Quick thoughts on Clemson's 2022 schedule: The good, the interesting and things to watch

Swinney welcomes Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks to Death Valley in late November.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Feb 01 08:00:07 GMT-04:00 2022

It’s never too early to look ahead to the 2022 football season and the Atlantic Coast Conference fueled some of that conversation with the release of the football schedule Monday night. For the Tigers, there are things that are favorable and a few things to watch.

For those who may have missed it, here is the schedule:

2022 Clemson football schedule

Sept. 5 (Monday) at Georgia Tech in Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Sept. 10 Furman
Sept. 17 Louisiana Tech
Sept. 24 at Wake Forest
Oct. 1 NC State
Oct. 8 at Boston College
Oct. 15 at Florida State
Oct. 22 Syracuse
Oct. 29 Open Date
Nov. 5 at Notre Dame
Nov. 12 Louisville
Nov. 19 Miami
Nov. 26 South Carolina

The good: Clemson opens the season with three very winnable games and the first game of the season represents a new stadium for the Tigers. One year after opening the 2021 season at the home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, Clemson will open the 2022 campaign at the home of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The contest, which is classified as a Georgia Tech home game despite being moved off-campus, will represent Clemson's second season opener against Georgia Tech in the Dabo Swinney era, joining a 52-14 home win against the Yellow Jackets to open the 2019 season in the first live game ever played on ACC Network.

The Yellow Jackets are just 9-25 under head coach Geoff Collins, winning three games in each of his three seasons. Last season ended with a six-game losing streak, and I am not sure there is a ton of optimism about the 2022 season in Atlanta. The Tigers follow the opener with winnable home games against FCS foe Furman and Louisiana Tech.

The Tigers also have an open date before traveling to South Bend to take on Notre Dame on Nov. 5th. The Irish travel to Syracuse to take on the Orange the week before the Clemson game.

Things to watch: No one knows what will happen at quarterback for the Tigers. The coaches insist that incumbent DJ Uiagalelei will recover from last season’s struggles, struggles that weren’t helped by inconsistent offensive line play and injuries and sub-par play at wide receiver.

But that situation needs to be figured out in the season’s first three games – the Tigers play five consecutive division games starting at Wake Forest on Sept. 24th. The Tigers then host NC State – which beat Clemson last season – and then comes two straight road games at Boston College and Florida State. The streak ends with a home date against Syracuse on Oct. 22nd.

As for that opening stretch – Clemson hosts Furman just five days after opening the season against Georgia Tech.

Championship November: Swinney likes to talk about championship November, and this November promises to bring some excitement to Death Valley.

The open date occurs at a good time, following eight straight games to open the season. The trip to Notre Dame follows the open date, and then the Tigers end up with three straight home games to close the regular season.

Let’s face it – games in September are hot and there are times when October isn’t much better, but four of the seven homes game are Oct. 22nd or later. There should be cooler temps and the leaves will start to change, setting up four spectacular tailgating days.

And the football will be pretty good, too. Miami has changed coaches and the Hurricanes are making strides in recruiting, while Louisville played the Tigers closely last year. Then there is the rivalry game against South Carolina – the Tigers haven’t hosted the Gamecocks since 2018 due to the idiocy of the SEC, so it will be nice to see the rivalry back in the Valley.

Interesting: The Tigers play consecutive road games just once – those trips to Boston College and Florida State – and play four of the last five games at home.

Clemson is once again scheduled to play 10 Power Five Conference opponents. During Clemson's active 11-year streak of 10-win seasons, Clemson has played 130 games against Power Five foes — the most in the country — and leads the nation with 110 wins against Power Five teams in that span. The 2022 season will be Clemson's 21st consecutive season facing at least 10 Power Five opponents.