CHESTNUT HILL – It is game day at Alumni Stadium where Clemson looks to earn their second ACC win of the season with a victory over Boston College.

The Tigers hope to build on the momentum from last week’s win over North Carolina and move to .500 in the league.

Location: Alumni Stadium

Kickoff: 7:30 PM

Television: ACC Network

Announcers: Chris Cotter, Forest Conoly, Kendra Douglas

2025 Record: Clemson 2-3,  Boston College 1-4

ACC Record: Clemson 1-2, Boston College 0-3

Series History: Clemson leads series 21-9-2

Last Meeting:  Clemson defeated Boston College 31-20 on October 8, 2022

Clemson will play on the road for the second straight week when the Tigers face the Boston College Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 11. Kickoff at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass. is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

Last week, Clemson rode the strength of a 28-3 first quarter barrage en route to a 38-10 victory at North Carolina. Clemson had been -10 in first-quarter point differential and -22 in first-half point differential prior to the contest. The Tigers then ripped off four straight touchdown drives to open the win against the Tar Heels.

Clemson scored on its opening play from scrimmage on a 75-yard double pass from wide receiver Antonio Williams to wide receiver T.J. Moore. It marked Clemson’s first time scoring on a game’s first play from scrimmage
since Travis Etienne opened the 2018 ACC Championship Game with a 75-yard touchdown run against Pitt.

This week’s game will be the second of Clemson’s only set of back-to-back road games of the season. It will also be the second leg of what Dabo Swinney playfully called Clemson’s “New England Patriots Tour.” After defeating Bill Belichick, who led the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles in 24 seasons, the Tigers will now face Boston College Head Coach Bill O’Brien, who spent six years with Belichick in New England.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

– Clemson attempting to improve to 15-4 against Boston College since the Eagles joined the ACC in 2005.

– Clemson attempting to improve to 15-1 against Boston College under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. Boston College would be the second program against which Swinney has earned 15 wins, joining Wake Forest (16).

– Clemson, whose most recent meeting with Boston College came in Chestnut Hill in 2022, playing back-to back games in the series in Massachusetts for the first time since 1952-53. The teams met in Death Valley in three consecutive years from 2019-21 but haven’t played
consecutive games in the series in Massachusetts since playing games at Braves Field and Fenway Park in 1952 and 1953, respectively.

– Clemson attempting to improve to 11-6-1 all-time in road games against Boston College.

– Clemson attempting to win a sixth straight game in Chestnut Hill to produce Clemson’s 10th all-time road winning streak of six or more games against a single opponent.

O’ROURKE-McFADDEN TROPHY

This year’s matchup represents the 16th time that Clemson and Boston College will play for the O’Rourke McFadden Trophy, which the Boston College Gridiron Club began sponsoring in 2008. Clemson has won 14 of
the 15 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.

O’Rourke led Boston College to a 26-3-2 record in his three years as the quarterback of the Eagles between 1938-40. One of those three losses was to McFadden and Clemson in the 1940 Cotton Bowl. O’Rourke had his jersey retired at Boston College and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

McFadden led the Tigers to a 9-1 record in 1939 as the starting quarterback. Regarded as the greatest all around Clemson athlete of the 20th century, he was an All-American in football and basketball at Clemson. The 1939 football team finished 12th in the final AP Poll, and the win over Boston College in the Cotton Bowl was Clemson’s first bowl appearance. McFadden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959, Clemson’s
first inductee.

C.J. Spiller won the inaugural Leather Helmet Award for the 2008 game when he had 242 all-purpose yards. Montel Harris is the lone Boston College award-winner in its history thanks to his 143 yards rushing and the game’s
only offensive touchdown in 2010.

BOSTON TIES

Clemson has one player from Massachusetts on its roster: safety Ronan Hanafin of Burlington, Mass. Ronan is the brother of Boston College quarterback Shane Hanafin, and his father, Dan, was Boston University’s
starting quarterback in 1997, the school’s final year of football. Dan led Boston University to victory over UMass in 1997, the last victory in BU football history.

Mike Reed, who coaches Clemson’s cornerbacks, is a 1995 Boston College graduate. He was a four-year lettermen for the Eagles from 1991-94 and was a team captain in 1994. He started his last two years, including 1993 when Boston College had a 9-3 record with a victory over No. 1-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend. He was a second-team All-Big East selection in 1993.

One of Clemson’s most decorated former players, defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, is a native of Springfield. He was a three-time All-American and
became the fifth unanimous All-American in school history in 2018. He played on two national championship teams and became Clemson’s first winner of the William V. Campbell Trophy, known colloquially as the Academic Heisman.

TCI Predictions 

Robert – Clemson 42, Boston College 20

Will – Clemson 31, Boston College 16

JP – Clemson 27, Boston College 13