Clemson Football: Having two bye weeks benefits Tigers in 2019

The 2019 Clemson football season will have the same amount of games as every other season, but will be a week longer due to the double-byes.

The 2019 Clemson football season will be a bit longer than normal this season.

Though the Tigers will play the same amount of games, the season will be extended a week due to every team in CFB getting an extra bye.

Interestingly enough, the double-bye season in College Football happens every so often due to the calendar. According to Sports Illustrated, the last time College Football had a double-season was back in 2014. There was also one in 2013 and in 2008. The double-bye happens because of how the weeks are aligned.

The first official week of College Football is always the weekend before Labor Day. The final week is always the week of Thanksgiving with conference championship weekend taking place the first weekend in December. Because the weekend of Labor Day falls on Aug. 31 and the weekend of Thanksgiving is Nov. 30, there are 14 weeks of College Football instead of the normal 13.

Many Clemson football fans may not be aware of where the byes fall and may not have even known that the Tigers have two byes this season, so let’s take a look at the bye weeks.

Clemson’s first bye week comes after the North Carolina game (Sept. 28) and before the Florida State game (Oct. 12). This is a decent place to have your first bye week because it sets things up very nicely in terms of the schedule. The Tigers will play five games to open up the season and then get a week of rest right before game six (Florida State at home).

Playing five games gives the coaches enough film to go back and really critique the team and also allows the Tigers to get a bye right at the time in the schedule when they may be starting to feel a little fatigue.

There’s good spacing between the two byes, as well.

After coming back from the first bye week, Clemson will play six games in a row before the next bye week. Florida State, @ Louisville, Boston College, Wofford, @ NC State and Wake Forest will be the six games. This phase of the schedule will be the major conference portion of the season.

Clemson gets its second bye week right before the rivalry game with South Carolina. That means the Tigers get a week to rest and prepare for the trip down to Columbia. The rest will be beneficial not just for the rivalry game, but also for the ACC Championship game the following week, assuming the Tigers get back to Charlotte.

Overall, you couldn’t have asked for much better bye placement. You’ve got one a little more than midway through the season and then a second one near the end right before your rivalry game. That’s just another advantage that Clemson football will have coming into 2019.