2011 Clemson football schedule announced |
Clemson, SC—Clemson will play one of its most difficult schedules in history in 2011, according the slate of games announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday. Ten of Clemson’s 11 FBS opponents went to bowl games last year, including six who won at least nine games in 2010. Additionally, Wofford, Clemson’s FBS opponent, was 10-3 and reached the second round of the NCAA playoffs.
Clemson’s three FBS non-conference opponents had a combined 31-10 record last year, a .756 winning percentage. That list includes defending National Champion Auburn, who comes to Clemson on September 17. Troy (8-5) and South Carolina (9-5) also had outstanding seasons in 2010. Overall, Clemson’s 12 opponents in 2011 had a 104-55 record last year, a .654 winning percentage. Each of Clemson’s first five opponents won at least eight games, including four in a row who won at least 10 games. Clemson has a stretch of consecutive games against Auburn (14-0), Florida State (10-4) and Virginia Tech (11-3) between September 24 and October 1 that will be one of the most challenging stretches in school history. All three of those teams played for their respective conference championships last year. Clemson plays all four schools who played for the ACC and SEC championships last year. Clemson has a 2011 schedule that is front-loaded with home games. The Tigers first four games will be at home, the first time that has happened since 1979 and just the third time in school history. The 1920 Tigers played their first five games at home. Clemson plays six of its first eight games at home and, for the first time since 1989, Clemson will play just one home game after October 22. Clemson will open the season September 3 against Troy, the first meeting on the gridiron between the two schools. Troy finished with an 8-5 record last year and ranked 11th in the nation in passing offense, 17th in total offense and fifth in quarterback sacks. Clemson’s second game will be played on September 10 when Wofford from nearby Spartanburg, SC comes to Clemson. It will be the first meeting between the Tigers and the Terriers since 2001 and just the second meeting since 1981. Wofford had a 10-3 season in 2010 when they led the all FCS schools in rushing yards per game. Defending National Champion Auburn comes to Clemson on September 17. The Auburn Tigers had a 14-0 record last year when they defeated Oregon for the National title. Clemson and Auburn went to overtime last year before Auburn gained a 27-24 victory. Clemson was the only team to take Auburn to overtime last year. It will be Auburn’s first trip to Clemson since 1970. Auburn’s appearance will mark the first time the defending national champion has come to Clemson since 1991 when Georgia Tech played at Clemson after having won the title according to the Coach’s poll in 1990. The only year an opponent came to Clemson as the defending national champion was 1981 when Georgia played at Clemson after winning the 1980 title. Clemson opens its ACC schedule against Florida State on September 24 at Memorial Stadium. The two schools played a thrilling game last year that was decided on a 55-yard field goal on the last play of the game, giving the Seminoles a 16-13 victory. Clemson has not lost to Florida State in Memorial Stadium in 10 years. Florida State won the ACC’s Atlantic Division title last year and finished with a Chick-fil-A Bowl victory over South Carolina. Defending ACC champion Virginia Tech will be Clemson’s first road game on October 1. It will be the first meeting between the Tigers and the Hokies since the two schools played at Clemson in 2007. Virginia Tech finished with an 11-3 mark last year and has won the ACC title three of the last four years. Boston College comes to Clemson on October 8 for the annual battle for the O’Rourke-McFadden Trophy. Seven of the last eight meetings between these two schools have been decided by a touchdown or less. Clemson will travel to Maryland on October 15 to face Randy Edsall’s Terps. The two schools have met every year since 1952 and the Tigers have a 30-27-2 lead in the competitive series. Clemson defeated a nine-win Maryland team last year at Clemson, 31-7. North Carolina will come