Clemson vs. UNC football ACC title game kickoff time, odds, stream, radio, weather

Clemson is going to miss a second consecutive College Football Playoff. But coach Dabo Swinney’s program still has two major goals lingering.

Win the conference.

Win the closer.

The Tigers can accomplish the former on Saturday night when they play coach Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2022 ACC championship in Charlotte.

Here’s your gameday guide.

2022 ACC football championship game, TV info

Who: No. 9 Clemson (10-2, 8-0 ACC) vs. No. 23 UNC (9-3, 6-2 ACC)

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte

TV: ABC

Broadcast crew: Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Molly McGrath

Stream: Via ESPN or the ESPN app

Local radio: 105.5 FM in the Clemson area (see all Clemson radio affiliates here)

Satellite radio: SiriusXM 137/193, Internet 955

ESPN radio: Sean Kelley, Tom Ramsey, Kelsey Riggs

Series history: Clemson leads 38-19-1 and has won last four meetings

Clemson vs. UNC odds

Clemson is a 7.5-point betting favorite against UNC, according to the VegasInsider consensus line. The line opened somewhere in the seven- to eight-point range in most sportsbooks Sunday and has seen very little movement since.

Bettors, so far, like the Tar Heels’ chances of covering that point spread. UNC has 59% of the bets and 70% of the money on bets against the spread, meaning a majority of gamblers think North Carolina will stay within a touchdown of Clemson or beat the Tigers straight up.

Weather forecast for Charlotte, NC

The Saturday night forecast for Charlotte, per Weather.com: Mainly cloudy with game temps in the 50s and 5 to 10 mph winds. There’s an 8% chance of rain.

Top storylines for the game

• This an ACC championship game making history for the wrong reasons. Two weeks ago, Clemson and UNC both had 9-1 records and were ranked No. 9 and No. 13, respectively, in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s top 25 rankings. That set the stage for Clemson to potentially sneak back into the CFP as a one-loss conference champion. Or for UNC, high-flying but lacking the sheer strength of record of other conference champions, to score its highest CFP ranking ever with a Clemson win. Alas, UNC dropped consecutive home games to unranked Georgia Tech and N.C. State, and Clemson lost its regular-season finale to unranked South Carolina. An Orange Bowl bid is still up for grabs, but this is going to be the first time since 2012 that both of the participants in a Power Five conference championship game are coming off a loss.

• Still, Saturday night’s game is high on dramatics. Clemson, the ACC standard bearer, is going for a seventh league title in eight seasons and has a defensive front seven loaded with NFL talent. UNC has one of the country’s best offenses and quarterback Drake Maye, a likely Heisman finalist. These programs’ last two meetings — in the 2015 ACC championship game and the 2019 regular season – were two instant classics. No TV executive is going to complain about a primetime meeting between two of the conference’s original founding members and most recognizable brands as compared to last year’s Wake Forest-Pittsburgh game. Plus, this is the last ACC championship game featuring the winners of the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions … though the percentage of fans who actually know or care about that tells why a shift to divisionless football, starting in 2023, is probably a smart move.

• Twelve games and ten wins into the season, coach Dabo Swinney is still leaving the door open at quarterback. That tells you about all you need to know about Clemson’s season-long journey at the position. Junior quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has started every game and, at times, played at an elite level — see: Wake Forest — but he’s also gotten benched for true freshman backup Cade Klubnik twice in the last five games. Notably, Uiagalelei took every snap in a 31-30 loss to South Carolina despite setting career lows in completion percentage and passer rating in the contest. He’ll once again trot out as the starter against UNC, but he will have “no room for error,” Swinney said. As in: A few bad series, and it may be Klubnik time much earlier in the ACC championship game.

• Everyone’s banged up in some form or fashion come December, but here’s what you need to know on the Clemson front injury-wise. Starting wide receiver Beaux Collins is out for the year after re-injuring his shoulder against South Carolina. Starting left guard Marcus Tate (knee) and reserve defensive back Malcolm Greene (groin) had season-ending surgeries earlier this month. Three other rotational guys — safety Tyler Venables (hamstring), cornerback Fred Davis (ankle) and punt returner Will Taylor (knee) — have been out for an extended period and weren’t listed on Monday’s depth chart. UNC’s mainly hurting in the secondary, where cornerback Storm Duck (upper body), cornerback Tony Grimes (lower body) and safety Cam’Ron Kelly (lower body) are all being evaluated during the week and questionable for the Clemson game.

Clemson vs. UNC players to watch

• Clemson RB Will Shipley: It’s a homecoming for the Tigers’ most consistent offensive player. Shipley won numerous state championships in football, lacrosse and track at Weddington High School before arriving at Clemson as a five-star recruit. The all-conference sophomore has 1,092 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns this year.

• Clemson LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.: Trotter is one of three standouts at this position for Clemson (Trenton Simpson, Barrett Carter) but playing the best as of late. The sophomore had nine tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, a pass breakup and a 35-yard interception return touchdown against South Carolina.

• UNC QB Drake Maye: It’s been an unforgettable season for the redshirt freshman who, like Shipley, played his high school ball in the Charlotte area at Myers Park. Maye leads the nation in total offense with 373 yards per game and is tenth in pass efficiency. He is also third among Power Five quarterbacks with 41 total touchdowns and leads UNC in rushing yards (629). Not bad for a first-year starter.

