GAME BREAKDOWN
KEY MATCHUP: Can Pitt find any running room against Clemson? That looms as the prevailing question when the No. 2 ranked and unbeaten Tigers face Pitt in Saturday night’s ACC Championship Game. Pitt boasts one of the nation’s top rushing attacks and has a two-headed monster in the backfield in Qadree Ollison and Darren Hall. Ollison has 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns this season while Hall has 935 yards and nine scores while operating behind a veteran offensive line, but the duo will be facing one of the nation’s top run defenses for the second week in a row in Clemson. Miami held Pitt to only 1.8 yards per carry in a 24-3 win last week and Clemson’s run defense certainly may be even stingier. The Tigers rank second nationally in rushing yards allowed per game (84.8) and No. 1 in the country in yards allowed per rush (2.23).
DRAFT SLANT
–DE Austin Bryant is the most oft-overlooked member of Clemson’s vaunted defensive front line that also includes projected first-round selections Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence, but Bryant has come on strong of late. A 6-foot-6, 280-pound senior, Bryant had a modest two tackles in Clemson’s regular season-ending win against South Carolina, but both were tackles for loss, including one sack, pushing his season totals to 10.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. He also was credited with a quarterback hurry. Bryant, who was named a third-team All-ACC pick on Monday, has 18 career sacks and 31 tackles for loss.
ROSTER REPORT:
–LB Tre Lamar, who missed last week’s game against South Carolina with an ankle injury, is expected to return to the starting lineup for Saturday night’s ACC Championship Game against Pitt.
====
