The Clemson football team will take on The Citadel on Sept. 19 to finish out the 2020 schedule
The 2020 Clemson football schedule is now complete with the official announcement that the Tigers will be taking on The Citadel on Sept. 19.
Clemson football, which is set to open up the season on Sept. 12 with an away game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, will host the Bulldogs the following week before having a bye.
Many Clemson football fans felt underwhelmed with the match-up and many others all across the nation questioned why the Tigers would even play this game. After all, there is little doubt what the outcome of the match-up will be and it only presents another hurdle for Clemson to potentially overcome as the Tigers try to play a season amidst the pandemic.
Despite those challenges, there are several reasons why this game isn’t a ginormous waste of space and time.
Why The Citadel non-conference game isn’t just a waste of space for Clemson football
There are two major reasons why this game still makes sense in the grand scheme of things and much of it has to do with economics.
The Citadel was set to earn a $450,000 payout from the game and that will go a long way in keeping that athletic department above water in a year where profit is going to be extremely hard to come by.
The other economic aspect has to do with the Clemson perspective.
We all know that there won’t be 80,000 fans in Death Valley this year, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any fans in the community or in the stadium. If Clemson goes with the common number being thrown around in most other College Football areas- 20 to 25 percent capacity- that would still put around 16,000-20,000 in the stands.
In addition to the 20,000 in the stands, you could see some fans come into town just to spend some time around the atmosphere. This is huge because of the local businesses in the area. Local businesses already stand to lose a ton of money with not as many fans being able to attend games, and that’s only going to multiplied if you take another weekend away from them. It should be noted the Tigers originally had seven home games and they’re now down to six counting The Citadel game.
Outside of economics, there’s also another reason why this game isn’t a complete waste of space: The younger Tigers get a chance to develop, which will be important than ever this season.
You never know what’s going to happen this season when it comes to the spread of the virus and you could very well see a week where a position is decimated and young guys are forced into action. Why not give them some experience right at the beginning of the season so they at least have their feet wet?
I understand even listing these things- and you could make a couple of other arguments, like the content for the ACC Network and the revenue that will come out of that- that playing this game is still a risk.
If The Citadel doesn’t follow strict testing protocols- the same as Clemson football- it could absolutely ruin the 2020 season for the Tigers, and that’s something that requires trust from the perspective of Clemson.