• UNC LB Cedric Gray: The junior has been a tackling machine for a UNC defense that started porous (remember App State?) but has tightened up as of late. Gray, a first-team All ACC pick, leads the Power Five with 130 tackles and 10.8 tackles per game.

Clemson depth chart vs. North Carolina

Offense

• QB: DJ Uiagalelei (Cade Klubnik)

• RB: Will Shipley (Phil Mafah or Kobe Pace)

• Outside WR: Joseph Ngata (Adam Randall)

• Outside WR: E.J. Williams OR Brannon Spector

• Slot WR: Antonio Williams (Drew Swinney)

• TE: Davis Allen (Luke Price)

• TE: Jake Briningstool (Sage Ennis)

• LT: Jordan McFadden (Tristan Leigh)

• LG: Mitchell Mayes (Collin Sadler)

• C: Will Putnam (Trent Howard OR Ryan Linthicum)

• RG: Walker Parks (Bryn Tucker)

• RT: Blake Miller (John Williams)

Defense

• DE: K.J. Henry (Kevin Swint)

• DT: Bryan Bresee OR Ruke Orhorhoro

• DT: Tyler Davis OR Ruke Orhorhoro

• DE: Myles Murphy OR Justin Mascoll

• SLB/NB: Trenton Simpson (Wade Woodaz)

• MLB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. OR Keith Maguire

• WLB: Barrett Carter (LaVonta Bentley)

• CB: Sheridan Jones OR Andrew Mukuba (Toriano Pride Jr.)

• CB: Nate Wiggins OR Andrew Mukuba

• SS: Andrew Mukuba (R.J. Mickens)

• FS: Jalyn Phillips (Sherrod Covil Jr.)

Special teams

• PK: B.T. Potter (Robert Gunn III)

• P: Aidan Swanson (B.T. Potter)

• KO: B.T. Potter (Robert Gunn III)

• LS (PK): Philip Florenzo (Holden Caspersen)

• LS (P): Holden Caspersen (Philip Florenzo)

• H: Drew Swinney

• PR: Antonio Williams

• KOR: Will Shipley

North Carolina depth chart vs. Clemson

Offense

• QB: Drake Maye (Jacolby Criswell)

• RB: Elijah Green (Omarion Hampton)

• WR: Antoine Green (Gavin Blackwell)

• WR Josh Downs (Kobe Paysour)

• WR: J.J. Jones (Andre Greene Jr.)

• TE: Kamari Morales OR John Copenhaver (Bryson Nesbit)

• LT: Asim Richards (Trevyon Green)

• LG: Ed Montilus (Cayden Baker)

• C: Corey Gaynor (Brian Anderson)

• RG: William Barnes (Jonathan Adorno)

• RT: Spencer Rolland (Zach Rice)

Defense

• Nose: Kevin Hester Jr. (Travis Shaw OR Keeshawn Silver)

• Tech: Myles Murphy (Jahvaree Ritzie)

• Power End: Kaimon Rucker (Jacolbe Cowan)

• Jack: Chris Collins (Malaki Hamrick)

• MLB: Power Echols (Deuce Caldwell)

• WLB: Cedric Gray (RaRa Dillworth)

• CB: Tony Grimes (Marcus Allen)

• CB: Storm Duck (Lejond Cavazos)

• Boundary Safety: Gio Biggers (Don Chapman)

• Field Safety: Cam’Ron Kelly (Will Hardy)

• Star: DeAndre Boykins (Dae Dae Hollins)

Special teams

• PK: Noah Burnette

• KO: Noah Burnette

• P: Ben Kiernan (Cole Maynard)

• SS: Spencer Triplett (Drew Little)

• LS: Drew Little (Spencer Triplett)

• H: Cole Maynard (Ben Kiernan)

• KOR: George Pettaway (Will Hardy)

• PR: Josh Downs (Cam’Ron Kelly)

Clemson 2022 football schedule

• Sept. 5: at Georgia Tech, 41-10 W

• Sept. 10: vs. Furman, 35-12 W

• Sept. 17: vs. Louisiana Tech, 48-20 W

• Sept. 24: at Wake Forest, 51-45 W (2OT)

• Oct. 1: vs. N.C. State, 30-20 W

• Oct. 8: at Boston College, 31-3 W

• Oct. 15: at Florida State, 34-28 W

• Oct. 22: vs. Syracuse, 27-21 W

• Oct. 29: OPEN

• Nov. 5: at Notre Dame, 35-14 L

• Nov. 12: vs. Louisville, 31-16 W

• Nov. 19: vs. Miami, 40-10 W

• Nov. 26: vs. South Carolina, 31-30 L

• Dec. 3: ACC Championship Game vs. UNC, 8 p.m., ABC

North Carolina 2022 football schedule

• Aug. 27: vs. Florida A&M, 56-24 W

• Sept. 3: at App State, 63-61 W

• Sept. 10: at Georgia State, 35-28 W

• Sept. 17: OPEN

• Sept. 24: vs. Notre Dame, 45-32 L

• Oct. 1: vs. Virginia Tech, 41-10 W

• Oct. 8: at Miami, 27-24 W

• Oct. 15: at Duke, 38-35 W

• Oct. 22: OPEN

• Oct. 29: vs. Pittsburgh, 42-24 W

• Nov. 5: at Virginia, 31-28 W

• Nov. 12: at Wake Forest, 36-34 W

• Nov. 19: vs. Georgia Tech, 21-17 L

• Nov. 25: vs. N.C. State, 30-27 L

• Dec. 3: ACC Championship Game vs. Clemson, 8 p.m., ABC