The Clemson Insider went back and ranked Clemson’s 25 best teams of all-time.
What classifies a certain team as one of the best? Of course winning a championship—national or conference—will be the first qualification. The other qualifications are overall record, national ranking and where they fell in the conference standings.
We continue our rankings with the No. 8 team on our list:
The 1983 Tigers (9-1-1, 7-0 ACC, ranked No. 11)
After beating Wake Forest to wrap up the 1982 ACC Championship, Clemson removed itself from any bowl game consideration due to an NCAA Investigation on rules violations. The school was hoping its decision not to play in a bowl game would help with what would ultimately be the program’s punishment.
It did not.
Instead, the Tigers were stripped of several scholarships, banned from a bowl game for two more years and were ineligible to win an ACC Championship in 1983 and in 1984.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, but they handled it well. Clemson embraced its probation and set out to prove it was still the best team in the ACC, regardless of what the record books might say at the end of the year.
After losing to Boston College in Week 2 and then tying Georgia a week later, the Tigers reeled off eight consecutive victories to close the year. Seven of those victories came in the ACC as Clemson continued its ACC winning streak to 19 games.
The Tigers opened up ACC play with a 41-14 victory over Georgia Tech, which they followed with a 42-21 win over Virginia. Clemson had no problem beating Duke, 38-21, in Durham, North Carolina, and then came home to beat NC State, 27-17, and Wake Forest, 24-17.
With North Carolina vying for an ACC Championship, the Tigers went to Chapel Hill, North Carolina the next and stunned a cocky Tar Heels’ team that thought they had the talent to finally overtake Clemson. The Tigers won the game, 16-3, behind a dominating defensive performance.
Now ranked 17th, its first ranking all year, Clemson welcomed No. 11 Maryland to Death Valley. The Terrapins, led by quarterback Boomer Esiason, were eventually crowned as ACC Champions in 1983. But on November 12, 1983, it was clearly obvious to everyone in the stadium who was the better team.
Mike Eppley was outstanding with three touchdowns passes and Kevin Mack, a First-Team All-ACC selection, rushed for 186 yards in his final game at Death Valley as the Tigers beat Maryland, 52-27. Mack scored his final touchdown with one shoe on during a 56-yard run.
After the game, then Maryland head coach Bobby Ross told the media that his team might have been given the title, but the best team in the ACC was the team celebrating over in that other locker room.
Clemson closed the season with a 22-13 victory over South Carolina. The win improved the Tigers to a 30-2-2 record since the beginning of the 1981 season, which was the best record in the country.
Eight Tigers earned All-ACC honors, while defensive tackles William Perry and James Robinson, as well as offensive guard James Farr, earned All-American honors. Perry was a consensus First-Team All-American.
Perry, the biggest player in college football at the time, recorded 61 tackles, had 15 tackles for loss and six sacks. Robinson, a second-team selection, tallied 83 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and five sacks.