Before last year, it had been 25 years since Clemson and NC State played against each other as ranked schools. On Saturday, when the 15th-ranked Wolfpack visit Death Valley for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff, it will mark the second straight year it has happened.
Clemson is ranked No. 3 in the latest Amway Coaches Poll and Associated Press top 25, while NC State is No. 15 in the Coaches Poll and 16 in the AP.
0: Represents the number of losses between Clemson and NC State heading into Saturday’s game. This year’s game marks the first time in the history of the rivalry that both teams were at least 5-0 heading into the game.
4: Clemson is 4-0 against NC State following a bye week since 1953.
5: The number of times two undefeated teams with 4-0 or better records have met in Death Valley, with this year’s came being the fifth such occasion. Death Valley opened its doors in 1942. Clemson is 3-1 in the previous four games.
6: Marks the number of times Clemson and NC State have played as ranked opponents. Last year, Clemson was sixth and NC State was No. 20. The Wolfpack has won 3 of the first 5 meetings when this has happened. Before last year, Clemson and NC State have not played against each other as ranked teams since 1992.
10: The number of wins for the Clemson football program under head coach Dabo Swinney following a bye week. The Tigers are 10-2 following a bye week under Swinney. Clemson had two bye weeks in 2013 and 2014.
13: Clemson has won the last six games of the series and 13 of the last 14 against NC State. The Tigers have won the last seven games in Memorial Stadium, including a 24-17 overtime win in 2016.
23: Clemson has 23 wins against ranked opponents under Swinney. He is 23-18 vs. Associated Press top 25 teams. NC State is ranked No. 16 in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
23-2: Swinney has a 23-2 all-time record against ACC teams from North Carolina. That includes a 10-0 record against Wake Forest and a 4-0 mark in Winston-Salem. Saturday’s game with Wake Forest is the first of three games this year against ACC teams from North Carolina. Swinney’s only losses to ACC teams from North Carolina were at North Carolina in 2010 (21-16) and at NC State in 2011 (37-13). He has won 17 games in a row against ACC teams from North Carolina. The Tigers have scored at least 40 points in eight of those 17 and have scored at least 33 in 14 of those 17.
41: Clemson is 41-4-2 in Homecoming Games since 1971. Overall, the Tigers are 71-20-3 in its previous 94 Homecoming game.
57: Overall, Clemson has a 57-28-1 lead in the all-time series against NC State, including a 25-11 lead in games at Clemson (21-11 in Death Valley). With the Clemson road win last year, the Tigers are 16-9 in games played in Carter-Finley Stadium.
107: Swinney has placed himself in the company of two college football legends. Swinney enters Saturday’s game against NC State with an overall record of 107-30 for a .781 winning percentage. In Clemson’s late-September win against Syracuse, Swinney passed the number of total victories earned by Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne, the winningest coach by percentage in Division I history. Rockne compiled a 105-12-5 career record from 1918-30 at Notre Dame for a record .881 winning percentage. Swinney’s current .781 winning percentage is tied for 20th-best in Division I history among coaches with a minimum of 10 years experience. With his win against Wake Forest, Swinney passed Bear Bryant, who had a .780 winning percentage (323-85-17).