RALEIGH — It is Game Day in Carter-Finley Stadium where Clemson battles N.C. State in an Atlantic Division showdown. The Tigers hope to continue the march towards another ACC Championship.
The Tigers’ defense hopes to hold the opponent out of the endzone for the fourth straight game.
Location: Carter-Finley Stadium
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Announcers: Mark Jones, Robert Griffin III, Quint Kessenich
2021 Record: Clemson 2-1, NC State 2-1
ACC Record: Clemson 1-0, NC State 0-0
Series History: Clemson leads series 59-28-1
Last Meeting: Clemson won 55-10 on November 9, 2019
CLEMSON FACES NC STATE IN FIRST TRUE ROAD GAME OF 2021 SEASON
After opening the season with a neutral-site contest in Charlotte and two games at Death Valley, Clemson will face its first true road test of the season on Saturday, Sept. 25, when the Tigers face the North Carolina State Wolfpack in Raleigh. Kickoff at Carter-Finley Stadium is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Clemson’s defense has carried the Tigers early in the 2021 season. Clemson has not surrendered a touchdown defensively all year, marking the first time
Clemson has gone three consecutive games without allowing an offensive touchdown since 1990. It marks the first time Clemson has accomplished the feat across the first three games of a season since 1950, when Clemson shut out Presbyterian, Missouri and NC State to open that campaign.
Defensive tackle Bryan Bresee was among Clemson’s defensive standouts in its 14-8 victory against Georgia Tech last week. The highly touted sophomore recorded two tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks, and ended the game by hauling in a desperation forward lateral attempt by quarterback Jordan Yates. Upon review, Bresee pulled in the illegal forward pass beyond the line of scrimmage, and by virtue of Clemson declining the resulting illegal forward pass penalty, by NCAA rule, Bresee was officially credited with his first career interception on the game-sealing play on review Sunday.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
– Clemson attempting to improve to 60-28-1 all-time against NC State. NC State would become the third program against which Clemson has won 60 games alltime (South Carolina, 71; Wake Forest, 68).
– Clemson attempting to earn a ninth straight victory against NC State and its 16th in a 17-game span in the series. Clemson’s current eight-game winning streak is already the longest in the all-time series between the two schools.
– Clemson attempting to push its all-time road record against NC State to 23-16. The Tigers have won seven of their last eight games in Raleigh, dating to 2005.
– Clemson attempting to win its fifth straight game in Raleigh to tie Clemson’s longest all-time road winning streak at NC State (five from 1949-62).
– Clemson and NC State, whose last meeting was in Raleigh in 2019, playing consecutive contests in the series in Raleigh for the first time since 1951 and 1956 (with no meetings across the 1952-55 seasons). The teams’ scheduled meeting in Clemson in 2020 was wiped out when the ACC schedule changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The teams had played every year since 1971 prior to 2020.
– Clemson attempting to score at least 35 points against NC State for a fourth consecutive game for the first time in series history.
– Clemson attempting to defeat an ACC Atlantic Division opponent for an 18th straight time and for the 38th time in its last 39 opportunities. Those figures include games against traditional Atlantic opponents in a divisionless season in 2020.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 28-2 in its last 30 true road games.
SERIES HISTORY VS. NC STATE
Overall, Clemson has a 59-28-1 lead in the all-time series against NC State, including a 22-16 lead in road games at NC State. Clemson has won the last eight games in the series and 15 of the last 16.
With the Clemson road win in the teams’ most recent meeting in Raleigh in 2019, the Tigers are 18-9 all-time in games played in Carter-Finley Stadium, including victories in each of their last four trips to NC State.
The series dates to 1899 when Clemson was victorious, 24-0, in a game played in Rock Hill, S.C. That was just the fourth year of Clemson football and the 16th game in the school’s history. The teams had played each other
every year since 1971 until 2020, when the ACC did not place NC State on Clemson’s adjusted schedule in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clemson will attempt to earn its ninth consecutive victory against NC State to record the longest winning streak by either side in the all-time series. Prior to the current eight-game streak, Clemson’s longest winning streak in the series was seven games, set in 2004-10. NC State’s longest winning streak in the series is six from
1971-76.
NC State was Clemson’s nemesis from 1986-88. The Tigers won the ACC Championship each year under Danny Ford, but never beat the Pack in the process, losing all three seasons. It was the only loss for Clemson in the ACC
in each of those years.
SWINNEY VS. NORTHERN NEIGHBORS
Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney has a 31-2 alltime record against all teams from North Carolina.
Swinney’s only losses to teams from North Carolina were at North Carolina in 2010 (21-16) and at NC State in 2011 (37-13). Swinney is also 17-3 in games played inside the state limits of North Carolina (including six ACC Championship Game wins in Charlotte) with wins in 15 of his last 16 trips to the state.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 21, NC State 13
Sam – Clemson 24, NC State 20
Davis – Clemson 19, NC State 13
Gavin – Clemson 24, NC State 13