Clemson vs. Stanford Prediction: A new team wanders into Death Valley

Stanford plays at Clemson for the first time at 7 p.m. Saturday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sep 27, 2024, 12:00 PM

Per Clemson (as of noon Friday), there are no operational changes for tomorrow at this time related to Saturday’s game in the wake of the tropical weather system that went through the Upstate on Friday morning.

Clemson fans will witness something new Saturday night in Death Valley when Stanford comes calling.

Stanford, in its first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, has played Clemson just once, a 27-21 Tiger win in the 1986 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. As far as we can tell, the Cardinal have never played a game inside the state of South Carolina.

Stanford becomes only the second team from California ever to play in Death Valley, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer George Allen’s Long Beach State squad that lost to Clemson, 59-0, in the 1990 season opener.

Stanford is also traveling roughly 2,200 miles as the crow flies, the farthest distance an opponent has traveled to face the Tigers in Clemson all-time, surpassing the roughly 2,000 miles traveled by Long Beach State in 1990.

NO. 17/15 CLEMSON (2-1, 1-0 ACC) vs. STANFORD (2-1, 1-0 ACC)

WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 7 P.M. ET
WHERE: MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500), CLEMSON, S.C.
TELEVISION: ESPN (Mark Jones, Roddy Jones, Quint Kessenich)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 139 or 194

NOTABLE

*Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney will be chasing ACC history on Saturday. He enters the contest with a career head coaching record of 172-44 and is one victory shy of Bobby Bowden's conference record for career total victories leading an ACC program. Of Bowden's 377 NCAA-recognized career head coaching victories, 173 of his wins came during Florida State's membership in the ACC.

*Swinney will also be chasing his 100th career win at Memorial Stadium. The Tigers are 99-9 at home under his leadership, including a national-best-tying 67-3 mark at home in the College Football Playoff era.

*Swinney (172) attempting to earn his 173rd career win to pass the career win total of College Football Hall of Famer Dan Devine (172-57-9) and match the career win totals of College Football Hall of Famers Robert Neyland (173-31-12) and Frank Solich (173-101).

*Clemson’s 7 p.m. ET kickoff against Stanford will be Clemson’s second night game of the 2024 season and its 62nd night game since the start of the 2015 season. In that time, Clemson is 50-11 in night games, including a 29-8 mark since the start of the 2018 season.

*Clemson has won its last 21 night games in Death Valley, a streak that dates to the middle of the 2013 season. Overall, Clemson is 24-3 under the Death Valley lights in Dabo Swinney’s tenure.

A LOOK AT STANFORD

The Cardinal rank 94th in total offense and 74th in total defense. The Cardinal rank 90th in rushing offense (137.67 YPG) and 79th in passing offense (220.3 YPG) and 61st in scoring offense (31.3 PPG). The defense is 62nd in scoring defense (21.7 PPG) but is third nationally in rush defense, giving up just over 51 yards per game and 2.18 YPC. The pass defense is on the opposite end of the spectrum, ranking 130th (out of 134 teams) in giving up almost 300 yards per game (298.7) and almost eight yards per attempt.

Quarterback Ashton Daniels has been decent, completing 61.5 percent of his passes but for just 562 yards, and he’s thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions. He is also the leading rusher for the Cardinal, with 39 carries for 163 yards (4.18 YPC). Wide receivers Elic Ayomanor (17 receptions for 234 yards) and Ismael Cisse (19-145) are the only two players with double-digit receptions.

Senior inside linebacker Gaethan Bernadel leads the team with 20 tackles, while linebacker Tristan Sinclair has 19. The Cardinal have six sacks, and linebacker David Bailey has two of them.

A LOOK AT CLEMSON

Clemson’s offense resurgence has led to 66 points and 59 points in the last two games, respectively, and it all starts with quarterback Cade Klubnik. He now sits 12th nationally with a passer rating of 181.83 and has eight touchdowns against just one interception.

Running back Phil Mafah was never unleashed against Georgia (until it was too late) and has played just one half each of the last two games but still ranks fifth in the ACC in rushing at 94.67 yards per game.

Clemson’s defense has taken its lumps and ranks 108th nationally in total defense. Many of those yards and points have come with reserves in the game, and for the most part, the starters have held their own. Of concern? Clemson has just four sacks in three games, and teams are content to play the quick game and not let the pass rush affect the passing game.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

This Stanford team reminds me, in a way, of some of the Boston College teams have played in the past. Physical, not really good at any one thing, but good enough to win games and keep the team in the game against anybody. However…the offensive line is young in spots and doesn’t present a ton of experience, and if the offense is reliant on a running quarterback, that isn’t exactly a recipe for success against the Clemson defense. They will make plays, and Ayomanor is a guy who will play on Sundays.

Stanford defensive coordinator Bobby April III doesn’t mind switching between a 2-4-5 and a 3-3-5 defense, but Klubnik and the Clemson offense shredded NC State’s 3-3-5 look last week.

Stanford is good, just not great at any one spot or any one thing, and they can hang around, but if Clemson’s offense continues to sizzle, this one could get away from them in a hurry. I think it will get away from them. Maybe not in a hurry, but sooner rather than later.

FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 44, STANFORD 20

TigerNet picks

David Hood - TigerNet senior writer - 44-20 Clemson
Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 48-17 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 38-10 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 44-16 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 42-14 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 41-17 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - Intern - 45-17 Clemson
Merrell Mann - Photographer - 48-21 Clemson
Brooks Thomason - Intern - 40-20 Clemson
Grayson Mann - Staff writer - 41-17 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Kantor	Pensy	M. Mann	Thomason	G. Mann
Georgia	34-3 UGA	27-24 CU	23-21 CU	24-17 CU	29-20 UGA	27-20 UGA	28-21 UGA	24-17 UGA	17-14 CU	27-21 UGA	27-23 UGA
App State	66-20 CU	34-14 CU	30-16 CU CU	38-17 CU	34-17 CU	31-17 CU	35-10 CU	30-10 CU	31-10 CU	31-13 CU	28-10 CU
NC State	59-35 CU	34-13 CU	38-16 CU	42-20 CU	30-13 CU	28-10 CU	35-14 CU	34-17 CU	38-17 CU	31-10 CU	31-10 CU
Points	-	2	2	7	6	3	3	3	2	3	3

* 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