TCI Game Day and Predictions: Boston College at No. 1 Clemson

It is Game Day in Death Valley as the Tigers look to continue the road to Miami and another national championship.  No. 1 Clemson hosts Boston College as the Tigers look to move to 7-0.

With Trevor Lawrence out due to COVID-19 D.J. Uiagalelei is set to get his first start for the Tigers.

Location: Memorial Stadium (Death Valley)

Kickoff:  Noon

Television:  ABC

Announcers:  Holly Rowe, Greg McElroy, Joe Tessitore

2020 Record: Clemson  6-0,  Boston College 4-2

ACC Record: Clemson 5-0, Boston College 3-2

Series History: Clemson leads series 18-9-2

Last Meeting:  Clemson won 56-7 on October 26, 2019

TIGERS AND EAGLES TO DUEL IN DEATH VALLEY ON HALLOWEEN

Clemson will close out its five-game October slate on the final day of the month, as the top-ranked Tigers are slated to host the Boston College Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is scheduled for noon
ET.

Clemson is in the midst of celebrating its 125th season of football in 2020. Saturday’s game against Boston College will be played on the 124th anniversary of Clemson’s gridiron debut on Oct. 31, 1896. On that date, the squad representing Clemson Agricultural College defeated Furman, 14-6, in Greenville, S.C. in a game that was the first time that many of the Clemson players had seen a full-sized football gridiron. Charlie Gentry was credited with scoring the Tigers’ first touchdown as Clemson improved to 1-0 all-time. The Tigers have won another 763 games in the years since, as Clemson’s 764 total wins rank 14th in FBS history.

Clemson’s 6-0 record this season includes a 4-0 mark in the month of October so far. A win Saturday would make Clemson a perfect 5-0 in October this year and secure the program’s eighth five-win month in school
history. Clemson previously went 5-0 in October 1977, October 1981, November 1991, September 2000, October 2015, September 2017 and September 2018.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

– Clemson playing on the 124th anniversary of its football debut. Clemson earned a 14-6 win against Furman in its first game on Oct. 31, 1896.
– Clemson attempting to open a season 7-0 for the ninth time in school history, joining the 1948, 1981, 2000, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 15-7 all-time in games played on Halloween. A win would push Clemson to 7-2 all-time in Halloween home games a give Clemson a 6-1 mark at Death Valley on that date since the
Memorial Stadium’s opening in 1942.
– Clemson and Boston College meeting in Death Valley in consecutive years for the first time. It will be the first time the teams have played one another in back-toback seasons at the same venue. The only time in the series the teams faced one another in the same region in back-to-back years was in the 1950s, when Clemson faced Boston College at Braves Field in 1952 and then at
Fenway Park in 1953.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 19-9-2 all-time against Boston College, dating to the teams’ first meeting in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day in 1940.
– Clemson attempting to win its 10th consecutive game against Boston College, dating back to 2011. Clemson’s nine-game winning streak against Boston College is its second-longest active streak against an ACC opponent,
trailing Clemson’s 12-game active winning streak against Wake Forest.

SERIES HISTORY VS. BOSTON COLLEGE

Clemson holds an 18-9-2 lead in its series with Boston College dating to the programs’ first meeting in the 1940 Cotton Bowl.

Early in the series, the two teams played three games at famed Fenway Park in Boston, the home of the Boston Red Sox. Clemson won its first game there in 1941 — just 13 days after Ted Williams finished his .406 season
for the Red Sox — by a 26-13 score. The teams met at Fenway again the following year, and Boston College won, 14-7. The two teams played to a 14-14 tie in 1953 at Fenway, evening the series’ all-time record at Fenway
Park at 1-1-1.

The two teams also played at Braves Field in Boston,  then the home of the National League’s Boston Braves.  Clemson had a 3-1 advantage in games played at Braves Field, all between 1942-52. Clemson has a 9-6-1 lead
in the series in games played in Boston or Chestnut Hill.

The Tigers have won 11 of the 12 games played against Boston College since Dabo Swinney became Clemson’s head coach on an interim basis on Oct. 13, 2008, including his first win as a head coach on Nov. 1, 2008.  Clemson’s only loss to the Eagles in the Swinney era as head coach came on the road in 2010.

O’ROURKE-McFADDEN TROPHY

This year’s matchup represents the 13th time that Clemson and Boston College will play for the O’RourkeMcFadden Trophy, which the Boston College Gridiron Club began sponsoring in 2008. Clemson has won 11 of
the 12 years the trophy has been awarded.

The trophy features a leather helmet replica of those used by Charlie O’Rourke of Boston College and Banks McFadden of Clemson when they competed against each other in the 1940 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. In
addition to the trophy presentation, the Boston College Gridiron Club presents a replica leather helmet to the MVP of the winning school in the locker room.

C.J. Spiller won the award for the 2008 game when he had 242 all-purpose yards, and Clemson kicker Richard Jackson won the award for the 2009 game. He kicked six field goals in the Clemson victory, the only kicker at the
FBS level to kick six field goals in a game in 2009.

Montel Harris won the award for Boston College in 2010 thanks to his 143 yards rushing and the game’s only offensive touchdown. Chandler Catanzaro became the second Clemson kicker to win the honor with his five field goals in the 36-14 Clemson win in 2011. Tajh Boyd won it in 2012 with a 367-yard passing game, and Vic Beasley took the honor in 2013 when he had a fumble
return for a touchdown.

WITH THE WIN…

– Clemson has now opened a season 6-0 for the 16th time in school history, joining the 1900, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1948, 1981, 1987, 2000, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. Clemson’s six year streak of 6-0 starts is the longest active streak in the country.
– Clemson improved to 18-2 all-time when ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press. Clemson has never lost a regular season game as the nation’s top-ranked team.
– Clemson won its 26th consecutive home game to extend its school record for the longest home winning streak in school history. Of the 119 players on
Clemson’s 2020 roster, 110 have never experienced a home loss in their Clemson careers. Nine fifth-year seniors on Clemson’s 2020 roster were on the 2016 team that recovered from a home loss to Pitt by winning the national championship that season.
– Clemson (26 straight home wins) now takes sole possession of the school record for its longest home unbeaten streak. The previous record had been set
when Clemson went unbeaten in 25 straight games at Memorial Stadium from 1980-84, posting 23 wins and two ties under Danny Ford in that span.
– Though 2020 is technically being played sans divisions, Clemson defeated a traditional ACC Atlantic Division opponent for the 16th straight time and for the 36th time in its last 37 opportunities.

TCI Predictions 

Robert – Clemson 45, Boston College 17

Will – Clemson 34, Boston College 10

Gavin – Clemson 38, Syracuse 17