By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — In its 70 years of existence, Clemson Memorial Stadium has housed some of the greatest teams in college football history.

Over the years, Clemson has won 267 games at Memorial Stadium, or Death Valley as it has come to be known.  The Tigers have won 73 percent of time there, making Memorial Stadium one of the more difficult venues for a visiting team to come in and win.

“There is nothing like playing in Death Valley,” Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd said. “As a team and as a player, we take pride in winning at home. You don’t ever want to lose at home.”

And they usually don’t. In fact Boyd has yet to lose as Clemson’s starting quarterback in Death Valley, reeling off 11 straight. The eighth-ranked Tigers can set a new standard in Memorial Stadium with a win against Maryland Saturday as part of Homecoming.

Boyd can also become just the second quarterback to open his career at home with 12 victories without a defeat. DeChane Cameron was 12-0-1 as the starting quarterback for the Tigers in Death Valley from 1990-‘91.

“We have done a great job the last two years in controlling our territory and not losing what’s ours,” Boyd said. “For us to finish off the season at home, it could not have worked out any better. We do not want to play anywhere else except for here.”

As surprising as it sounds, Clemson has never won more than 11 straight games in Death Valley. Twice Clemson teams have won 11 in a row at Memorial Stadium, the other streak coming from October 21, 1989-October 12, 1991. That streak ended in 20-20 tie against Virginia.

Boyd and the ninth-ranked Tigers started this current streak on September 3, 2011, when they disposed of Troy 43-19. During the 11-game home winning streak, which includes four wins this year, Clemson has scored at least 31 points and at least 35 points in 10 of the 11 games.

“We want to put the fear back in our opponents when they come to play here,” Boyd said. “When they come here, they know they are walking into something special. Our fans do an awesome job making this one of the best environments in college football.”

The Tigers (8-1, 5-1 ACC) have averaged 41.3 points per game during the current streak, while giving up an average of 23.8.

“Over this run we have had here at Death Valley, life has come back into this stadium,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “Our fans have been a huge part of it. I can think of win after win after win, where the crowd has been awesome. It is a big factor so we are really hopeful we will have another great crowd this week.”

Clemson is expecting about 78,000 for Homecoming weekend, though tickets are still available.

“It’s going to be real exciting to play back at home this week,” linebacker Spencer Shuey said. “We have a chance to earn the longest win streak in Clemson history so it will be awesome. There is nothing like playing in Death Valley.

“Being able to rub Coach Howard’s Rock and run down the Hill is so much fun. It is going to be nice to finally get back.”

The Tigers will not exactly own the school record if they do indeed beat Maryland. But they will own a share of it. The home record for consecutive victories is actually 12, which was set from 1927-’30, but those games were not in Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1942.

The longest streak Clemson has gone without losing a game in Death Valley is 25, which went from 1980-‘84. Those Clemson teams posted a 23-0-2 record. The teams from 1989-’92 went 17 games without a defeat and were 16-0-1 in those contests.

“We have a special opportunity this week to set the home win record. I think that will be a great record to be a part of,” Swinney said. “Our guys are excited about that opportunity. I’m proud of the consistency we have been able to play with here at home.”