What qualifies as an impact win?
It depends on the win. Clemson has had a lot of impact wins during the course of its 123 years.
In each of the 10 games below, they played a major role in shaping the course of Clemson’s great football history. Without these wins, the Tigers’ fortunes might not have turned out the way Clemson fans know them to be.
November 17, 1937, Clemson at Florida: Clemson defeated Florida in Gainesville by a 10-9 score. Don Willis scored Clemson’s only touchdown of the game on a one-yard run that culminated a 65-yard drive on Clemson’s opening possession. Later Clemson gave up a safety and a touchdown, so Florida led 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter. But the Tigers drove 60 yards late in the game and Ben Pearson booted a 27-yard field goal to win the game. At the time, it gave Clemson a 4-4 record in 1937, but it proved to be a program builder. The Tigers posted to a 22-2-2 record over a 26-game period that started with that win at Florida. Clemson’s only losses in that 26-game period were to undefeated Tennessee in 1938 and undefeated Tulane in 1939.
January 1, 1940, Cotton Bowl, Clemson vs. Boston College: In Clemson’s first bowl appearance, it defeated Boston College 6-3. Charlie Timmons scored the game’s lone touchdown from two yards out and rushed for 115 yards. Banks McFadden keyed the defense with four pass deflections of Boston College passes and he also averaged 43 yards per punt. Boston College drove to the Clemson eight with three minutes left, but Shad Bryant and McFadden knocked away third and fourth-down passes to save the day for the Tigers. The win over BC, No. 11, was Clemson’s first over a ranked team. The Tigers finished the season ranked No. 12 in the final Associated Press poll, the program’s first.
Jerry Butler made a twisting-leaping catch with 49 seconds to play to snag a 20-yard touchdown pass from Steve Fuller, giving the Tigers a 31-27 victory over the Gamecocks and secure a bid to the 1977 Gator Bowl. (file photo/Clemson Athletic Communications)
November 19, 1977, Clemson at South Carolina: Clemson already had a win at Georgia, won seven straight games at one point and took eventual national champion Notre Dame to the brink. But the Tigers needed a win over archrival South Carolina to secure a bowl bid for the first time in 18 years. A 20-yard pass from Steve Fuller to Jerry Butler with just 49 seconds left enabled Clemson to beat the Gamecocks, 31-27. Butler made a twisting-leaping catch to snag Fuller’s pass. The play is still known in the rivalry as “The Catch.” The Tigers had a 24-0 lead, but South Carolina came back to take a 27-24 lead prior to Butler’s game-winning catch. The win earned Clemson a trip to the Gator Bowl and ushered in a new era for Clemson football.
December 29, 1978, Gator Bowl, Clemson vs. Ohio State: Clemson defeated Ohio State, 17-15, at the Gator Bowl in Danny Ford’s first game as head coach and Woody Hayes’ final game at Ohio State. The winning touchdown was scored by freshman Cliff Austin. He would score another important touchdown three years later against Nebraska. Charlie Bauman made the key play with an interception of an Art Schlichter pass with just two minutes left. He ran the return out of bounds on the Ohio State sideline and was punched by Hayes. The win was the first big win for the Clemson program over an elite program since the Tigers beat Miami in the 1951 Orange Bowl.
November 22, 1980, South Carolina at Clemson: Clemson defeated No. 14 South Carolina, 27-6, in a contest that gave the Tigers momentum heading into the 1981 season. It also launched the greatest era of Clemson football at the time. The Tigers went on to win the 1981 National Championship a year later and then dominated the ACC for the next decade. Defensive back Willie Underwood played the game of his life with two interceptions for 101 yards, including one for a 37-yard touchdown. His other interception went to the Carolina 5-yard line and set up a 1-yard Homer Jordan touchdown, which gave Clemson the lead for good at the time. Underwood entered the game, the 47th of his career, without an interception. He was named Sports Illustrated National Defensive Player of the Week. Clemson kept South Carolina Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers out of the end zone. This game is also known as the Orange Pants game as Clemson dawned All-Orange uniforms for the first time.
Quarterback Homer Jordan led Clemson to a 22-15 win over Nebraska in the 1982 Orange Bowl to secure the Tigers’ first national championship. (file photo/Clemson Athletic Communications)
January 1, 1982, Orange Bowl, Clemson vs. Nebraska: Clemson claimed it first National Championship with a 22-15 win over Nebraska in the 48th annual Orange Bowl Classic. One of the Clemson touchdowns was scored by Cliff Austin, who had been trapped in an elevator for two hours at the Clemson hotel earlier in the day. The was a landmark win because it proved to every Clemson team since that Clemson is capable of winning a national championship. The Tigers finished the season undefeated that year, 12-0. It’s first undefeated season the 1948 team went 11-0.
December 3, 2011, ACC Championship Game, Clemson vs. Virginia Tech: Clemson won its first ACC title in 20 years with a 38-10 win over Virginia Tech in Charlotte. Virginia Tech was ranked No. 3 in the nation in the coaches’ poll and the win tied for the highest-ranked team Clemson beat in its history at the time. Tajh Boyd was named MVP, as he completed 20-of-29 passes for 240 yards and three scores. The win clinched Clemson’s first Orange Bowl berth in 30 years, but more importantly it got Clemson over the hump and back on top of the ACC. The Tigers have won four ACC Championships since then. It was also their 10th victory that night, ending a 21-year drought in that category. Clemson has won at least 10 games every year since.
December 31, 2012, Chick-fil-A Bowl, Clemson vs. LSU: Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Clemson a 25-24 win over No. 7 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The ACC Tigers trailed 24-13 entering the fourth quarter but scored the final 12 points for the dramatic victory as they rallied behind a gutty effort from quarterback Tajh Boyd. It was Clemson’s 11th win of the season, its highest total since its National Championship season of 1981, and gave the Tigers a final USA Today ranking of No. 9. The winning drive was kept alive with Deandre Hopkins made a sliding 26-yard catch of a Tajh Boyd pass on fourth-and-16 from the Clemson 14-yard line.
Wide receiver Hunter Renforw hauls in the game-winning pass from quarterback Deshaun Watson with one second left to beat Alabama, winning the program its first national championship in 35 years. (File Photo/The Clemson Insider)
January 9, 2017, CFP National Championship, Clemson vs. Alabama: Clemson wins its second national title in history and first in 35 years with a 35-31 victory over No. 1 Alabama, who had entered the game with a 26-game winning streak. Hunter Renfrow scored the winning touchdown with just one second remaining on a two-yard pass from Deshaun Watson. It was Clemson’s first win over the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
January 7, 2019, CFP National Championship, Clemson vs. Alabama: Trevor Lawrence became the first freshman since 1985 to lead his team to a national championship thanks to Clemson’s 44-16 win over Alabama. The win clinched the Tigers’ second national championship in three years. Lawrence played a big role in why the Tigers dominated the Crimson Tide like they did. He completed 20-of-32 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns to earn MVP honors. The win was historic because of the nature in which the Tigers beat ‘Bama and because it clinched a perfect 15-0 season, the first in major college football since 1897. It also marked Clemson’s first undefeated season since the 1981 National Championship team went 12-0.
—Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this story