Though they were 2,500 miles from the Clemson campus, Dabo Swinney was not surprised to see all the orange throughout Memorial Stadium Friday night in Berkeley, Calif. It was not just a few either, it was several thousand Tiger fans that made the cross-country trek.

Their Tigers repaid them for their loyalty by coming to Cal and dominating the Golden Bears 24-10. It was Clemson’s second win in the state of California and first in the regular season.

The program’s other win in the Golden State came in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Alabama, which was also in the Bay Area.

“Yeah, it’s amazing,” Swinney said after the game. “I felt like we would probably have a good amount of Clemson people (here).”

He was not wrong.

Clemson fans have always been known as one of the best in the country when it comes to following their team, and perhaps the best in the ACC. That fact was proven again on Friday, when at one point before kickoff there were more Tiger fans in the stands than Cal fans.

And though the Cal faithful rolled in before the game got really going, the orange in the stadium was very noticeable to the Tigers.

“Our fans, I felt like we probably had people maybe from like Colorado on West that probably would come and see us play and make a little trip out of it,” Swinney said. “There is a lot to do around here for sure. But I really appreciate our fans. I mean, we had a good crowd. We had a good group of people. It’s always awesome to be able to win in front of (the fans), especially on the road.

“And, hopefully, our fans at home stayed awake. I don’t know. Hopefully, they stayed awake. But this was a neat experience.”

It was an experience the Tigers walked out with a win and then got to celebrate with all their loyal fans.

—photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics Communications