November Reign: Tigers look to continue November dominance |
David Hood
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- Tuesday, October 22 2024
November is a time of Thanksgiving, cooler weather and crunch time in college football. For Clemson, it means a November with everything to play for.
No. 9 Clemson sits at 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the ACC with five games to play. The slate starts with a November 2nd home date against Louisville, continues with road trips to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, and closes with home games against The Citadel and South Carolina. A year ago, the Tigers were 4-4 entering November. Following a heartbreaking loss at NC State, all hopes for an ACC title or a berth in the College Football Playoff were out the door. The Tigers responded with a 4-0 record in November—starting with a home win over Notre Dame—and led to a season-ending victory over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl. “It's awesome. I mean, last year at this time, we had a really good November, and that allowed us to have a good finish to our season,” Swinney told TigerNet Monday evening. “Obviously, we had a lot of disappointment in September and October -- just couldn't win a close game in overtime, double overtime, just some tough moments for us, and to see the guys finish the way they did last year, it really gave us good momentum into the off-season.” This year, all of the goals except winning the opener are still on the table. “It's the same thing. The difference this year is all of your goals are still there. So, it is exciting. It's hard to get to this point, and that's why, again, we haven't been perfect anywhere, but I'm proud of their resolve and their willingness to just reset each week and go back to work and find ways to win,” Swinney said. “So, there's been a lot of good things to this point, but it is truly about this next game and just trying to have a great November. And if they do, then hey, they'll have a lot of opportunity. We have a long way to go, but we do have an opportunity to earn it and it is exciting to still be in that situation in November.” Clemson is 30-4 in November since the start of the 2015 season. Two of those four losses occurred in 2022 with a loss at Notre Dame and a home loss to South Carolina. A look at Clemson’s remaining opponents: LOUISVILLE, 4-3 overall and 2-2 in league play There are eight teams ahead of Louisville in the ACC standings, and a Friday night date at Boston College looms this week. Two of their four wins are over FCS foe Austin Peay and Conference USA’s Jacksonville State. They have wins over Georgia Tech and Virginia with losses to Notre Dame, SMU, and Miami. They sit fifth in the ACC in total offense and are 11th in the conference in total defense. Against conference foes, however, the Cardinals rank 15th, giving up 469.5 yards per game. The Cardinals are 0-8 against Clemson in football, 0-4 at home and 0-8 on the road. VIRGINIA TECH, 4-3 overall, 2-1 in league play The Hokies lost to Vanderbilt, Rutgers, and Miami during the season’s first five weeks. Since then, they’ve beaten Stanford and Boston College and will host Georgia Tech this weekend. The Hokies are 10th in the league in both total defense and total offense. Clemson has won the last six in the series, dating back to a 41-23 Hokie victory in Clemson in 2007, and is averaging 38 points per game in those six wins. PITTSBURGH, 6-0 overall, 2-0 in league play The Panthers have just started to get into ACC play. They knocked off Cincinnati, Kent St., West Virginia and Youngstown St. in non-conference play. The Panthers beat UNC 34-24 in Chapel Hill and held on to beat Cal 17-15 last week in Pittsburgh. The Panthers sandwich home games against Syracuse and Virginia around a trip to SMU the first Saturday in November. Pitt is third (behind Clemson and Miami) in total offense but sits 10th in total offense against conference foes. The Panthers are 3-2 all-time against Clemson, and pulled off a 27-17 victory over the Tigers in 2021, the last time the teams played. THE CITADEL, 3-5 overall, 1-4 in the Southern Conference The Bulldogs have wins over North Greenville, VMI, and Charleston Southern. Clemson won 49-0 in 2020, the last time the teams played. The Tigers led 49-0 at the half and didn’t dent the scoreboard in the second half. Clemson leads the all-time series 33-5, and the Tigers have won 18 in a row. The Bulldogs last defeated Clemson back in 1931 in a game that was played in Florence. SOUTH CAROLINA, 4-3 overall, 2-3 in SEC play The Gamecocks are 102nd in total offense nationally but have four wins thanks to the defense, which ranks 16th nationally. The Gamecocks have close losses to LSU and Alabama to go along with a smackdown from Ole Miss. Their biggest win might be against Kentucky, but the Gamecocks also went on the road and beat Oklahoma last weekend. Clemson leads the series 73–43–4 and has won eight of the last nine. South Carolina has Texas A&M, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Wofford on tap before it plays Clemson in Death Valley.
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