When Clemson and Penn State square off in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, the Tigers will be looking to earn a postseason victory for an FBS-record-extending 15th season in a row.

After a 1-3 start, the 2025 Tigers finished the regular season 7-5, becoming the first squad in program history to reach seven wins after starting a season with one win or fewer through four games.

With an eighth win, Clemson would join Alabama (18) and Georgia (15) as the only programs in the nation with 15 or more consecutive eight-win seasons. It would represent only the 12th streak of 15 or more consecutive eight-win seasons in the FBS in the AP Poll era.

This game will mark just the second time the two teams have faced one another. The only other time the two teams played came in the Citrus Bowl following the 1987 season, a game Clemson won 35-10.

The programs have combined for 1,764 all-time victories, and the schools have won a total of five national championships since 1981.

5 Things to Watch For

1. Who’s Playing, Who’s Not: The losses for Clemson have been pretty well-documented. The Tigers are going to be missing about half of the starting defense and almost the entire starting defensive line. Peter Woods, T.J. Parker, DeMonte Capehart and Avieon Terrell have all opted out. Wade Woodaz is out with an injury. Stephiylan Green’s status is up in the air due to an injury. Khalil Barnes is no longer with the team after announcing plans to enter the portal. That is a lot of production to replace on that side of the ball.

The Tigers will also be without Antonio Williams on the opposite side. The offensive line is a MASH unit at this point, with the latest casualty being Collin Sadler, with Dietrick Pennington expected to notch his first career start at left guard.

It’s been a little harder to get a good read on the Penn State opt-outs. Guard Vega Ioane, a projected first-round NFL draft pick, running back Nicholas Singleton, defensive tackle Zane Durant and safety Zakee Wheatley have all opted out. Defensive ends Zuriah Fisher and Chaz Coleman, along with cornerback A.J. Harris, are no longer with the program and are expected to hit the portal.

However, several other players could wind up electing not to play. Some could play minimal snaps, including running back Kaytron Allen, the team’s leading rusher in 2025.

All that to say, both of these teams are going to be relying on less experienced players to step up and deliver.

2. Cade’s Last Stand: Kudos to Cade Klubnik. It would have been easy for the senior to opt out himself, especially when you factor in how banged up he’s been this season. However, Klubnik was never not going to play. He made that clear on more than one occasion. He’s just one of those guys who loves the game and wants to do everything in his power to send the Tigers into the offseason on a high note.

While this season didn’t go anywhere close to as originally planned, Saturday gives Klubnik one more opportunity to don the Paw. It gives him one more opportunity to impress NFL scouts. With it having been almost a month since his last game, he should be as healthy as he’s been since suffering a high ankle sprain in the win at Boston College.

3. How Will Depleted Defense Hold Up: If Clemson is going to win this game, one of the biggest keys will be slowing down the Penn State running game. The Tigers are No. 15 nationally in rush defense, allowing just 102.8 yards per game.

Although when you are missing every starter but one along the defensive line and one of your two starting linebackers, stopping the run gets a little harder. Even if the Nittany Lions are without their top two running backs.

Penn State averages more than 175 rushing yards per game. Last time out, the Nittany Lions ran for almost 200 yards against Rutgers. The week before, they rushed for 231 yards against Nebraska, and the game before that, 240 against Michigan State. Penn State won all three of those games. The Nittany Lions’ last loss came against Indiana on November 8, when the Hoosiers limited them to just 117 yards on the ground.

4. Run the Football: Clemson’s offensive line is going to have to find a way to give Adam Randall and Gideon Davidson some room to run. With Pennington expected to start at left guard and Harris Sewell at right guard, those two are going to have to hold up.

Penn State wasn’t one of the better run defenses in the country when at full strength, allowing more than 150 yards per game and ranking No. 72 nationally. The Tigers aren’t likely to win this game if the offense is one-dimensional. That means Garrett Riley can’t get away from running the ball, or even worse, abandoning it altogether.

5A. Win the Turnover Battle: With Drew Allar out injured, redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkenmeyer has started the last five games for the Nittany Lions. He’s completing close to 70% of his throws, but he’s only thrown six touchdown passes to four interceptions. And he is not a guy who is going to beat you with his legs.

Will Heldt, Cade Denhoff and Darien Mayo are going to have to put some pressure on the redshirt freshman. Maybe we get our first real look at freshman pass rusher Ari Watford. No matter who is rushing the passer, the Tigers have to put some heat on Grunkenmeyer and pressure him into making a mistake or two.

We are almost guaranteed to see at least one of the less experienced running backs get some work for Penn State. Corey Smith, Cam Wallace and Quinton Martin Jr. are all candidates to get a lot of work at running back on Saturday. Maybe that leads to a fumble or two. Especially if we see some snow, and there is a chance of that.

5B. Can Clemson Handle the Cold: This will be by far the coldest weather Clemson has played in this season. The high in New York City on Saturday is only supposed to be 32 degrees, with the winds blowing between 10-15 MPH. There is also a 50% chance of “snow showers,” as of this writing. Can the Tigers hold up in that type of weather?

Photo by Bart Boatwright