Tressel and under Meyer, but their sideline demeanor is not really one of them.

“This particular class represents seven states and some of the very best high school programs in the country. We look forward to getting these men in the Scarlet and Gray next year and following them all this spring as they compete for championships.”

–Ohio State men’s lacrosse head coach Nick Myers, via Ohio State

College basketball’s early signing day may have been earlier this week, but there was another Buckeye squad who picked up a lot of future talent. The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team saw 12 future Buckeyes sign their National Letters of Intent to continue their careers in Columbus.

Of the 12 incoming players, they’ve added four midfielders, three attackmen, two goalies, two defensemen and one face off specialist. Three of the 12 hail from Ohio, Anthony Ameo of Painesville, and Skylar Wahlund and Johnny Wiseman both from Powell. The rest of the class includes: Alec Cerasoli, Matt Clibanoff, Mike Clibanoff, Buchanan Dunavant, Brandon Fisher, T.J. Hendricks, Zach Ludd, George Walsh, and Scott White.

STICK TO SPORTS

After falling to 6-3 last week against Georgia, the Gamecocks return home to begin their final stretch of games. We’ve got predictions for how they’ll do against the Gators tomorrow.

Thomas: If we don’t beat Florida by two touchdowns, something is seriously wrong. We shouldn’t struggle with this team at all. Seriously, if we play down to their level at this point in the year that is nothing but terrible. We play better defense and have an extremely better offense than them. I expect Bentley to cross 300 yards by about halfway through the third, and Michael Scarnecchia will get to play. 38-10 Gamecocks.

Demetri: Watch this be the game where the Gators really rally for Randy Shannon. Ha ha! Just kidding! Florida stinks. Randy Shannon stinks. The two power houses in the Sunshine State are very clearly counting down to the season just being over. Muschamp knows this defense well. The offense has made one great play all season and it was the result of Butch Jones Butch Jonesing all over the place. I am still not in love with the Cocks’ offense, but I think it will get the job done. Carolina 27 Florida 10.

Katie: Predictably, my prediction this week is again that South Carolina will win. Unlike some past weeks, though, I’m pretty confident in this actually happening because Florida is…uh…very ungood. They’re pretty much bad at everything. It’s great. A small part of me fears this will be the game USC loses that they absolutely shouldn’t for this season, but I think the Gators’ overall badness will prevent them from getting out of their own way, even if the Gamecocks don’t look great.

Kody: I’m a little divided on how I feel about this game. I pegged it as the Gamecocks’ best chance for an SEC upset before the season started, and as things stand now, I think it’s an even more winnable matchup. To me, the biggest question is whether USC walks in with inflated egos and plays down to the competition (ala the Kentucky game). I’m not too worried about Florida being fired up and playing for pride, because honestly, that team looks like it has quit in just about every respect, and they seem to want the season to be over already. Nonetheless, Florida always has talent, and the Gamecocks have only had a couple comfortable wins this year. I’ll take USC 24-10 in an ugly one.

Kaci: The Gators are in really rough shape right now (which is very satisfying to me as an ardent Florida hater) and the Gamecocks should be able to win this one. Florida just isn’t really doing anything well right now and they just got blown out by Missouri, which is pretty embarrassing for them. I don’t think Carolina will blow them out because nothing is ever that easy, but I think the Gamecocks will pull off a nice win to finish off SEC play. I’ll say Gamecocks 27-14.