It’s Game Day at Death Valley where No. 3 Clemson battlesWofford as the Tigers look to earn their 24th straight win today. Clemson looks to take another step towards the College Football Playoff.
Location: Memorial Stadium (Death Valley)
Kickoff: 4:00 PM
Television: ACC Network
Announcers: Chris Kotter, Mark Herzlich, Kelsy Riggs
2019 Record: Clemson 8-0, Boston College 4-3
ACC Record: Clemson 6-0 Wofford 5-2
Series History: Clemson leads 12-3
Last Meeting: Clemson won 49-10 on September 5, 2015
CLEMSON WELCOMES WOFFORD FOR NON-CONFERENCE TILT
Clemson will host its annual Military Appreciation Day and Purple Out contest when the Tigers host in-state foe Wofford in a non-conference game on Saturday, Nov. 2. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
Clemson and members of its squad enter November on the precipice of a number of school records. The Tigers are already in the midst of a school-record 23-game winning streak, and last week, Clemson won its 20th consecutive home game. With another victory at Death Valley this week, Clemson can tie the school record for its longest home winning streak, matching the 21 consecutive Memorial Stadium victories posted across the 2013-16 seasons.
Memorial Stadium has recently played host to one of the most productive and explosive players in Clemson’s illustrious 124-year history. Including his three rushing touchdowns against Boston College last week, running
back Travis Etienne enters this week with 46 career rushing touchdowns and 49 career total touchdowns, putting him within striking distance of “Thunder and Lightning” for school records in each category.
“Thunder” James Davis presently holds the school record with 47 career rushing touchdowns across the 2005-08 seasons, a mark Etienne can tie with
one rushing touchdown or break with two rushing touchdowns. “Lightning” C.J. Spiller holds the Clemson record in total touchdowns with 51, a record Etienne can tie with two touchdowns or break with three touchdowns.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
– Clemson attempting to open a season 9-0 for the sixth time in program history and the fourth time in the last five years (1948, 1981, 2015, 2016 and 2018).
Clemson earned conference titles in all of the previous five seasons in which it opened 9-0 and earned national championships in three of those years.
– Clemson attempting to win the first nine games of a season for the fourth time under Head Coach Dabo Swinney (2015, 2016 and 2018). All other coaches in Clemson history have combined for two 9-0 starts, including one each by Frank Howard and Danny Ford.
– The 2019 Clemson seniors attempting to win their 50th game in the last four years to become the ninth senior class in FBS history to accomplish the feat. The 50th win would tie the 2019 Clemson seniors with the 2017 senior class for the second-most career wins in school history.
– Head Coach Dabo Swinney (124-30) attempting to win his 125th career game as a head coach. Per records from Sports Reference, he would be the 10th-fastest coach in major college football history to 125 wins in terms of games coached, trailing George Woodruff (142), Urban Meyer (148), Bob Neyland (148), Chris Petersen (151), Joe Paterno (153), Fielding Yost (153),
Barry Switzer (153), Bud Wilkinson (153) and Henry Williams (154).
– Clemson attempting to win its 24th consecutive game, dating to the start of the 2018 season, to extend the longest winning streak in school history and secondlongest winning streak in ACC history.
MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY
Clemson, formally founded as Clemson Agricultural College in November 1889, was originally a military school, reflecting a belief at the time that a military atmosphere produced the highest academic excellence.
Beginning with the first graduating class of 1896, more than 10,000 Clemson men and women have served in the armed forces. Throughout the decades, Clemson’s military heritage has remained, even as the university transitioned
to a coeducational civilian institution in 1955.
Saturday’s game against Wofford will be Clemson’s 26th Military Appreciation Day. The history of the special day dates to 1994 when Clemson had a special flyover for the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech game on Nov. 12, just one day after Veterans Day. Clemson had a flyover of four
F-16s from Shaw Air Force Base during pregame as the highlight of the celebration that day.
Clemson has celebrated its military history every year since during games held in November or when Clemson plays host to a school with its own military heritage. Clemson has a 21-4 record in the previous 25 Military
Appreciation Day games. The Tigers have won 11 such games in a row, with the last loss coming against Virginia Tech in 2007.
CLEMSON VS. SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Clemson has not lost to a Southern Conference school since the Tigers left the Southern Conference to help form the ACC in 1953. Clemson has won 45 games in a row against Southern Conference teams. Clemson last lost to a Southern Conference team in 1952 when South Carolina defeated the Tigers, 6-0, when both schools were still Southern Conference members.
The last time Clemson lost to a team currently in the Southern Conference was 1936 when Furman defeated the Tigers, 12-0.
ESTEEMED COMPANY
Head Coach Dabo Swinney’s run of excellence in his decade-plus at Clemson has placed him in the company of college football legends.
Swinney enters this week with a winning percentage of .804, sitting as one of only 14 head coaches in history with at least 10 seasons of FBS head coaching experience to post a mark of .800 or better. That list presently includes Knute Rockne (.881), Frank Leahy (.864), Urban Meyer (.854), George Woodruff (.846), Barry Switzer (.837), Tom Osborne (.836), Fielding
Yost (.833), Percy Haughton (.832), Bob Neyland (.826), Bud Wilkinson (.826), Jock Sutherland (.812), Bob Devaney (.806) and Chris Petersen (.800).
Among the legends Swinney has already passed are College Football Hall of Famers Bo Schembechler (.775), Bear Bryant (.780) and Henry Williams (.785), as well as Nick Saban (.795 prior to NCAA adjustment), whose Crimson Tide were defeated by Swinney and the Tigers in the most recent College Football Playoff National Championship.
Swinney (124) is one win away from reaching 125 career victories as a head coach. Against Florida State earlier this year, Swinney passed the career total of Danny Ford, who won 121 combined games at Clemson (96) and Arkansas (25).
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 72, Wofford 0
Will – Clemson 66, Wofford 7
Gavin – Clemson 59, Wofford 10
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