Preview and Prediction: Clemson Tigers and The Citadel Bulldogs
Clemson will return to Death Valley for the first time in 2020 when the Tigers welcome The Citadel Bulldogs for Clemson's lone non-conference tilt of the 2020 regular season. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
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
Who to watch on offense:
Running back Travis Etienne (at least one rushing or receiving touchdown in 37 of his 44 career games) needing a touchdown of any kind to tie the FBS record for most career games with a touchdown, presently held by Florida's Tim Tebow (38 games from 2006-09) and Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Dixon (38 from 2012-15).
- Etienne attempting to record his 19th career 100- yard rushing game to tie Virginia's Tiki Barber for ninth-most in ACC history. Etienne's 18 100-yard rushing games are already a Clemson record.
- Etienne (4,140) needing eight rushing yards to move past Maryland's LaMont Jordan (4,147 from 1997-2000) for the fifth-most career rushing yards in ACC history.
- Etienne (57) needing three more rushing touchdowns to become only the 12th player in official FBS records to score 60 career rushing touchdowns, a mark reached only by Navy's Keenan Reynolds (88), Wisconsin's Montee Ball (77), Miami (Ohio)'s Travis Prentice (73), Texas' Ricky Williams (72), Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Dixon (72), Florida Atlantic's Devin Singletary (66), Indiana's Anthony Thompson (64), Texas' Cedric Benson (64), Wisconsin's Ron Dayne (63), San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey (62) and Oregon's Royce Freeman (60).
- Etienne (378) needing two points to pass placekicker Greg Huegel (379 from 2015-18) for second on Clemson's career scoring leaderboard. He needs 27 points to break placekicker Chandler Catanzaro's school record of 404 career points from 2010-13
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence attempting to pass for 350 yards in consecutive games for the first time in his career. - Lawrence attempting to pass for 300 yards in consecutive games for the first time since the Cotton Bowl and College Football Playoff National Championship Game to conclude the 2018 season.
- Lawrence (67) chasing No. 9 Darian Durant (68), Nos. 7 Brad Kaaya and Lamar Jackson (69) and No. 6 Jacory Harris (70) on the ACC's all-time career passing touchdowns leaderboard.
- Lawrence (eight) attempting to post a ninth career 300-yard passing game to take sole possession of the third-most 300-yard games in school history. It would pull him within one 300-yard game of joining Tajh Boyd (18) and Deshaun Watson (13) as the only players in school history to record double-digit career 300-yard passing games.
- Lawrence entering the game having thrown 267 consecutive passes without an interception. With four more attempts without an interception, he would pass Drew Weatherford (270 in 2007) for the third-longest streak in ACC history. He needs 33 more pass attempts without an interception to record only the third 300- pass streak without an interception in conference history
Who to watch on defense:
Bryan Bresee joined Clemson as the consensus No. 1 player in America for the class of 2020. Myles Murphy joined the Tigers as ESPN.com's third-ranked player in the class. Both made an immediate impact in their collegiate debuts.
It had been five years since a Clemson true freshman had recorded a sack in a season opener, when Dexter Lawrence and Tre Lamar each did so in the 2016 season opener at Auburn. Both Murphy and Bresee got on the stat sheet in the opener against Wake, with Murphy compiling two sacks among a team-high seven tackles and Bresee adding half a sack and the Tigers' first blocked field goal since Week 2 of 2018.
With two sacks in the opener, Murphy was already halfway toward entering the Top 5 in Clemson history in sacks by a first-year freshman.
Preview:
Clemson holds a 32-5-1 advantage in the series with The Citadel since the teams' first meeting in 1909. Clemson won that first meeting in Charleston by a 17-0 score. Clemson won the first six games of the series by a combined score of 130-17, including four shutout victories.
The Citadel’s first win in the series took place in 1916 by a 3-0 score in Orangeburg, S.C. Clemson then won the next four, all by shutouts, prior to a 7-7 tie in 1921. The Bulldogs had their most successful era in the series from 1924-31 when they won four of eight games. Their biggest win in that stretch took place in 1928 when The Citadel upset a Clemson team that would finish 8-2 by a 12-7 score on Dec. 8, the latest regular-season game in Clemson history.
Clemson has won the last 17 games in the series, the third-longest winning streak against a single opponent in Clemson history.
Predictions:
Zach Lentz: Clemson 55, The Citadel-6
Clemson jumps out quickly and cruises to an easy victory, as Trevor Lawrence continues his interception-less streak and connects for three touchdown passes, with Travis Etienne adding two of his own on the ground—all in the first half. The Citadel picks up two field goals to keep the Tigers from getting the shutout, but are unable to cross the goal line.
Brad Senkiw: Clemson 56, The Citadel 0
This will look (and feel) more like a spring game than a home opener, but the Tigers will be able to build a quick lead and roll late. Expect to see QB D.J. Uiagalelei get his first career touchdown while other reserves get in on the scoring action as well. The Citadel will battle hard until the end, but Clemson's defense pitches its first shutout since 2016.
Jason Priester: Clemson 52 Citadel 6
Expect to see the backups early on in this one and the playbook opened a little more for them than it was last week. No one has been better at defending the option than Brent Venables in recent years, and while the Tigers won't get the shutout, they will come close.
Travis Boland: Clemson 48 The Citadel 6
Last year the Bulldogs knocked off an ACC team early in the season (Georgia Tech) but don't expect lightning to strike twice. The only question is how long the starters will play...answer, not long.
Christopher Hall: Clemson 59 The Citadel 7
This year’s state championship looks a little different and comes much earlier in the season. However, the end result remains the same. Clemson scores quickly out of the gate and humbles the confident Citadel Bulldogs in this “empty the bench” nonconference rout.
