Well everyone, judgment day is upon us. Will the Clemson Tigers clench the division title on Saturday and take its first trip to the ACC title game since its inception? 

I think they will, by God. I think they will. Just one win against Virginia Saturday, and I’m throwing all my orange and purple garments in a bag immediately in anticipation. 

Well, maybe not all. This is a lifelong Clemson fan talking, and airline rules won’t allow for my luggage to weigh over 50 lbs. 

Anyway, I asked Blair Capps, my very football-educated RTTB blogger friend from UVA, to indulge me in a little Q&A about the Cavs in preparation for Saturday’s game. 

But before we hear what she has to say, I want to address a nasty rumor and subsequent nasty attitude going around the state of South Carolina. 

The Miley Cyrus concert is not the reason for a noon kickoff next week in the Palmetto State.

 Next week’s Carolina/Clemson game is scheduled for noon because it’s being aired on ESPN. ESPN, therefore, dictated the gametime, because if no one noticed, ESPN is the biggest sports media monopoly out there. They can dictate whatever game time they so please, as long as its worth it to the schools in consideration. Which almost always, it is. Cha-ching, if you know what I mean. 

I’m not sure why people think that South Carolina would be the ones to dictate to ESPN what time their game should air. Last time I checked, the Cocks weren’t even ranked. And that was today. 

If you don’t believe this argument, the SportsCenter blog confirmed that Miley’s jam session in Columbia is not the reason for the noon kick-off. 

For all of you Clemson fans up in arms about this, you should probably reconsider your stance. This is good for Clemson for THREE reasons. 1) C.J. Spiller will be extremely benefitted by playing a noon game on ESPN. Spiller highlights will run nationally all day long. This will give him excellent exposure to supplement his Heisman candidacy. 2) Clemson is USED to playing noon games. Carolina is not. This is an advantage for the Tigers. They’re less likely to throw up their scrambled eggs in the endzone. 3) Carolina fans aren’t used to noon games. They’ll be a lot less hostile in Williams-Brice than they would be at, oh, 8 p.m. Hopefully by kick-off they’ll still be griping about how early it is, and maybe not griping as much about how they play in the SEC and it’s sooooo hard on them.

Now on to more pressing matters such as Senior Day on Saturday. 

I hope everyone’s taken several moments to reflect already this week that this is the last time we’ll see C.J. Spiller come down the Hill. EVER. 

Let the giant simultaneous boo-hoo session in Death Valley begin, as I’m sure it will at 3:15 p.m. Saturday. 

I’ll deeply miss our other seniors as well. Farewell to the following: Jacoby Ford, Michael Palmer, Rendrick Taylor, Thomas Austin, Corey Lambert, Jamarcus Grant, Ricky Sapp, Kevin Alexander, Kavell Connor, Chris Chancellor, Sadat Chambers and Crezdon Butler. 

Given that it’s Senior Day, I expect the Tigers to be particularly focused on making the UVA game Saturday a memorable one in Death Valley. That competitive edge will be matched with the fact UVA has not played in Death Valley since 2003, so none of their current players have experienced the atmosphere. Also given the less-than-fulfilled sentiment Cavalier fans have toward the state of the football program, I doubt many UVA fans will be seated in the corners of the stands. If I were them, I’m not sure I’d want to travel to see what I anticipate unfolding, either. 

Given UVA’s turnover tendency (they’ve had 16 this season) and the fact that Clemson is leading the FBS with 20 interceptions, I expect some beautiful disaster, such as a defensive touchdown on behalf of the Tigers (paging DeAndre McDaniel). 

If UVA’s O-line can’t protect Jameel Sewell, expect some other major offensive troubles for the Cavs. I foresee Ricky Sapp getting down with some tackles for loss and a couple sacks. Brandon Maye, too. And according to the injury report, Da’Quan Bowers is probably going to be back in action. I doubt they’ll play him as hard as usual, given that it’s his first game back after a two-week hiatus, but he’ll be hungry. (Thomas Austin is listed on the injury report as probable for the game as well). 