to Clemson on October 22 for its last appearance in Death Valley until the 2016 season. The Tar Heels are coming off an eight-win season that concluded with a bowl victory over Tennessee. The Tigers travel to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on October 29. Tech led the nation in rushing offense last year, meaning Clemson’s defense will face the top programs in college football at the FBS and FCS level in rushing. Clemson and Georgia Tech played for the 2009 ACC championship. After an open date, Clemson will play host to Wake Forest on November 12. It will be Senior Day at Clemson. The last two games are on the road. Clemson travels to NC State for its final league game on November 19. The Tigers have beaten NC State seven straight years, the Tigers longest streak in the history of the series. Clemson finishes its regular season at South Carolina on November 26. Clemson has won nine of the last 11 meetings in the series in Columbia. The state rivals have played every year since 1909. Special days such as Homecoming and Family Day will be announced at a later date. Clemson opens Spring Practice for the 2011 season on March 4. The Spring Game will be held April 9 at 4:00 PM at Memorial Stadium. 2011 Clemson football schedule Sept. 3 TROY Sept. 10 WOFFORD Sept. 17 AUBURN Sept. 24 FLORIDA STATE Oct. 1 at Virginia Tech Oct. 8 BOSTON COLLEGE Oct. 15 at Maryland Oct. 22 NORTH CAROLINA Oct. 29 at Georgia Tech Nov. 5 OPEN Nov. 12 WAKE FOREST Nov. 19 at NC State Nov. 26 at South Carolina ACC Announces Challenging 2011 Football Schedule Atlantic Coast Conference Teams to Face Four Opponents Ranked in the Top Six of the Final 2010 AP Poll; 23 Games against 2010 Bowl Teams GREENSBORO, N.C.--The 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference football schedule released today by Commissioner John Swofford is a challenging slate which sees conference teams playing four of the top six teams ranked in the final 2010 AP poll, 10 games against opponents that are projected by ESPN.com to be in the nation’s preseason Top 25, and 23 games against teams which participated in 2010 post-season bowl games. In all, the schedule is comprised of 97 games, including 48 regular-season conference match-ups, over a span of 14 weeks and is capped off with the Seventh Annual Dr Pepper Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship Game, which returns to Charlotte, N.C. this year and will be played on Saturday, Dec. 3 in Bank of America Stadium. ACC teams will face 48 non-conference opponents who had a combined winning percentage of 56 percent in 2010, including 35 games against FBS opponents who won 55 percent of their games last fall. Twenty-three of the league’s 48 non-conference games (48 percent) are against 20 teams that earned bowl berths in 2010. This includes four games with teams which finished ranked in the nation’s Top Six (AP) in 2010 in defending national champion Auburn (Clemson), fourth-ranked Stanford (Duke), fifth-ranked Ohio State (Miami) and sixth-ranked Oklahoma (Florida State). Including games against the nine ACC teams which earned bowl bids in 2010, no ACC team plays fewer than six opponents who went to bowl games last fall, with Clemson facing the most with 10 followed by Boston College, Miami and Wake Forest with nine each. ACC teams will also play 14 games against 11 teams selected by ESPN.com in its early preseason Top 25 including matches with projected top-ranked Oklahoma, sixth-ranked Ohio State and seventh-ranked Stanford. Three members of the Conference—Boston College, Maryland and Wake Forest—will meet Notre Dame, projected to be 14th nationally, while ACC teams will also play 15th-ranked South Carolina (Clemson), 17th-ranked Auburn (Clemson), 18th-ranked Georgia (Georgia Tech) and 19th-ranked Florida (Florida State) . Non-conference opponents who earned bowl bids this past season include defending National Champion Auburn, East Carolina (2 games with ACC schools), FIU, Florida, Georgia, Kansas State, Louisville, Middle Tennessee, Northwestern, Notre Dame (3 games with ACC schools), Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, Syracuse, Troy, UCF and West Virginia. The Conference will again enjoy national exposure on Labor Day Monday, as