DURHAM, N.C. — It is game day at Duke University where Clemson looks to open the season with a conference win over the Blue Devils.

The ninth-ranked Tigers hope to begin another run to the College Football Playoff.

Location: Wallace Wade Stadium

Kickoff: 8:00 PM

Television: ABC

Announcers:  Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill

2023 Record: Clemson 0-0,  Duke 0-0

ACC Record: Clemson 0-0

Series History: Clemson lead the series 37-16-1

Last Meeting:  Clemson won 35-6 on November 17, 2018

Clemson will open a season on Labor Day evening for the second straight year when the ninth-ranked Tigers face the Duke Blue Devils on Monday, Sept. 4. Kickoff at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., is scheduled
for 8 p.m. ET.

Clemson enters the game as the reigning ACC champions after winning its league-leading 21st all-time ACC title last season. The Tigers are 15-4-1 all-time in conference openers of seasons following ACC titles, a mark that includes wins in conference openers following each of Clemson’s six ACC titles from 2015-20.

A year ago, Clemson opened its 2022 ACC titlewinning campaign on Labor Day night, defeating Georgia Tech, 41-10, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in
Atlanta. Clemson’s final offensive play of the contest was a three-yard touchdown pass by Cade Klubnik, his first career touchdown pass in his first career game. On Monday, Klubnik is expected to make his first career
regular season start, as last December he became the first Clemson quarterback since the modernization of Clemson’s quarterback position in 1953 to make his first career start in a postseason game.

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney enters the game with a 99-19 record in ACC regular season play. With a win on Monday, he would become only the second coach ever to lead a program to 100 career regular season conference victories as head of an ACC program, joining Bobby Bowden, whose more than 300 career wins at Florida State included 117 conference wins following
the Seminoles’ addition to the conference in 1992.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS SEASON

– Clemson (789-468-45) needing 11 more wins to become the first ACC program — and 14th FBS program ever — to record 800 all-time victories.
– Clemson attempting to become the first program to win 22 ACC titles. Since helping form the conference in 1953, Clemson leads the ACC with 21 titles all-time, including 20 outright.
– Clemson (six) attempting to become only the second team to earn seven College Football Playoff berths since the institution of the postseason format in 2014 (Alabama, 7).
– Clemson attempting to extend its school record by winning 10 games for a 13th consecutive season. Clemson is presently one of three FBS programs ever to post 12 consecutive 10-win seasons alongside Alabama (15 from 2008-22) and Florida State (14 from 1987-2000). Clemson is already the only school to win 10 games in double-digit consecutive seasons as a member of the ACC, as only the final nine of Florida State’s 14-straight 10-win seasons came during the Seminoles’ tenure in the ACC.
– Clemson attempting to win a postseason game (conference championship, bowl game and/or national championship game) for a 13th consecutive season. Clemson’s current 12-year streak is the longest streak on record in major college football history.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

– Clemson playing its 27th Monday game all-time but only its 11th regular season Monday game in school history.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 16-11 all-time in Monday games, which would include an 8-3 record in Monday regular season games.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 96-24-8 all-time in season openers and give the Tigers victories in 13 of their last 15 season debuts.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 38-16-1 alltime against Duke and move to 16-12 in road games in Durham.
– Clemson attempting to win a sixth consecutive game against Duke. It would be the second-longest winning streak in series history by either team, joining Clemson’s eight-game winning streak from 1981-88.
– Clemson and Duke playing a third consecutive night game in the series (2012, 2018 and 2023) after not playing any night games against one another in the series’ first 52 contests.

SEASON OPENERS

Clemson has won 30 of its last 38 season openers.  Head Coach Dabo Swinney is 12-2 in openers in his career with his only losses coming to Georgia in 2014 and 2021. Swinney’s 12 season-opening wins are
second-most in school history, two ahead of Danny Ford (9) and 13 shy of Frank Howard’s record of 25.

Clemson was no stranger to exciting season openers in the first few years after the turn of the century.  In 2004, against Wake Forest, Clemson won a 37-30 overtime thriller on ABC. Clemson won at home in 2005, a 25-24 win over No. 17 Texas A&M on a 42-yard field goal by Jad Dean with two seconds left.

Clemson also beat No. 19 Florida State in the 2007 season opener.
The Tigers are 95-24-8 (.780) in their first game in their previous 127 seasons. Clemson is 12-12-2 in season-opening games on the road, including a 14-6 win at Furman in 1896 in the first game in Clemson history.

TCI Predictions 

Robert – Clemson 42, Duke 17

Will – Clemson 30, Duke 20

Cameron – Clemson 31, Duke 24

Gavin – Clemson 34, Duke 21