Clemson football has played many games against regional opponents over the course of its long history.
On Friday, the Tigers added a future opponent to their schedule that they’ve never met on the gridiron before. The school announced Friday that it would play East Carolina as part of its 2029 non-conference schedule. The game will be played on September 1 at Clemson Memorial Stadium in the Tigers’ season-opener.
“We are extremely excited to add Clemson to our schedule,” East Carolina athletic director Jon Gilbert said in a news release. “East Carolina is committed to facing high quality non-conference opponents as we continue to showcase our brand across the country.
“This is another great opportunity to take our program to one of the country’s best college football atmospheres in Memorial Stadium (Death Valley). We continue to try and find the delicate balance between playing guarantee games while also providing a competitive schedule for our program and fans.”
Clemson confirmed the news in a social media post to X, formerly Twitter, Friday.
East Carolina joins Georgia and South Carolina on Clemson’s 2029 non-conference slate. 🗓️
See Clemson’s future non-conference opponents here: https://t.co/v0c6tww8xX pic.twitter.com/cCRfzXlhr2
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) June 21, 2024
East Carolina is a member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and is coming off a 2-10 season in 2023. They won only one game in conference play — a 22-7 victory over Florida Atlantic on November 11 in Boca Raton.
Mike Houston has been East Carolina’s head coach since 2018. He led the program to consecutive bowl appearances in 2021 and 2022. The Pirates were selected for the Military Bowl in 2021 but the game was postponed due to COVID-19.
A year later, East Carolina played its first official bowl game since January 2015 when they defeated Coastal Carolina, 53-29, in the Birmingham Bowl. It was the Pirates’ first bowl game victory since 2013 when they were a member of Conference USA.
In addition to East Carolina, Clemson’s tentative 2029 non-conference schedule includes games against Georgia (in Death Valley on September 15) and their annual rivalry with South Carolina at the end of the season (at Williams-Brice Stadium).
Clemson’s future non-conference slate also includes a home-and-home series against LSU beginning in 2025 when the Bengal Tigers visit Memorial Stadium. The two teams are scheduled to play in Baton Rouge in 2026. The Tigers are also scheduled to welcome Troy to Clemson in 2025 and 2028, in addition to Furman in 2025, Georgia Southern in 2026 and Wofford in 2027.
Beyond that, Clemson has a scheduled home-and-home series with Notre Dame in 2027-28. The Tigers will host the Fighting Irish in 2027 before making a trip to South Bend in 2028.
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