The 12th-ranked Clemson Tigers host Appalachian State at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in Death Valley. The game will not be televised and can only be seen on ESPN3.
About Appalachian State: Appalachian State found the end zone on seven of its first 10 possessions and pitched its third shutout in 12 games during last Saturday’s 49-0 win over Howard.
Appalachian State’s offense: The Mountaineers outgained Howard, 663-172, in last week’s win. Individually, quarterback Taylor Lamb completed 16- of-21 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns. Lamb also rushed four times for 41 yards. Running back Marcus Cox ran for 105 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries. The 100-yard effort was Cox’s 15th in 25 career games, moving him into a tie for the fifth-most 100-yard rushing games in program history. He was one of six running backs to average at least 7.0 yards per carry last week.
Appalachian State’s defense: Over its past eight games, Appalachian has racked up 51 tackles for loss for 197 yards. The Mountaineers’ leader on defense is junior end Ronald Blair, a senior who has started all 39 games he has played in his career. He leads all current Mountaineers with 13.5 sacks and 35.0 tackles for loss in his career. His 153 total tackles rank second on the squad. Blair led Appalachian State and ranked seventh in the Sun Belt with 6.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss last season.
Series record: Clemson leads 4-0
First meeting: 1984: Clemson won, 40-7
Last meeting: 1997: Clemson won 23-12
Stat worth noting: The Mountaineers are 1-11 all-time against nationally ranked FBS opponents. App State’s only victory over a nationally ranked FBS opponent was its historic 34-21 victory over No. 5 Michigan on Sept. 1, 2007.
Second stat worth noting: Appalachian State owns seven all-time wins against current members of the ACC. The seven wins over ACC foes are by far the most the Mountaineers own against any “Power Five” conference. App State boasts one win over a member of the Big Ten (Michigan – 2007) and one against a current member of the SEC (South Carolina – 1975).
Third stat worth noting: With its win over Howard last week, Appalachian State extended its winning streak to seven games. The Mountaineers’ seven-game winning streak remains the fifth-longest current winning streak in the FBS. Clemson has a four-game winning streak, which currently ranks ninth on the list.
Memorable game: The 1984 Clemson-App. State game isn’t memorable because of the outcome so much as it was for who played in it. That afternoon in Death Valley, second-ranked Clemson defeated the Mountaineers, 40-7. In that game former Clemson All-American defensive tackle Michael Dean Perry, a freshman at the time, lined up and played with his brother, former All-American nose guard William “The Refrigerator” Perry. On Michael Dean’s first play of his college career, William blew through the App. State offensive line, sacked the quarterback, stripped the football, allowing his little brother to recover the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown.