Clemson, S.C. — It is Game Day in Death Valley where the Tigers look to win an Atlantic Division showdown with Syracuse and extend the home win streak to 38 games.
Clemson hopes to continue the march to the College Football Playoff.
Location: Memorial Stadium (Death Valley)
Kickoff: 12:00 PM
Television: ABC
Announcers: Todd Blackledge, Sean McDonough, Molly McGrath
2022 Record: Clemson 7-0, Syracuse 6-0
ACC Record: Clemson 5-0, Syracuse 3-0
Series History: Clemson leads the series 8-2
Last Meeting: Clemson won 17-14 on October 15, 2021
CLEMSON, SYRACUSE PREPARE FOR BATTLE OF UNDEFEATEDS SATURDAY
For the first time in the 81-season history of Memorial Stadium, Clemson will host a matchup of two undefeated teams with records of 6-0 or better when the No. 5 Tigers (7-0) host the No. 14 Syracuse Orange (6-0) on
Saturday, Oct. 22. After three straight weeks in the ABC prime-time window, kickoff on ABC at Death Valley this Saturday is set for noon ET.
Clemson is in search of its fifth victory this season against teams that enter games with no losses, including wins against 0-0 Georgia Tech, 1-0 Furman, 3-0 Wake Forest and 4-0 NC State. The 2022 squad would join national championship squads from 2016 and 2018 as the only teams in school history to earn at least five wins against teams with no losses and no ties. Clemson
was 5-0 against undefeated teams in 2016 (0-0 Auburn, 1-0 Troy, 3-0 Georgia Tech, 4-0 Louisville and 14-0 Alabama) and 7-0 against undefeated teams in 2018 (0-0 Furman, 1-0 Texas A&M, 2-0 Georgia Southern, 4-0 Syracuse, 5-0 NC State, 12-0 Notre Dame and 14-0 Alabama).
As Clemson University welcomes its alumni home this weekend, the game will also serve as a Homecoming for the Tigers, as the team will play its first home game following back-to-back ACC road contests over the last two weeks. The game will feature a bit of a scheduling anomaly, as Clemson has already completed its road conference schedule while Saturday’s contest will
represent Syracuse’s first ACC road game this season. Clemson’s 4-0 road record in ACC play marked its seventh perfect road record in conference play since the ACC was founded in 1953, joining the 1981, 1995, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 campaigns.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
– Clemson (13) attempting to extend the nation’s longest active winning streak.
– Clemson attempting to take sole possession of the fourth-longest winning streak in Clemson history.
– Clemson attempting to open a season 8-0 for the ninth time in program history (1948, 1981, 2000, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019). Five of Clemson’s last seven teams to start 8-0 went on to play for the national
championship (1981, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019).
– Clemson attempting to improve to 9-2 all-time against Syracuse.
– Clemson attempting to win a fifth straight game against Syracuse to surpass the longest streak by either team in series history (four by Clemson from 2013-16).
– Clemson attempting to remain undefeated at home against Syracuse all-time. A win would improve Clemson to 5-0 all-time against Syracuse at Memorial Stadium.
– Clemson entering the game having been ranked in the Top 25 of at least one major poll in every all-time contest against Syracuse, including a Top 5 ranking in eight of the teams’ 10 all-time matchups (including Saturday).
– Clemson facing a ranked Syracuse squad for the first time in series history.
– Death Valley hosting its first matchup of two undefeated teams 6-0 or better in the facility’s 81-year history.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 6-1 at Death Valley all-time in games between teams with perfect records of 4-0 or better. Clemson earned one such win earlier in the year against NC State. The last time Clemson won two
such games in a season was in 2018, when Clemson defeated undefeated Syracuse and NC State teams at home.
– Clemson attempting to beat a team with no losses for the fifth time this season. The 2022 squad would join Clemson national championship squads from 2016 (five) and 2018 (seven) as the only teams in school history to
earn at least five wins against teams with no losses and no ties.
– Clemson hosting the 15th matchup of AP Top 15 teams in Death Valley history. A win would improve Clemson to 10-5 in those matchups and would be the Tigers seventh straight win in AP Top 15 games at home dating to Clemson’s 2015 win against Notre Dame.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 27-7 against AP Top 25 teams since 2015. Clemson’s current 26 wins against AP Top 25 teams are the fourth-most in the country in that span.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SYRACUSE
Saturday will represent the 11th meeting between Clemson and Syracuse all-time and the 10th in regular season play.
The Orange won the first meeting at the 1996 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville following the 1995 season by a 41-0 score. Clemson was ranked 23rd entering the game and was coming off a five-game winning streak to close the season. Syracuse was unranked going into the game but jumped to 17th in the final USA Today poll with the win quarterbacked by Donovan McNabb.
Clemson has won eight of nine meetings since Syracuse joined the ACC in 2013. The Tigers had won four in a row by at least double digits before Syracuse ended the streak with a 27-24 Friday night win over the Tigers at Syracuse in 2017.
The teams’ meeting in 2021 marked the first contest between the two programs all-time in which Clemson was not ranked in the AP Top 25. However, Clemson was No. 25 in the AFCA Coaches Poll ranking that game
to continue its streak of ranking in the Top 25 of at least one major poll in every game of its all-time series with the Orange.
WELCOME TO HOMECOMING
Saturday will be Clemson’s Homecoming, an event that has historically included a Clemson victory 78 percent of the time since the first celebration in 1922. Clemson has an overall record of 74-20-3 in its previous 97 Homecoming games. That includes a 44-4-2 record (.900) in Homecoming games since the 1971 season.
The first Homecoming game at Clemson was in 1922, a 21-0 loss to Centre that kicked off an 0-4-1 stretch through Clemson’s first five Homecoming games. Clemson defeated Auburn in 1927 by a 3-0 score for its
first Homecoming victory.
There is no record of a Homecoming game in 1930 or 1938, but the event was held in conjunction with a football game in 81 straight seasons from 1939-2019, even through the war years. That streak concluded in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic precluded Clemson from formally hosting the annual event.
Clemson has just four losses on Homecoming since 1971. Georgia Tech upset 14th-ranked Clemson, 30-14, in Danny Ford’s final year as Clemson head coach in 1989. That was the last loss for Ford as Clemson’s head coach and the only time he lost a Homecoming game in 11 years as the head coach. Georgia Tech went on to a 7-4 season in 1989, then won a share of the National Championship the following year.
Clemson’s other three losses on Homecoming since 1971 took place in 1997 to Virginia, in 2001 to North Carolina and in 2010 to Miami. Clemson enters this year on a 10-game Homecoming winning streak.
Dabo Swinney is 12-1 on Homecoming in his head coaching career. That includes the 2008 season when Clemson defeated Duke on Homecoming during his interim head coaching stint.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 49, Syracuse 10
Davis – Clemson 27, Syracuse 17
