One game at a time. That is how Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers need to approach this season. If they take care of business, play-by-play, quarter-by-quarter, and game-by-game, everything should sort itself out. However, for Clemson to reach the summit of the ACC again, it will require the Tigers winning a few challenging games, as well as ones they probably should not. What games fit the bill?
Looking at Clemson's upcoming schedule, there are several roadblocks the Tigers need to navigate.
Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
Sept. 5 | at LSU Tigers | Baton Rouge, LA | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Sept. 12 | Georgia Southern Eagles | Clemson, SC | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Sept. 19 | North Carolina Tar Heels | Clemson, SC | 12:00 p.m. ET |
Sept. 25 | at California Golden Bears | Berkeley, CA | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Oct. 3 | Miami Hurricanes | Clemson, SC | TBA ET |
Oct. 10 | BYE | ||
Oct. 17 | Charleston Southern Buccaneers | Clemson, SC | TBA ET |
Oct. 24 | Virginia Tech Hokies | Clemson, SC | TBA ET |
Oct. 31 | at Florida State Seminoles | Tallahassee, FL | TBA ET |
Nov. 7 | at Syracuse Orange | Syracuse, NY | TBA ET |
Nov. 14 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | Clemson, SC | TBA ET |
Nov. 20 | at Duke Blue Devils | Durham, NC | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Nov. 28 | South Carolina Gamecocks | Clemson, SC | TBA ET |
Dec. 5 | ACC Championship | Charlotte, NC | 12:00 p.m. ET |
Clemson has an eight-game ACC schedule, with two SEC teams slated to play the Tigers in the non-conference. Power Four home games include dates with North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and South Carolina. Clemson's five Power Four road games are at LSU, California, Florida State, Syracuse, and Duke. It also draws Georgia Southern out of FBS and Charleston Southern out of FCS.
Should Swinney want to win a national championship this season, he needs to win these five games.
5. South Carolina Gamecocks (Nov. 28: Clemson, SC)
Let's examine the Palmetto Bowl under two separate lenses, one where South Carolina is good, and one where the Gamecocks are pedestrian at best. In the event that Shane Beamer's team becomes a perennial fixture in the top 25 as David Pollack envisions, a home win over South Carolina would be a tremendous pelt on the wall for Clemson's playoff dreams. You can never have too many quality wins.
Conversely, if South Carolina is as bad as the Gamecocks were a season ago, a loss to them would be so incredibly punitive. It might make winning the ACC potentially Clemson's best, and only, shot of making the playoffs. Frankly, that was somewhat the case two years ago. South Carolina was good that year, but Clemson needed to beat SMU in Charlotte to have any hope of earning the No. 12 seed.
Clemson would not have any kind of special season if it featured a home loss from South Carolina.
4. Duke Blue Devils (Nov. 20: Durham, NC)
The Duke road game is tricky for a multitude of reasons. While this is not a quintessential trap game, Clemson cannot afford to drop another one to the Blue Devils. Duke has won the last two meetings. Manny Diaz is once again emerging as a strong head coach in the ACC. With it being a road game and on a bit of a short week, it does play into the Blue Devils' advantage of potentially holding serve here.
Unless Duke really struggles this year, Clemson should view this game as one of quality to close out ACC play. Duke has won nine games each of the past two years. The Blue Devils are in the midst of a surprisingly strong half-decade. Furthermore, whoever wins this game could prevent the loser from getting to Charlotte. These are the last two teams to win the ACC. This game carries some gravitas.
If Clemson aspires to win the ACC and reach the College Football Playoff, the Tigers must beat Duke.
3. California Golden Bears (Sept. 25, Berkeley, CA)
Cal is one of the most intriguing teams in the ACC. Over the last few seasons, the Golden Bears have shown they can beat anyone in the league, as well as lose to anyone... With Tosh Lupoi coming over from Oregon to lead his alma mater's team, he could be the one to get the most out of Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele's immense talent at quarterback. With this one being early on the road, it will be tough.
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To be quite frank, it would be remarkable for Clemson to go on the road and beat the Golden Bears in Berkeley. It may not look like a schedule loss to some fans, but cross-country travel and a night game vs. a feisty new conference foe make this game so difficult. As long as Christopher Vizzina can hold his own when going up against JKS, Clemson should have a chance at knocking off Cal at its stadium.
This game should be seen as a means to amp up for the huge home date eight days later with Miami.
2. LSU Tigers (Sept. 5: Baton Rouge, LA)
The more we think about it, the more important it is for Clemson to avenge last season's loss in the Battle for Death Valley. LSU took the first leg of the home-and-home at Clemson. While neither team amounted to all that much a year ago, one would think these two Tigers teams could be vying for the same collection of College Football Playoff berths. We are looking at the last few teams to make it in.
Even more so than Palmetto, a Clemson road win over LSU would be the perfect pelt on the wall for Swinney and his team to fabricate a beautiful tapestry out of. Regardless of if LSU makes the playoffs or not, the Bayou Bengals should remain top-25 viable throughout the campaign. This might be Lane Kiffin's first year in Baton Rouge, but all eyes are on him leading his new team into the Playoff this year.
Not only would a win over LSU silence Swinney's doubters, but it should set Clemson up for success.
1. Miami Hurricanes (Oct. 3: Clemson, SC)
Of course, it is Miami. It was always going to be Miami... Although Mario Cristobal's team has won 10-plus games in each of the last two campaigns, he has never guided his beloved alma mater to an ACC Championship. To be honest, no one ever has... Regardless, Clemson stands a tremendous shot at spoiling Miami's quest at perfection. The Tigers will host the Canes in Death Valley in early October.
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Not only would a win over the Hurricanes give the Tigers the head-to-head tiebreaker when it comes to clinching a spot in the ACC title bout, but we have seen the College Football Playoff Selection Committee time and time again honor head-to-head wins when they matter most. The ACC will get at least one team into the playoffs this year. If it were to get two, it needs some Miami shenanigans first.
If anybody has a chance at handing Miami a loss within the context of ACC play, it must be Clemson.
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