Stanford head coach Troy Taylor says Clemson has "everything you want in a program"

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Plenty of cross-country miles and a new ACC foe.

There will undoubtedly be a lack of familiarity when Clemson and Stanford take the field on Saturday, with adjustments being made rapidly.

The Tigers welcome the Cardinal for the first time since 1986 when the two squads faced off in the Gator Bowl (a 27-21 Clemson win). At the time, Dabo Swinney was shooting jumpers for a winter high school basketball tournament.

When considering Stanford’s situation, one caveat of joining a conference based on the East Coast would be the added mileage during any given season. Early into the 2024 season, that kind of travel is already on Stanford’s doorstep.

Troy Taylor’s unit traveled across the country to Syracuse last Friday and won its first conference game as an ACC member. Now, the team has to turn around a short week and make another lengthy trip to Clemson, hoping to make it two straight in a new conference. Staying on the East Coast is certainly an idea that crossed Taylor’s mind, but with his players starting school this week, he felt it was important for his guys to be in the classroom.

Taylor says that the Friday matchup against Syracuse was crucial for the week's timing.

“It's just coming back and being able to prepare in your own home and your own facilities and all those things," Taylor said. "I think that's a good way to do it. So you do lose a little bit of sleep on the plane and all those things. But our guys were able to recover because the game was played on a Friday, so basically, Saturday was an off day, so we were able to recover and then get back on a schedule on Sunday.”

Taylor says this week will challenge individual maturity on his team.

“A lot of it's going to be how our guys behave this week: they're mature and focused and manage their time well,” Taylor said. “Again, we'll go out there early. We'll go out on Thursday, we play on Saturday, and then we'll get back really late again. But as I said, our administration and our (director of football ops) Matt Doyle and his crew, do such a great job for our guys that it was pretty seamless regarding travel and operations.”

The reputation of the travel is one thing, but Taylor knows Clemson’s history within the ACC is another. Stanford is looking forward to the challenge, knowing this will be quite the test in the infancy of their membership in a new conference.

“They're physical, talented, they play hard, they're well coached,” Taylor said. “Like I said, it's everything you want in a college football program, and they have a great venue. I've never been there, but I've heard it's very loud, and the fans are into it. So we're excited to have an opportunity to play such a great football program. That's why you get in this thing to be able to play these games. But in that same sense, we got our hands full. It's a very talented and well-coached team.”

Swinney told the media that playing an unknown foe is part of the fun in this new college football world, and his opposition of the week certainly agrees.

With the Clemson offense beginning to make headlines as a unit, word has begun to travel fast. It has certainly reached Taylor’s doorstep, and when he turns on the tape to study Garrett Riley’s scheme, he sees a group playing with tremendous confidence, especially Cade Klubnik.

“Well, the confidence that he's playing with a big-time player coming out of high school, and he's lived up to that billing,” Taylor said. “He's a dual-threat guy, he's a great thrower, he's a fantastic runner. He's just playing at a high level. He's extremely confident. They do a great job of utilizing all his skills as both a runner and a passer. He's got great weapons around him, and it's a fantastic scheme. So it's been very impressive. I think they had a stretch there where they'd scored. I don't know how many times they scored in a row, but they're very explosive.”

The Cardinal squad arrives in the Upstate on Thursday, hoping the adventure of traveling will provide a monumental upset on Saturday. Taylor believes his group is ready for the moment. Once the plane touches down, it will be all hands on deck for another new chapter in their second ACC matchup.

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