The ACC recently released the complete schedule for the 2024 football season, with the Tigers having one of the most difficult schedules in the conference.
ACC analyst EJ Manuel recently discussed the Tigers’ schedule on the ACC Huddle: 2024 Football Schedule Release show on Wednesday. Manuel shared the reasons why he thought this, and it all started with Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 31.
“Like, you start the season off with Georgia,” Manuel said. “And the only reason I say this is one of the tougher schedules is because that game, if they don’t win it, then the narrative again nationally at times can then be the negative, right – people start chirping and all that kind of stuff. But if they do win it, ‘Clemson’s back,’ all those kind of things, which then adds a lot of pressure.”
In-conference, the Tigers have some battles. One of the biggest ones will be against rivals NC State, who took down the Tigers in 2023. Manuel expects this Wolfpack team to be even more improved next season and highlights how big of a matchup it is.
“NC State’s going to be much improved this year – a quarterback that can certainly run that offense led by (offensive coordinator) Robert Anae, a bunch of other pieces, (wide receiver) KC Concepcion, and a returning defense. Move down to Florida State on the road, then you’ve got Louisville at home,” Manuel said.
“So you’ve got really good teams at different pockets of the season. So I think when you have injuries where you don’t show up in certain games – let’s say you play great the seventh game, the eighth game, you come out a little bit flat. I think it’s going to be really key for this Clemson team to try and sustain this throughout the entire year, and that’s always hard to do for anybody.”
Overall, the Tigers will face some of the best competition in the country in 2024 and will need to prepare appropriately. With competition comes opportunity. If Clemson proves they can finish games and compete at the highest level, they will be in the College Football Playoff hunt.