Last week in a fourth consecutive loss for the Cavs–this time to Boston College–UVA failed to score any offensive touchdowns. I’m going to guess their red zone offense will be stagnant on Saturday, too. Maybe they’ll get a few field goals.  

My bold prediction: Clemson 40, Virginia 9. 

Without further adieu, here’s some Q&A with UVA’s Blogger Blair (hey, I kinda like that): 

Who on defense might be fast enough to keep up with Clemson’s swift offensive players such as C.J. Spiller, Jacoby Ford and Andre Ellington? 

We’re going to be looking at Ras-I Dowling (CB) when it comes to covering Jacoby Ford and the deep ball threat. Nose Tackle/DE Nate Collins had 16 tackles against Georgia Tech; we’re going to need another solid game from him to stop Spiller. 

What are Virginia’s main weaknesses that have inhibited the team from succeeding this season as it might’ve hoped it would? 

The Cavalier offense is, in a word, pathetic. Last week against Boston College the defense only allowed 14 points, but the offense had 0 touchdowns. The o-line has been struggling this year, and we lost all of our experienced receivers from last season. Gregg Brandon’s spread offense has been abandoned in favor of a scheme our players can actually run, but we still haven’t been successful. Most of the mistakes have been fundamentals. Dropped passes this late in the season? Are you kidding me? 

What’s the deal with Al Groh? Do you see him making his exit at the end of the season? What specifically of Virginia’s problems has to do with coaching? 

Everyone here in Charlottesville knows that this is most likely the end of the Al Groh era. There hasn’t been an official announcement from the AD, but the recent decline has a lot of the boosters shaking their heads. Ticket sales are down, no one is showing up to the games, and the program is losing $$$. Funny enough, our defense (with the exception of the 52-point atrocity at Miami) has been fairly decent this year, and Al Groh is our d-coordinator. Special teams has been pretty suspect, as well as a lot of our offensive play calling. Both of those coordinators are on one year contracts, so cleaning house will be easy next year. 

How do you see Virginia’s offense matching up to Clemson’s defense? 

Clemson has a lot of speed on defense as well; people seem to overlook that when you have CJ Spiller and Jacoby Ford on the other side of the ball. We will probably rely heavily on Rashawn Jackson to carry the ball; I don’t think the o-line will be able to give Jameel Sewell enough time to make quality throws. 

 What players should Clemson specifically look out for?

 Vic Hall, Vic Hall, Vic Hall. You have to watch this guy on offense, defense, and special teams. He returns punts, plays WR, can take snaps at QB, and is an excellent cover corner. He is one of the only pure athletes on our team, so you can never overlook him. Rashawn Jackson is a big, physical, fullback who can carry the whole offense when he gets a good head of steam going. LB Steve Greer is only a freshman, but he has been a big contributor this season. A lot of teams have made the mistake of underestimating him.

 Your prediction? 

Clemson has just too much speed on both sides of the ball. U.Va. 10 - Clemson 37. Spiller for Heisman! 

And finally, who would you like to see in the ACC Championship and why? Who do you see most deserving of winning the ACC? 

I’m beyond happy that Georgia Tech is representing the Coastal Division this season, rather than Virginia Tech. Miami turned out to be something of a false promise, but the Yellow Jackets have been solid all season. I’ve been waiting from the Tommy West era all the way up to Coach Swinney’s tenure for a title for the Tigers. I’ll be cheering for Virginia, but I won’t be crushed if Clemson wins and gets a ticket to Tampa Bay. Between those two teams, it’s a toss up. Georgia Tech has been consistently good all year, but Clemson impressed me by making some serious adjustments after the loss to Maryland. They’ve already played each other this season, but I think a Clemson-GT rematch would make for a pretty exciting championship game.