GAMEDAY Open Thread/Live Blog: Clemson vs. The Citadel | Game 2
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The Buildup:
Clemson enters its 2020 home opener riding a school-record 22-game home winning streak, the nation's longest active streak. Clemson's home crowds have seldom left disappointed in the College Football Playoff era, as the Tigers are an FBS-best 41-1 at home since 2014. Saturday's contest will be played 78 years to the date following Clemson's first game at Memorial Stadium, as the Tigers opened the facility that would later become known colloquially as Death Valley with a 32-13 defeat of Presbyterian College on Sept. 19, 1942.
Though the facility has since expanded to 81,500, current circumstances will result in Saturday's game being played in front of a comparable capacity to the stadium's 1942 configuration, as the stadium opened that year with capacity for about 20,000 spectators. An estimated crowd of approximately 5,000 attended the facility's debut. Death Valley has played host to 33 of running back Travis Etienne's 57 career rushing touchdowns and 34 of his 64 career total touchdowns.
On Saturday, it could also be the site of Etienne's foray into the NCAA record books. Etienne enters Saturday's contest having scored a touchdown (rushing or receiving) in 37 of his 44 career games, already an ACC record for the most career games scoring a touchdown. With a touchdown of any kind on Saturday, Etienne can tie Florida's Tim Tebow (38 games from 2006-09) and Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Dixon (38 from 2012-15) for the Football Bowl Subdivision record in that category.
The game will also be the home debut of a Clemson defense that featured nine players who made their first career starts last week. Some of the most immediate impacts was felt by a pair of highly-touted true freshmen — defensive end Myles Murphy and defensive lineman Bryan Bresee — who entered in reserve and combined for nine tackles (3.5 for loss) with 2.5 sacks and a blocked field goal.
The tandem contributed to Clemson's six sacks against Wake Forest, 4.5 of which were split among players who registered their first career sacks in the contest (Murphy, Bresee, Regan Upshaw and LaVonta Bentley).
CLEMSON/THE CITADEL SERIES HISTORY:
- OVERALL: Clemson leads series, 32-5-1
- HOME: Clemson leads series, 14-1
- ROAD: Clemson leads series, 13-1
- NEUTRAL: Clemson leads series, 5-3-1
- LAST MEETING: Nov. 18, 2017 (61-3, W)
- STREAK: Clemson, Won 17
Pregame:
