2022 Subway ACC Football Championship Game
#9 Clemson 39, #23 North Carolina 10
Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte, N.C.
Dec. 3, 2022
- With Saturday night’s 39-10 win over No. 23 North Carolina, ninth-ranked Clemson claimed its 21st ACC football championship and its seventh in the past eight seasons. It is the Tigers’ eighth overall ACC title under 15th-year head coach Dabo Swinney.
- Clemson’s 21 ACC titles are the most in ACC history. Florida State is next with 15.
- With the ACC Championship. Clemson (11-2) earned a berth in the Orange Bowl and posted its 11th 11-win season in program history, joining the 1948, 1978, 1981, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. It is Clemson's eighth season of 11-plus wins under Swinney.
- Clemson now owns 27 total conference titles all-time, with four SIAA titles and two Southern Conference championships preceding the formation of the ACC. Clemson’s 27 championships across four conferences are the most of any current or former ACC member.
- Swinney’s eight conference championships as the Tigers’ head coach ties the legendary Frank Howard for the most in Clemson history. Howard also led the Tigers to eight titles, including six ACC championships.
- Clemson has now won a postseason game (conference championship, bowl game and/or national championship game) in 12 consecutive seasons. That is the longest streak on record dating back to 1980, according to Stats Perform.
- Clemson improved to 8-1 all-time in ACC Football Championship Games. The Tar Heels slipped to 0-2, with the previous loss also coming against the Tigers in 2015.
- Freshman QB Cade Klubnik, who entered the game on Clemson’s third series, was voted the recipient of the John D. Swofford MVP award. Klubnik completed his first 10 pass attempts of the game and finished the first half 10-of-11 for 149 yards. He finished the game 20-for-24 for 279 yards with one TD. He became the first true freshman to earn the game's MVP award.
- Klubnik’s first-quarter touchdown pass to Davis Allen was the second scoring strike of his collegiate career and his first since a 3-yard TD pass to Will Taylor in the Tigers’ 41-10 season-opening win over Georgia Tech on Sept. 5.
- Klubnik made his first college reception later in the opening period, a 19-yarder from running back Phil Mafah that set up Clemson’s second touchdown of the game. He later scored his first collegiate rushing touchdown on a 1-yard keeper that put the Tigers up 21-7 with 6:02 remaining in the first half.
- The 52-yard field goal by Clemson kicker B.T. Potter to close the first half was the longest in the history of the Subway ACC Football Championship Game, breaking the previous mark of 51 yards set by Notre Dame’s Jonathan Doerer in 2020. It also matched the longest field goal of Potter’s career and made him the first player in ACC history to score at least 100 points in four different seasons.
- The 98-yard interception return by Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins for a third-quarter touchdown was the longest in Subway ACC Football Championship Game history, bettering the 73-yard return by Pitt’s A.J. Woods last year versus Wake Forest. Wiggins also blocked a field goal and broke up two passes in the end zone in Saturday night’s game.
- With his three quarterback sacks in Saturday night’s game, Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. set a Subway ACC Football Championship game record. Three players shared the previous record of two sacks.
- With three receptions for 101 yards, Clemson freshman Cole Turner became the first Tiger this season to eclipse the century mark in receiving yardage.
- UNC junior Josh Downs had 11 receptions for 100 yards and became the third receiver in UNC history with at least 200 career receptions (now 202). He trails only Ryan Switzer (244) and Quinshad Davis (205).
- Downs’ 11 receptions on Saturday night were the third-most in the history of the ACC Subway Championship Game.
- With 268 yards passing on Saturday night, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye set the ACC record for single-season passing yards by a freshman with 4,115 yards. Maye surpassed the previous record of 4,057 yards set by Florida State’s Jameis Winston in 2013.
- Maye’s 4,115 passing yards are the eighth-highest single-season total of any player in ACC history regardless of class, and his 4,768 yards of total offense are the fifth-most in a single season.
- UNC will carry a 9-4 overall record into its bowl game.