Finally back in the Valley: Clemson vs. Furman prediction

Clemson and Furman are set to kickoff around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in Death Valley.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Sep 09 13:59:22 GMT-04:00 2022

It’s been 293 days (as of this writing) since we’ve had a game that mattered in Death Valley. That was a dominating win over Wake Forest at the end of November last year, and a lot has happened since then. Death Valley has new signage. New video boards. A brand new scoreboard/ video board that now dominates the landscape over the hill.

But there are things that will be very familiar. The orange jerseys. The sight of the Tigers running down the hill. Tiger rag. And an enjoyable afternoon spent with family and friends doing what we all love to do, and this time we get to do it with our neighbors from Greenville.

It’s almost game time in Death Valley.

NO. 5/4 CLEMSON (1-0, 1-0 ACC) vs. FURMAN (1-0, 0-0 SOCON)

WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPT. 10, 3:30 P.M. ET
WHERE:MEMORIAL STADIUM (81,500), CLEMSON, S.C
TELEVISION: ACC Network (Wes Durham, Roddy Jones, Taylor Davis)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 113 or 194, Internet/App 956

CLEMSON/FURMAN SERIES HISTORY

OVERALL: Clemson leads series, 43-10-4
HOME: Clemson leads series, 25-2
ROAD: Clemson leads series, 18-8-4
NEUTRAL: N/A
LAST MEETING: Sept. 1, 2018 (48-7, W)
STREAK: Clemson, Won 31

NOTABLE

*Clemson is playing on a five-day turnaround, its quickest turnaround between games since 2016 when Clemson played a Thursday game against Georgia Tech following a Saturday game against South Carolina State. Furman, meanwhile, will have nearly double the rest after having opened the season on Thursday, Sept. 1 against North Greenville.

*Clemson attempting to improve to 37-0 against Football Championship Subdivision teams since the NCAA formed the division prior to the 1978 season.

*Clemson is attempting to win a 19th straight home debut. Clemson has won 18 straight home openers dating to 2004. A win would extend Clemson’s longest winning streak in home openers all-time, ahead of its 17 from 1944-60. - Clemson facing the opponent against whom the team played its first game in program history. Guided by Head Coach Walter Riggs, Clemson earned a 14-6 road victory against the Furman Purple Hurricane in the Tigers’ gridiron debut on Oct. 31, 1896.

*Clemson is facing the opponent against whom the team played its first game in program history. Guided by Head Coach Walter Riggs, Clemson earned a 14-6 road victory against the Furman Purple Hurricane in the Tigers’ gridiron debut on Oct. 31, 1896.

*Clemson attempting to win a 35th consecutive game against unranked opponents when ranked in the AP Top 5, the longest active streak in college football according to ESPN Stats & Info.

*Clemson is attempting to add to its national-best 53-1 record at home in the College Football Playoff era (since 2014).

*Clemson is attempting to win a 25th consecutive non-conference home game. Clemson’s active 24-game non-conference winning streak at home is the longest such winning streak in program history. Clemson’s last home loss in non-conference play was in 2012.

*Clemson attempting to improve to 35-3 against non-conference opponents at Death Valley under Dabo Swinney.

*Clemson attempting to win its 35th consecutive home game to extend its school record for both the longest home winning streak and longest home unbeaten streak in school history (as well as extend the nation’s longest active home winning streak). No member of Clemson’s roster has lost a home game at Clemson in their careers.

*Clemson has won 31 straight games against Furman since a 0-0 tie between the two schools at Furman in 1937. Furman’s last win over Clemson took place in 1936 in a Nov. 26 game played in the snow in Clemson. That contest remains the only time on record that Clemson has played a home game in the snow.

*On Oct. 8, 1960, Clemson and Furman shared the same uniform pants. In one of the most bizarre uniform stories in college sports history, both teams wore a then-special water-repellent uniform that day to guard against predicted severe weather. Clemson wore the pants in defeating Virginia, 21-7, in the afternoon, then had the pants shipped to Furman for a night game against William & Mary. Furman defeated William & Mary that night in Greenville, 25- 23. Furman Head Coach Bob King said after the game, “After those big Clemson boys got out of those pants, some of our guys had a hard time making them stay up. We had to tape the legs of the pants for several players.” Players wearing the pants for two different schools defeated two teams from the state of Virginia on the same day.

Check out the third edition of David Hood's TigerNet Podcast at this link or find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

THE GAME

We usually take a look at the matchups, but I don’t think there is a lot of doubt that Clemson is better at every spot on the field. Instead, we will list some things we want to see against the Paladins as the Tigers play the first of two non-conference games before heading into ACC play two weeks from now at Wake Forest.

*Better offensive line play. The line struggled early last week against Georgia Tech, and Clemson ran 40 times for just 119 yards Monday night, an average of just 3.0 yards per carry. Right tackle Blake Miller is going to be a fantastic offensive lineman, but he had his freshman moments against the Jackets. The left side of the line, behind Jordan McFadden and Marcus Tate, was the go-to spot late in the contest. DJ Uiagalelei also faced early pressure from the Jackets.

*About Uiagalelei, he has improved mightily since last season. But there were times when he locked onto a primary season and if that receiver was covered, it appeared as if he was indecisive about what to do next. That led to him holding the ball too long. He still needs to improve on making faster decisions and running when he has to run. Some of it appears to be a lack of confidence in his own ability to run.

*And more on Uiagalelei - his receivers have to be better. I watched Thursday’s NFL game between the Bills and the Rams, and Rams receiver Cooper Kupp has to fight – literally hand and fistfight – for every inch of separation he gets from linebackers, safeties, and corners. Every receiver needs to watch that want-to, that desire, to get open. And then catch the ball, even if it’s in traffic. Yes, playing receiver is about open catches and running free down the field. But it’s even more about that desire to dominate the man across from you, to high-point the ball, to get open for your teammates and your quarterback.

*We also want to see Cade Klubnik with the first team. Klubnik is a ball of energy and his one drive lasty week was fun to watch. (The tweet of the day was when someone posited that “Klubnik just led the Daniel wide receiver room down the field for a touchdown"). If we want to see exactly where he stands, let’s see him with the starters at some point.

*Defensively, I just love watching that defensive line and watching linebackers Barrett Carter and Trenton Simpson and defensive end KJ Henry. Take the time to sit there and instead of complaining about the previous offensive possession. Just enjoy watching those cats play.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

*Furman hasn’t played in ten days, they’re rested and healthy, and they’ve had time to formulate a good gameplan. Clemson has had a quick turnaround and muscles might still be a little sore, and it might take a series or two to get things smoothed out. Furman quarterback Tyler Huff is accurate, running back Myion Hicks is fun to watch, and Huff has a big target in tight end Ryan Miller, a fifth-year senior who had 43 receptions a year ago and is on every preseason watch list a SoCon tight end can be on.

But the Paladins love to run the football, and those running lanes will close faster than they did against North Greenville ten days ago. Maybe the Paladins take a page out of Tech’s playbook and run screens every third play, but they will find the going tough against Carter and Simpson and company.

FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 50, FURMAN 10

More TigerNet picks

Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 51-10 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 59-7 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 45-3 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 45-3 Clemson
Pigskin Prophet - 49-6 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - Clemson 48-7

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor
GT	41-10 CU	38-13 CU	33-9 CU	41-7 CU	33-10 CU	35-13 CU	34-7 CU	39-6 CU
Points	-	1	1	3	1	1	1	1

* 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