Clemson vs. Pitt Prediction: Rock fight in the Steel City

Clemson takes on Pitt at noon.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Nov 15 08:00:02 GMT-05:00 2024

Clemson’s ACC regular season ends in the Steel City.

The Tigers are still alive in the race to appear in the ACC Championship Game, and a win over Pitt would keep those hopes alive. But their fate is out of their hands, and they will spend the last two weekends cheering for other teams.

But a win over Pitt is the first order of business.

NO. 17/16/20 CLEMSON (7-2, 6-1 ACC) at RV/RV PITT (7-2, 3-2 ACC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, NOV. 16, NOON ET
WHERE: ACRISURE STADIUM (68,400) PITTSBURGH, PA.
TELEVISION: ESPN (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 81

CLEMSON/PITT SERIES HISTORY:

- OVERALL: Clemson trails series, 2-3
- HOME: Series is tied, 1-1
- ROAD: Clemson trails series, 0-1
- NEUTRAL: Series is tied, 1-1
- LAST MEETING: Oct. 23, 2021 (27-17, L)
- STREAK: Pitt, Won 1

NOTABLE

*Clemson is attempting to finish ACC regular season play 7-1. It would mark Clemson's 11th season in school history with seven or more ACC wins and its 10th such season since 2012 (1983, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022).

*Clemson is attempting to win a 10th straight regular season ACC finale. Clemson's active nine-game winning streak in ACC finales is already the program's longest.

*Clemson is attempting to finish 4-0 in true road games this season. Clemson enters the week as one of 12 FBS schools (and one of nine power conference programs) that remains undefeated in road games this season.

*Clemson is attempting to record a perfect record in true road games in a season for the 10th time in program history (1900, 1917, 1948, 1981, 1995, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019).

*Clemson is attempting to improve to 40-8 in true road games since 2015. Clemson's .830 winning percentage in true road games since 2015 is the fourth-best road winning percentage in the nation, and Clemson's 39 road wins in that span are tied for the most in the country.

*Running back Phil Mafah (981) needs 19 rushing yards to post the 24th 1,000-yard rushing season in Clemson history. He would become the 18th player in Clemson annals to record at least one 1,000-yard rushing season, joining Travis Etienne, Wayne Gallman, Raymond Priester, James Davis, Andre Ellington, Woodrow Dantzler, Terrence Flagler, C.J. Spiller, Kenny Flowers, Terry Allen, Will Shipley, Deshaun Watson, Cliff Austin, Buddy Gore, Travis Zachery, Roderick McDowell and Lester Brown.

WHEN CLEMSON HAS THE BALL

The Panthers have been fixtures in the opposing backfield this season. Pitt ranks fifth in both sacks (3.33 avg.) and tackles for loss (8.1 avg.). Pitt also boasts one of the country's most opportunistic defenses, ranking second nationally in defensive touchdowns (four) and pick-sixes (four). The Panthers lead the ACC in both categories. Linebacker Kyle Louis, a highly viable All-America candidate, ranks fifth nationally—and first among FBS linebackers—with four interceptions.

Clemson’s offense was woeful in the first half at Virginia Tech last week but finally found a rhythm in the second half. The big play was when quarterback Cade Klubnik spun out of the grasp of a defender and launched a long touchdown to T.J. Moore.

I still don’t understand why Clemson’s offense isn’t moving fast – there were several instances last week where the play clock was under five seconds before the ball was snapped. Defenses are allowed to substitute and get a long look at the formation.

Pitt’s defense is better than Louisville’s and better than Virginia Tech’s, by some statistical measures, and is tough against the run. Clemson needs to find a way to get Bryant Wesco and Moore more involved down the field.

WHEN PITT HAS THE BALL

Pitt is averaging 36.7 points per game to rank 16th nationally. It marks the Panthers' highest scoring clip since the 2021 ACC champion squad averaged a school-record 41.4. Quarterback Eli Holstein (unknown if he will play) has thrown 17 touchdown passes, tied with Alex Van Pelt (1989) for the most by a Pitt freshman. Desmond Reid, an All-American at Western Carolina last year, ranks fifth nationally with an average of 155.63 all-purpose yards per game.

The Clemson defense shut out Virginia Tech until the final minutes last week, and the insertion of freshman linebacker Sammy Brown into the starting lineup shored up the run defense. Perhaps the Tigers go with more of a 3-3-5 look against the Panthers? That would make some sense to me, but the good news is that defensive end Peter Woods looks to be back from injury and is one of the captains.

If Holstein doesn’t play, the Tigers’ odds go way up.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Pitt is desperate to stop a two-game losing streak and will battle the Tigers like they always do. If the Tigers find it tough to run, that puts the onus on Klubnik and the passing game to make plays. Against better defenses the last two weeks, they haven’t gotten out of their own way enough (penalties, mental mistakes, turnovers) to put up big numbers.

Turnovers will be key. If the Tigers can play clean, the offense will make enough plays, and the defense will do its part. This one simply has the feel of a rock fight.

FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 27, PITT 16

TigerNet picks

David Hood - TigerNet senior writer - 27-16 Clemson
Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 31-17 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 28-12 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 31-16 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 31-21 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 35-17 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - Intern - 27-20 Clemson
Merrell Mann - Photographer - 34-24 Clemson
Brooks Thomason - Intern - 24-21 Clemson
Grayson Mann - Staff writer - 31-17 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Kantor	Pensy	M. Mann	Thomason	G. Mann
Georgia	34-3 UGA	27-24 CU	23-21 CU	24-17 CU	29-20 UGA	27-20 UGA	28-21 UGA	24-17 UGA	17-14 CU	27-21 UGA	27-23 UGA
App State	66-20 CU	34-14 CU	30-16 CU CU	38-17 CU	34-17 CU	31-17 CU	35-10 CU	30-10 CU	31-10 CU	31-13 CU	28-10 CU
NC State	59-35 CU	34-13 CU	38-16 CU	42-20 CU	30-13 CU	28-10 CU	35-14 CU	34-17 CU	38-17 CU	31-10 CU	31-10 CU
Stanford	40-14 CU	44-20 CU	48-17 CU	38-10 CU	44-16 CU	42-14 CU	41-17 CU	45-17 CU	48-21 CU	40-20 CU	41-17 CU
FSU	29-13 CU	41-13 CU	42-10 CU	42-17 CU	38-16 CU	35-14 CU	40-14 CU	55-7 CU	44-20 CU	31-16 CU	45-14 CU
Wake Forest	49-14 CU	47-20 CU	44-20 CU	52-14 CU	45-20 CU	48-13 CU	48-14 CU	35-14 CU	42-13 CU	38-17 CU	45-10 CU
Virginia	48-31 CU	38-16 CU	42-17 CU	38-17 CU	44-20 CU	45-14 CU	47-14 CU	45-17 CU	45-13 CU	42-20 CU	41-17 CU
Louisville	33-21 UL	44-28 CU	40-25 CU	45-24 CU	40-21 CU	34-21 CU	49-31 CU	37-27 CU	42-27 CU	41-28 CU	38-21 CU
Va Tech	24-14 CU	30-23 CU	30-20 CU	28-17 CU	26-22 CU	24-17 CU	41-28 CU	28-24 CU	30-24 CU	31-20 CU	23-21 CU
Points	-	7	7	13	14	14	11	8	7	11	8

* Points: 3 pts for best correct prediction of the week (tiebreaker is Clemson score), 2 pts for picking score exactly, 1 pt for picking the correct winner