2021 Clemson football home-opener vs. SC State is at a weird time

The first time that we will see Clemson football fans at full capacity inside Death Valley will be on Saturday, Sept. 11 when the Tigers return home to take on the S.C. State Bulldogs.

Clemson will open up the 2021 season with a neutral-site matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Though it won’t exactly be an exciting matchup the following week, the prospect of seeing 80,000 plus fans inside of Death Valley again is something that we all are looking forward to be a part of again.

The home-opener for Clemson football will be televised on the ACC Network, but will start at a bit of a weird time. The game will kickoff at 5 p.m. E.T.

Clemson football fans will still be ready even if they’re in Death Valley at a strange time

Typically a Saturday game time is either noon, 3:30 p.m. or a night game (7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.). The ACC Network added in a 4 p.m. start time in which it broadcasted games the last couple of seasons, but it’s not very often we see a game start at 5 p.m.

While it might throw some traditionalists off, that 5 p.m. start time might actually be beneficial for Clemson football fans when it’s all said and done. Though it will still be scorching hot at 5 p.m., by the time the second half rolls around, we’ll start to see a significant drop in temperature. If the game started at noon or 3:30, you’re talking about a scorcher all afternoon instead of just through the first half- well, maybe.

Where it might most benefit Tiger fans, though, is the tailgating both before and after the game.

Clemson fans will have ample time to set up their tailgates- after being discouraged from doing so last season- and many lots will still have time after the game is over for fans to return to their tailgate and watch some of the nightcap games going on around the world of College Football.

We wouldn’t get used to the 5 p.m. start time, but there’s nothing wrong with trying it out this time.

In addition, the ACC announced that the Georgia Tech at Clemson game on Saturday, Sept. 18 will be at 3:30 p.m. E.T. on either ESPN or ABC and that the Clemson at Syracuse game on Friday, Oct. 15 will be at 7 p.m. on ESPN.