Red Bandana Game: Clemson vs. Boston College Prediction

Clemson takes on Boston College at 7:30 pm (ABC).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Oct 08 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2022

Finally, another trip to Boston.

Clemson hasn’t played in Boston since the 2018 season. After Clemson and Boston College met in Death Valley for three straight seasons from 2019-21, the Tigers will return to Chestnut Hill on Saturday, Oct. 8 when the fifth-ranked Tigers face the Eagles in an ACC Atlantic Division contest. Kickoff at Alumni Stadium for ABC's Saturday Night Football is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

In 2020, the altered schedule amid the COVID-19 pandemic turned a planned Boston College home game into a Clemson home game in what turned out to be current Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei's first career start. Clemson's most recent visit to Boston was in 2018, when true freshman Trevor Lawrence led the Tigers to a 27-7 win that clinched a division title for Clemson in front of a prime-time national audience on ABC.

NO. 5/5 CLEMSON (5-0, 3-0 ACC) at BOSTON COLLEGE (2-3, 1-2 ACC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, OCT. 8, 7:30 P.M. ET
WHERE: ALUMNI STADIUM (44,500) CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.
TELEVISION: ABC (Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Molly McGrath)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 81, Internet/ App 81

CLEMSON/BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES HISTORY

OVERALL: Clemson leads series, 20-9-2
HOME: Clemson leads series, 10-3-1
ROAD: Clemson leads series, 9-6-1
NEUTRAL: Clemson leads series, 1-0
LAST MEETING: Oct. 2, 2021 (19-13, W)
STREAK: Clemson, Won 11

NOTABLE

*Clemson is attempting to extend the nation's longest active winning streak (would be 12) and attempting to post the sixth winning streak of 12 or more games in program history.

*Clemson is attempting to win its 12th consecutive game against Boston College, dating back to 2011. Clemson’s 11-game winning streak against Boston College is its second-longest active streak against an ACC opponent, trailing Clemson’s 14-game active winning streak against Wake Forest.

*Head coach Dabo Swinney (192 games) will surpass North Carolina and Wake Forest’s Bill Dooley (191) for third-most career games as an ACC head coach. Swinney’s 191 career games as an ACC head coach are already a Clemson record, as only 172 of Frank Howard’s 295 career games at Clemson came as a member of the ACC.

*Clemson is attempting to improve to 33-4 in true road games since 2015.

*Clemson is attempting to win a 37th consecutive game against unranked opponents when ranked in the AP Top 5, the longest active streak in college football according to ESPN Stats & Info.

WHEN CLEMSON HAS THE BALL

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei is 104-159 for 1,242 yards this season, with 11 touchdowns against just one interception. More importantly, perhaps, is that he has been a factor running the football and rushed for 72 yards last week in the win over NC State. He’s already rushed for 242 yards this season after rushing for just 308 yards in 13 games last season. The Boston College run defense has been spotty, and they’ve given up chunks of yardage at times. They rank 10th in the ACC in rush defense, giving up 154 yards per game and allowing over four yards per carry.

Clemson’s offensive line, a big question mark the last few seasons, is starting to come into its own, and running back Will Shipley is the big weapon out of the backfield. Perhaps the biggest surprise has been the play of freshman wide receiver Antonio Williams, who leads the team with 17 receptions and is second only to Beaux Collins (232-229) in receiving yards. On what should be a cooler, windy night in Boston, look for the Tigers to establish the run game.

ADVANTAGE: CLEMSON

WHEN BOSTON COLLEGE HAS THE BALL

Interesting note: Clemson is dead last in the ACC in pass defense, giving up 263 yards per game. On the flip side, Clemson is second nationally in rush defense. Boston College is playing with a patchwork offensive line and rush yards have been hard to come by.

That has left quarterback Phil Jurkovec to carry the load, and while he’s thrown 10 touchdown passes, he’s also tossed six interceptions. The Eagles’ leading ball carrier, Pat Garwo, is averaging under four yards per carry and just 45 yards per game. The Eagles will hit some plays down the field because wide receiver Zay Flowers is one of the best in the country, and Clemson’s corners will have their hands full with the dynamic playmaker.

But Clemson’s defensive line against that offensive line is just not a good matchup.

ADVANTAGE: CLEMSON

SPECIAL TEAMS

Boston College’s Connor Lytton is 4-7 on field goals and punter Danny Longman is above average at over 42 yards per punt. Their return teams haven’t been anything special, and they’ve allowed a punt return for a touchdown.

Clemson has yet to get untracked in the return game, and punter Aidan Swanson is last in the ACC (among qualifiers) at 39.25 yards per punt. Lou Groza Award candidate B.T. Potter — a fifth-year senior in the midst of No. 5 Clemson's 5-0 start — has steadily continued to ascend Clemson and ACC record books. With four points this week, Potter can become the 10th kicker — and 11th player overall including running back Travis Etienne — in ACC history to reach 400 career points.

Potter (396) is also nine points shy of surpassing Chandler Catanzaro (404 from 2010-13) to become the highest-scoring kicker in Clemson history, Potter's 63 career field goals have covered 2,338 yards, 32 yards shy of the Clemson career record for yards on field goals set by Nelson Welch from 1991-94 (2,370).

ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO CLEMSON

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Boston College wants to play well in primetime in a game that honors fallen hero Welles Crowther, and Zay Flowers is a difference maker. Clemson is also coming off an emotional win over a ranked team in front of the home crowd, and this sets up as a possible trap game. But the difference between on the line of scrimmage – Clemson’s defense against the Boston College offense – looks to be too much to overcome. And if Clemson gets the lead, they will sit on it and try to get out of Boston with a win while keeping everyone healthy. For whatever reason, I just don’t see this as a high-scoring affair. But the Tigers score enough.

FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 37, BOSTON COLLEGE 13

More TigerNet picks

Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 37-17 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 31-14 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 41-17 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 35-13 Clemson
Pigskin Prophet - 41-16 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 42-14 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 42-10 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor	Pensy
GT	41-10 CU	38-13 CU	33-9 CU	41-7 CU	33-10 CU	35-13 CU	34-7 CU	39-6 CU	-
Furman	35-12 CU	50-10 CU	51-10 CU	59-7 CU	45-3 CU	45-3 CU	49-6 CU	48-7 CU	-
La Tech	48-20 CU	37-14 CU	51-10 CU	59-10 CU	44-13 CU	45-13 CU	45-10 CU	45-10 CU	38-10 CU
Wake	51-45 CU 2OT	37-27 CU	38-27 CU	34-20 CU	38-24 CU	31-24 CU	37-23 CU	31-24 CU	56-28 CU
NC State	30-20 CU	30-21 CU	31-21 CU	30-17 CU	27-20 CU	28-20 CU	34-17 CU	31-24 CU	37-34 CU
BC	31-3 CU	37-13 CU	37-17 CU	31-14 CU	41-17 CU	35-13 CU	41-16 CU	42-14 CU	42-10 CU
Points	-	10	6	10	6	8	6	6	6

* 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