ACC Championship Game 2020: Early Preview, Prediction for Notre Dame vs. Clemson

Ever since the first meeting between the Clemson Tigers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended November 7, the anticipation has been building for a rematch in the ACC Championship Game.

On Saturday, the two best teams in the ACC will square off in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a College Football Playoff spot or two on the line.

If second-ranked Notre Dame completes the season sweep of Clemson, it will lock in a position as one of the four national semifinalists. A Clemson victory makes the playoff picture a bit more complicated at the bottom of the top four. The third-ranked Tigers would be in with a win, but Notre Dame's fate could be up to results in other conference championship games.

ACC Championship Game Information

Date: Saturday, December 19

Start Time: 4 p.m. ET 

TV: ABC

Live Stream: ESPN.com or ESPN app

Preview

Clemson and Notre Dame come into Saturday's contest with a few weeks' rest. The ACC realigned its schedule to make sure the two teams played the same amount of games ahead of the conference championship game.

Since beating Clemson, Notre Dame has reeled off three victories and scored 45 points in two of those wins, against the Boston College Eagles and Syracuse Orange. However, the Irish's most impressive performance was the lowest-scoring affair of the trio, a 31-17 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels. Notre Dame's defense stifled North Carolina's running back tandem of Michael Carter and Javonte Williams to 87 rushing yards. It also restricted quarterback Sam Howell to 211 passing yards.

If Brian Kelly's team applies the same concepts to limiting the production of Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, it should put itself in great position to sweep the Tigers. In the 47-40 double overtime win over Clemson, Notre Dame held Etienne to 28 rushing yards. It was his lowest yardage total on the ground since the 2018 Sugar Bowl, when he was a freshman.

In the past two ACC Championship Games, Etienne has 270 rushing yards, but he has a single triple-digit outing in 2020. That performance occurred in the 42-17 win over the Miami Hurricanes, who were then the seventh-ranked team in the country.

Etienne averaged 5.3 and 4.1 yards per attempt in his two games after the Notre Dame loss, and if he is as effective with more carries Saturday, Clemson could dictate the offensive rhythm.

The Clemson running back could also be the X-factor in the passing game, as he has four games with five or more receptions. If Etienne is more involved in the aerial attack, it would help soften the blow caused by the injuries to wide receivers Justyn Ross, Frank Ladson Jr. and Joseph Ngata. Ross is out for the season, while Ladson and Ngata have missed the past few games.

Even if Clemson's wide receiver corps is healthier than it has been, Lawrence could utilize Etienne to force Notre Dame to commit to defending the short pass. That may allow the signal-caller to have a few more successful deep shots.

Riding Lawrence to a sixth consecutive ACC title would see Clemson lock in one of the four playoff positions and would likely move up one spot in the final playoff rankings as long as the Alabama Crimson Tide win the SEC Championship Game.

A Tigers victory would force the selection committee to drop Notre Dame from No. 2, but a near-perfect resume with one loss to Clemson should be enough for the Irish to remain in the top four.

If Notre Dame wins, Clemson would drop out of the top four and likely end up in the Orange Bowl as the conference's New Year's Six representative.

Prediction: Clemson 42, Notre Dame 28

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.