CLEMSON — Homecoming in Clemson brings back football fans, family, and memories—but Saturday it brought back life to the team wearing orange and white and the stadium they call home, despite a 46-45 loss to Duke. 

Leading 21-7 in the second quarter, the Blue Devils had all the momentum. Duke (5-3, 4-1) was owning this Clemson (4-4, 3-3 ACC) team on their own field.

But that momentum quickly shifted, not exactly from the plays Clemson was making but from the single-file line walking from the right side of the North upper deck corner to the left corner. 

It first began with around 30 students who took their shirts off, to a crowd of 500 shirtless young men waving their shirts around like Pittsburgh Steelers fans do with their Terrible Towels. 

This shirtless mob of boys wore off on everyone else in the stadium. Boys everywhere in the stadium had their shirts off, waving them around. 

But, it also wore off on this quiet Clemson team and gave then energy. 

With 10:26 to go in the second quarter, Antonio Williams crossed the goal line for his second score. Those seven points added to the scoreboard recruited another group of shirtless boys to the left end of the north end zone. 

Eventually, the sideline was exploding with energy and players waving around towels, as was the whole stadium. 

The defense also found their much sought after rhythm, running to tackle and stopping on the Blue Devils offense. 

Did a group of shirtless boys bring back the much-needed energy back to Death Valley? 

Adam Randall turned on his wheels not once but twice to add points on the board, marking the first time this year he’s scored two rushing touchdowns in a game.  Randall was running with a purpose and his purpose was fulfilled, just like the shirtless boys.

When Duke picked tails on the coin toss, they chose to defer the ball to the second half. But soon enough, when Clemson kicked the ball off to start the third quarter, the shirtless guys were back. 

After a short drive by Duke, a recovered block punt put the Tigers in great field position to score. And then they scored, putting them up seven early in the third quarter. 

Then, an ecstatic 75-yard, one-play drive by T.J. Moore put the Tigers up 45-38, inspiring more Tiger fans to wave their shirts or towels around.

A bad call, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion put the Blue Devils up with 40 seconds to go.

The Tigers earned a loss from the Blue Devils 46-45 in a hard-fought noon game in the Valley. Despite the loss, the top left rows in the upper deck brought back much-needed energy and life to Memorial Stadium for a Homecoming game.