Josh Pate Grades Clemson's Home Atmosphere

Does the popular analyst think Clemson has a good home field advantage?

The Clemson Tigers are possibly the most challenging program to figure out nationally when it comes to how it's perceived by the rest of the country. Due in part to what many see as a weak conference schedule year after year contrasted with the postseason success it has found against the big boys from the SEC and Big 10. The narrative surrounding the team varies possibly more than any championship contender from year to year. This perception trickles down to any and all facets of the football program up to and including the Tiger fanbase, and the home-field advantage they bring to Memorial Stadium.

247Sports college football analyst Josh Pate responded to a tweet from Matthew Cooper that asked, "Have you ever been to Death Valley for a game and if you haven’t would you come to the FSU or ND game this year?? If you haven’t experienced it at night really missing out!!"

Pate responded by enthusiastically agreeing that people who haven't gotten to experience Death Valley at its finest are certainly missing out. Then he may have surprised some by following that comment with "Even Clemson fans are missing out!" He explained this statement by stating that he hadn't been to Clemson since 2019 and while acknowledging that the atmosphere was great there just haven't been enough big games at Clemson in the playoff era for him to return for.

"They just don't play many big games at home", Pate said, "And it's not their fault. It's the rest of the ACC's fault! No one has stepped up consistently over there." The key point in the 247Sports analyst's segment came a couple of minutes later when he theorized that "Clemson could be one of the most famous environments in college football. The locals swear by it...the rest of America does not view the Clemson experience like [the locals] do. I'm not saying that to slight you, I'm saying that you guys have been so good that you have removed the threat of losing at home from the radar to the point where we just don't really turn on many Clemson games."

Strong words? Backhanded compliment? Maybe yes to both but he does have a point. The Clemson Tigers, as strong as they have been for a majority of the past decade now, may have a less-than-positive reception from the rest of the country because other than the times when they're about to be upset nobody turns on the TV anticipating the games this program is playing in. That's nobody's fault that resides in Clemson, South Carolina but it does lead you to wonder what the possibilities could be if, even twice a year, Clemson was playing in the premier game of the weekend. The Tigers have earned all the respect they've gotten over recent years but in this day and age of who could shine the biggest spotlight on their players, there could always be just a little bit more.