2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship: ACC Championship Game

The cards are stacked against No. 21 Clemson (9-3, 6-2) going into its rematch with No. 5 Virginia Tech (11-1, 7-1 ACC) in the ACC Championship Game Saturday night (8 p.m. Eastern) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mojo factor? The Hokies have it.

Virginia Tech has won seven in a row, including the emphatic Coastal Division-clincher against rival Virginia on the road last week, 38-0.

Clemson, on the other hand, has dropped three out of four, and is coming off its lowest offensive output of the season (153 yards) in a 34-13 road loss at No. 12 South Carolina.

Revenge factor? The Hokies hold the edge as well.

The Tigers, on rainy, cold day in Blacksburg on Oct. 1, dominated Virginia Tech to a 23-3 win – dealing the Hokies their lowest totals on the season in points, total offense (258 yards), rushing yards (133) and first downs (17) in their first game without a touchdown in Lane Stadium since 1995.

History factor? Well, you get the point by now.

In 2007 and 2008, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer’s squad dropped regular season games to Boston College each year (14-10 at BC first and 28-23 in Blacksburg a year later), but recovered to take the ACC Championship rematches in Jacksonville then Tampa, Florida in a comfortable fashion, 30-16 and 30-12 respectively.

Add to that, this is the Hokies’ fifth appearance in the ACC title game in its seven years of existence – losing their first try against FSU in 2005 (27-22) and taking three-straight since.

Since the two-thirds mark of the regular season, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have steadily declined.

> Check out our great selection of Virginia Tech Apparel & Merchandise!

His Clemson team started 8-0, coming off posting 59 points and 487 total yards against UNC, but the wheels on the orange-clad bandwagon began to deflate just as they reached a school-record No. 5 in the BCS rankings with the trip to Georgia Tech, a 31-17 first defeat.

During the 8-0 run, the Tigers, under new offensive coordinator Chad Morris, averaged a 15th-ranked-nationally 482.5 yards and 40.6 points per game.

During 1-3 stumble to the finish, Clemson dropped to 18.5 points and 352.8 yards per game.

The 23-3 early October loss to the Tigers served a turning point for first-year Hokies starting quarterback Logan Thomas, who hit 15-of-27 passes for 125 yards with an interception and only eight yards rushing in his ACC debut. The tight end-turned-quarterback was nursing a sore non-throwing shoulder, which led to limited runs that week.

Since his one-and-only loss as a starting college QB, Thomas fired 14 touchdown passes to two interceptions, while using his tight-end size (6’6 254) to barrel into the endzone for nine more scores.

His impact as a runner has grown exponentially from up to the Clemson game to afterward – averaging 7.8 carries for 26 yards per game (one touchdown) through five games to 12.3 attempts for 40.6 yards per game (nine touchdowns) down the stretch.

That running threat could be particularly useful Saturday, as the Tigers surrendered 89 or more rushing yards to four different quarterbacks this season (two in the last four games), including 107 yards and a touchdown last week to South Carolina signal-caller Connor Shaw, and a high of 176 yards and a touchdown to Yellow Jackets quarterback Tevin Washington.

Virginia Tech Hokies @ Clemson Tigers Football Preview