BOSTON, Mass. – The third-ranked Clemson Tigers travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass., where they will visit Boston College at Alumni Stadium on Friday. The game will be televised by ESPN and will kick off at 7:30 p.m.
About Boston College: The Eagles come into the Friday’s game on a two-game winning streak after taking down Buffalo 35-3 last week in Chestnut Hill. The week before, the Eagles downed Wagner 42-10.
Boston College’s offense: The Eagles rank at the bottom of the ACC in total offense, averaging 335.6 yards and 23.4 points per game. Quarterback Patrick Towels leads the unit with 806 passing yards as he has thrown six touchdowns and three interceptions in the first five games. The Eagles have totaled 400 or more yards in each of the last two weeks. Before that, Virginia Tech held BC to 124 total yards in a 49-0 loss.
Boston College’s defense: The Eagles have held four of their five opponents to 240 or less yards, including 174 total yards combined in the last two games. However, Virginia Tech did get 476 yards, including 223 on the ground. BC leads the nation in yards allowed (202.0) and passing yards allowed (124.0). They are giving up just 78 yards a game on the ground, which ranks seventh nationally. They held Buffalo to 67 total yards last week, which is a school record for a game.
Records: Clemson 5-0, 2-0 ACC; Boston College 3-2, 0-2 ACC
Series record: Clemson leads 14-9-2
First meeting: Clemson won 6-3 in the 1940 Cotton Bowl
Last meeting: Clemson won 34-17 at Clemson
Streak: Clemson has won five straight in the series
Stat worth noting: This will be Clemson’s first regular season game on a Friday since November 16, 1956 when Clemson lost a Friday evening game at Miami, 21-0. The last time Clemson won a Friday regular-season game was in 1952 when the Tigers won a Halloween Friday night game in Boston over Boston College, 13-0. That game was played in Braves Field in Boston.
Clemson has played more games on Fridays in the regular season over its history than one would think. This will actually be the 43rd regular season game in Clemson football history played on a Friday. The Tigers are 23-14-5 in Friday regular season games.
Some of Clemson’s best bowl wins in history have come on Fridays. At the top of the list was the Jan. 1, 1982 Orange Bowl win over Nebraska, 22-15. That win gave Clemson its only National Championship. The December 29, 1978 win over Woody Hayes and Ohio State was on a Friday, as was a 35-10 victory over defending National Champion Penn State in the Jan. 1, 1988 Florida Citrus Bowl.
Clemson last played a game on Friday on January 3, 2014 when the Tigers defeated sixth-ranked Ohio State in the Orange Bowl, 40-35.
Second stat worth noting: Clemson has won seven in a road on the opponent’s home field. That is tied for the second longest streak of its kind in Clemson history. The record is eight in a row set between the 1978 and 1979 seasons. So a win at Boston College on Friday will tie the Clemson record for consecutive road wins.
Clemson lost its last road game of 2014 at Georgia Tech, then went 5-0 last year on the opponent’s home field, wins at Louisville, Miami, NC State, Syracuse and South Carolina. Clemson has added to it this year with wins at Auburn and Georgia Tech. Clemson had not won at Auburn since 1951 and had not won at Georgia Tech since 2003. If Clemson can win at Boston College the Tigers will go for the school record at Florida State, where Clemson has not won since 2006 and has just one win since 1989.
Third stat worth noting: While Clemson had many top 15 national rankings on defense last year, one area Dabo Swinney wanted to improve on was allowing big plays. So far that area has been a plus for the Tigers. Even after playing the nation’s top team in making big plays, Louisville, Clemson has allowed just five plays of 30 yards or more all year, fifth best in the nation. That includes just two pass plays of 30 yards or more, third best in the nation. Last year Clemson was 79th nationally in allowing plays of 30 yards or more with 20. Additionally, Clemson has allowed just 15 total plays of 20 yards or more this year, 16th best in the nation.