Four different Clemson players completed passes Saturday night, with sixth-year QB and former five-star prospect Hunter Johnson getting into the game midway through the fourth quarter.Ĭole Turner became the first Clemson receiver to notch a 100-yard receiving game this season, as he caught three passes for 101 yards. Cade Klubnik finished 20-of-24 and amassed two total touchdowns and 328 yards from scrimmage as a passer, rusher and receiver. This game was over shortly after halftime, as the Tigers dominated in all three phases, winning the turnover battle 3-0 and blocking a field goal attempt. The win also officially closes the door on the Coastal division, and divisions in general, as the ACC will do away with the format for next season. In fact, one could say the Big Ten could really take a lesson from the Bayou Bengals in how to set the tone for a season.Clemson restores order in the ACC by beating North Carolina 39-10 to capture its seventh ACC title in the past eight seasons. Penn State to be more of the norm, rather than a special treat for Big Ten fans. However, it sure wouldn't hurt for the likes of Wisconsin vs. I'm not suggesting that every school go out there and find a BCS school to schedule week one of the season, that's simply unrealistic given the differing nature of what teams across the conference need in their scheduling, along with realistic expectations of a limited amount of available dates for these games to happen in. Why not open the season more often with a game that will grab fan interest right away and put your conference in the spot light instead of on the back burner while everyone else is at the party? Is it too much to ask that they play closer to 35 or 40 percent against fellow BCS conference schools? Big Ten teams have taken on fellow BCS conference schools just 20.8 percent of the time in the past decade. FCS foes have been the sacrificial lambs just 29 times to come in second, while matchups against fellow BCS conference schools have happened just 25 times. In total the Big Ten has taken on the MAC more than any other conference or group of opponents to open the season and it's not even close. Only one of those opening weekend games came against a ranked MAC opponent and it was a Purdue loss back in 2003. Over the past decade of action, the Big Ten took on 40 foes from the MAC from 2003 to 2012, going an impressive, yet uninspiring 36-4, as a conference against their Midwestern neighbors. That picture is more gloomy to the hopes of changing things up. If looking forward is bleak, you should try looking back. One thing that is immediately true is that despite the increase in competition with names like Oregon, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma and TCU on conference teams' schedules, virtually none of these games come on opening weekend. Over the summer, we heard a lot of lip service about the Big Ten wanting to up its strength of schedule for the new college football playoff, but only time will tell if words match actions on the whole as a conference. Northern Illinois and that's thanks to the Huskies' trip to the Orange Bowl last season more than anything Iowa brings to the game. The only real intriguing matchup happens to be Iowa vs. That's a pathetic excuse for opening day games right there. But this is 2013 and, in the here and now, fans of Big Ten teams can expect the annual feast on MAC teams to continue.įive teams face MAC opponents this weekend as Iowa hosts Northern Illinois, Ohio State takes on Buffalo, Central Michigan visits Michigan, Western Michigan goes to Michigan State and UMass visits Wisconsin. Thankfully, some schools are starting to realize the weakness of their opening schedules and, beginning in 2016, we are likely to see a massive increase in better games.
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