The Virginia Cavaliers go on the road to play the Clemson Tigers on Saturday, October 19, at noon ET. The game can be seen on the ACC Network.
Virginia (4-1, 2-1 ACC) is coming off a 24-20 loss to Louisville. Clemson (5-1, 4-0 ACC) is coming off a 49-14 win over Wake Forest.
Virginia vs Clemson: Preview
Virginia is a 21-point underdog, while the over/under is set at 57.5 points.
The Cavaliers are coming off a home loss to Louisville in a game Virginia was tied 7-7 at the half.
In the loss, quarterback Anthony Colandrea led the way, throwing for 279 yards and a touchdown, while Malachi Fields recorded nine receptions for 129 yards.
It was a tough loss as Virginia had the lead late, but Louisville rallied to get the win, and coach Tony Elliott says it's a good learning experience for his team.
"The message was, man, we got to learn. We got to take the good with the bad, right? We got we got to learn," Elliott said, via 247Sports. "We got to grow. And ACC games that are one-possession games that go down to the fourth quarter are going to be determined by four to six plays, bottom line.
"And tip our hat to Louisville. Man, they found a way. But I thought our kids competed. I thought they played their play their tails off. Man, they never quit. But we just had a couple of critical mistakes and a couple of errors that resulted in the score not going our way in the end," he added.
This season, Virginia has been led by Colandrea, who's thrown for 1,49-0 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions. Fields has led the way with 541 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, Virginia is led by Kam Robinson, who has three sacks, while Jonas Sanker leads the team with 49 tackles.
Clemson, meanwhile, has won five straight games since being blown out by Georgia in its season opener. The Tigers are atop the ACC and is coming off a blowout win over Wake Forest.
Entering the game against Virginia, Dabo Swinney says he and the team have their hands full.
“We’ve got to have a great, great week,” Swinney said, via Clemson Insider. “Virginia’s having a heck of a year. Tony, what a job he’s done. He’ll have them guys ready – you best believe he’ll have them ready.
"So, we’ll have a huge battle. We’re going to need our fans next week. We’re going to need our crowd to show up. We need to have that place rocking at noon – rocking at 10 a.m,” he added.
The Tigers have a potent offense, as Clemson should be able to have success against this Virginia defense, which has had its struggles.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik should lead Clemson to get to an early lead as the Tigers blowout Virginia in a lopsided win.
Prediction: Clemson 41, Virginia 17
Virginia vs Clemson: Betting Tips
Tip 1: Clemson -21 (-112)
Tip 2: Over 57.5 points (-110)
Tip 3: Clemson first half -11.5 (-108)
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