Clemson schedule takes on a different look as transfers dominate college football |
Clemson’s 2024 football schedule should be fun, and we now know more about the teams than we did a few months ago when the first iteration of the schedule was announced at the end of October.
With the addition of the ACC’s three new member institutions next summer – University of California (Cal), Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Stanford University – the new football scheduling model will go into effect beginning with the 2024 season. The 2024 ACC Football schedule with specific game dates for all matchups will be announced at 9 p.m. on January 31, 2024, as part of ACC Network’s ACC Huddle: 2024 Schedule Reveal. The top two teams based on conference winning percentage will compete in the ACC Football Championship Game on the first Saturday in December at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The new scheduling model protects 16 annual matchups. Of the 16 matchups, 11 are retained from the current 3-5-5 schedule model, two are restored rivalries from the divisional format in Miami-Virginia Tech and NC State-Wake Forest and the three new schools fill the remaining three. The annual protected matchups are Boston College-Syracuse, Boston College-Pitt, Syracuse-Pitt, North Carolina-Virginia, North Carolina-Duke, North Carolina-NC State, NC State-Wake Forest, NC State-Duke, Duke-Wake Forest, Virginia Tech-Virginia, Florida State-Clemson, Miami-Florida State, Miami-Virginia Tech, Stanford-Cal, Stanford-SMU, and Cal-SMU. HERE ARE THE DATES WE KNOW *GEORGIA – The Tigers and Bulldogs will kick off the season in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Aug. 31 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The teams last played to open the season in 2021 in Charlotte, a defensive affair that saw the Bulldogs earn their first win on the way to the National Championship. *APPALACHIAN ST. – The Tigers will take to the field a week later for the home opener against the Mountaineers. Clemson is 5-0 all-time against App. St., the last a 41-10 victory in 2015. However, there is some added drama to this one – the Tigers flipped two App. St. commits late in the 2024 recruiting cycle in safety Joe Wilkinson and offensive lineman Watson Young. *THE CITADEL – The Bulldogs come calling on what will likely be Senior Day on November 23rd. *SOUTH CAROLINA – A week later, on Nov. 30th, is the annual rivalry game against Shane Beamer and South Carolina. Beamer’s crew finished with five wins and missed a bowl game last season, but he’s trying to reload via the transfer portal after a mass exodus at the end of the season. OTHER HOME GAMES *LOUISVILLE – Jeff Brohm’s first season in Louisville was a success. Sort of. The Cardinals ran roughshod over the early part of the schedule and clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game. But they lost to Kentucky to end the regular season, suffered an offensive collapse against FSU in Charlotte, and got beat by two touchdowns by a less-than-full-strength USC team in the bowl game. The Cards have suffered losses in the portal but also added Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough. *NC STATE – Nothing really needs to be said here. This game was one of the ones Clemson fairly dominated in 2023, but turnovers cost them the win. But Dave Doeren has added former Coastal quarterback Grayson McCall, former Ohio St. wide receiver Noah Rogers and former Duke running back Jordan Waters. *STANFORD – The teams have played exactly one time, a 27-21 Clemson win in 1986. Stanford finished 3-9 this past season, including a loss to Sacramento St., but did beat Colorado in a two-overtime thriller. *VIRGINIA – Tony Elliott has had two rough seasons in Charlottesville, but brings back to Death Valley the Adam Smotherman (the get-back coach), running back Kobe Pace, and tight end Sage Ennis. Pace had 125 carries for 382 yards (3.06 yards per carry) this past season. Ennis entered the transfer portal, committed to Florida A&M, but flipped to Virginia when former A&M head coach (and Clemson quarterback) Willie Simmons accepted the job as the running backs coach at Duke. ROAD GAMES *FSU – All you need to know here is that the Seminoles beat Clemson in Death Valley last season, supplanted the Tigers as ACC champs, and will have DJ Uiagalelei at quarterback. *PITT – Clemson traveled to Pitt in 2021 and suffered a 27-17 defeat. The Panthers were 3-9 last season and went 2-6 in conference play. *VIRGINIA TECH – The Hokies are another one of those teams in seemingly endless transition. They were 7-6 in 2023 but lost to the good teams and beat the bad teams in the regular season and then beat Tulane 41-20 in the bowl game. *WAKE FOREST – The Tigers have won 15 in a row against the Demon Deacons, which ties the 15-game win streak from 1977-1991. Two years ago in Winston-Salem, it was a shootout, but many of the games simply haven’t been close.
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