Maryland hosts Miami at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium in a nationally-televised prime time contest on ESPN. The game, which will have an 8 pm (ET) kickoff, will nationally showcase the ACC coaching debuts of the Conference’s two new head coaches in Al Golden of Miami and Randy Edsall of Maryland. In all, the ACC will play five games nationally-televised by ESPN on Thursday night beginning with NC State travelling to Cincinnati (Sept. 22), but also including Virginia at Miami (Oct. 27); Florida State at Boston College (Nov. 3); Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech (Nov. 10); and North Carolina at Virginia Tech (Nov. 17). Each of the ESPN Thursday night appearances are set for an 8 p.m. (ET) kickoff. ACC teams will face the defending national champion for the third straight year and fourth of the last five when Clemson hosts Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 17, a weekend which promises to be a pivotal one in the national rankings with Miami hosting Ohio State, Florida State hosting Oklahoma, and Maryland hosting West Virginia. - 2011 ACC FOOTBALL COMPOSITE SCHEDULE - Thursday, September 1st
Western Carolina @ Georgia Tech
Saturday, September 3rd
Northwestern @ Boston College
Troy @ Clemson
Richmond @ Duke
Louisiana-Monroe @ Florida State
James Madison @ North Carolina
Liberty @ NC State
William & Mary @ Virginia
Appalachian State @ Virginia Tech
Wake Forest @ Syracuse
Monday, September 5th
Miami @ Maryland, ESPN, 8 pm
Saturday, September 10th
Boston College @ UCF
Wofford @ Clemson
Stanford @ Duke
Charleston Southern @ Florida State
Georgia Tech @ Middle Tennessee
Rutgers @ North Carolina
NC State @ Wake Forest
Virginia @ Indiana
Virginia Tech @ East Carolina
Saturday, September 17th
Duke @ Boston College
Auburn @ Clemson
Oklahoma @ Florida State
Kansas @ Georgia Tech
West Virginia @ Maryland
Ohio State @ Miami
Virginia @ North Carolina
South Alabama @ NC State
Arkansas State @ Virginia Tech
Gardner-Webb @ Wake Forest
Thursday, September 22nd
NC State @ Cincinnati, ESPN, 8 pm
Saturday, September 24th
Massachusetts @ Boston College
Florida State @ Clemson
Tulane @ Duke
North Carolina @ Georgia Tech
Temple @ Maryland
Kansas State @ Miami
Southern Mississippi @ Virginia
Virginia Tech @ Marshall
Saturday, October 1st
Wake Forest @ Boston College
Clemson @ Virginia Tech
Duke @ FIU
Georgia Tech @ NC State
Towson @ Maryland
Bethune-Cookman @ Miami
North Carolina @ East Carolina
Idaho @ Virginia
Saturday, October 8th
Boston College @ Clemson
Florida State @ Wake Forest
Maryland @ Georgia Tech
Miami @ Virginia Tech
Louisville @ North Carolina
Central Michigan @ NC State
Saturday, October 15th
Clemson @ Maryland
Florida State @ Duke
Georgia Tech @ Virginia
Miami @ North Carolina
Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest
Saturday, October 22nd
Boston College @ Virginia Tech
North Carolina @ Clemson
Wake Forest @ Duke
Maryland @ Florida State
Georgia Tech @ Miami
NC State @ Virginia
Thursday, October 27th
Virginia @ Miami, ESPN, 8 pm
Saturday, October 29th
Boston College @ Maryland
Clemson @ Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech @ Duke
NC State @ Florida State
Wake Forest @ North Carolina
Thursday, November 3rd
Florida State @ Boston College, ESPN, 8 pm
Saturday, November 5th
Duke @ Miami
Virginia @ Maryland
North Carolina @ NC State
Notre Dame @ Wake Forest
Thursday, November 10th
Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech, ESPN, 8 pm
Saturday, November 12th
NC State @ Boston College
Wake Forest @ Clemson
Duke @ Virginia
Miami @ Florida State
Notre Dame vs. Maryland
(FedEx Field; Landover, MD)
Thursday, November 17th
North Carolina @ Virginia Tech, ESPN, 8 pm
Saturday, November 19th
Boston College @ Notre Dame
Clemson @ NC State
Georgia Tech @ Duke
Virginia @ Florida State
Maryland @ Wake Forest
Miami @ South Florida
Saturday, November 26th
Boston College @ Miami
Clemson @ South Carolina
Duke @ North Carolina
Florida State @ Florida
Georgia @ Georgia Tech
Maryland @ NC State
Virginia Tech @ Virginia
Vanderbilt @ Wake Forest
Saturday, December 3rd
Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game
Bank of America Stadium- Charlotte, NC
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