GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s Game Day at State Farm Stadium where No. 3 Clemson battles No. 2 Ohio State with a trip to the national championship on the line.
Clemson looks to remain perfect against Ohio State and play for their fourth national championship in five years.
Location: State Farm Stadium
Kickoff: 8 p.m. EST
Television: ESPN
Announcers: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Tom Rinaldi, Maria Taylor
2019 Record: Clemson 13-0, Ohio State 13-0
ACC Record: Clemson 9-0
Series History: Clemson leads 3-0
Last Meeting: Clemson won 31-0 on December 31, 2016
MOST WINS SINCE 2015
Clemson has a 110-15 record since starting its current stretch of 10-win seasons in 2011. Only Alabama (113-12) has more wins 2011. The Tigers also have the second-highest winning percentage (.880) in that time
frame.
A CENTURY MARK FOR THE DECADE
Head Coach Dabo Swinney can vividly recall the looks he received when he said Clemson was on the cusp of the winningest decade in program history following a 2010 campaign in which the Tigers finished 6-7. In 2017, that vision became a reality with two seasons to spare when Clemson collected its 88th win of the decade in the ACC Championship Game against Miami (Fla.) to surpass the Tigers of the 1980s (87) for most wins in any decade in school history.
With a rivalry win against South Carolina to close the 2018 regular season, Clemson reached triple digits in wins in a decade for the fi rst time in program history.
10-WIN SEASONS
Clemson entered 2019 riding a streak of eight consecutive seasons with 10+ wins. The program’s eighth consecutive 10-win season in 2018 tied the Tigers with the 1985-92 Miami Hurricanes and the 2004-11 Virginia Tech Hokies for the fourth-longest streak in FBS history and made Clemson one of only six programs to accomplish the feat.
By earning its 10th win of the 2019 season, Clemson became only the fourth program in FBS history to record at least nine consecutive 10-win seasons, tying the 2001-09 Texas Longhorns for the third-longest streak on record.
The record for consecutive 10-win seasons is 14, set by Florida State (1987-00). Alabama is the only other program with an active streak of at least nine.
The Tigers now have 16 10-win seasons in school history, with more than half coming in the last nine years under head coach Dabo Swinney. The 2019 season is Clemson’s sixth with at least 12 wins, with Swinney sitting at the helm for fi ve of them.
ESTEEMED COMPANY
Head Coach Dabo Swinney’s run of excellence in his decade-plus at Clemson has placed him in the company of college football legends.
Swinney enters this week with a winning percentage of .811, sitting as one of only 13 head coaches in history with at least 10 seasons of FBS head oaching experience to post a mark of .800 or better. That list presently includes Knute Rockne (.881), Frank Leahy (.864), Urban Meyer (.854), George Woodruff (.846), Barry Switzer (.837), Tom Osborne (.836), Fielding Yost (.833), Percy Haughton (.832), Bob Neyland (.826), Bud Wilkinson (.826), Jock utherland (.812), and Bob Devaney (.806).
Among the legends Swinney has already passed are College Football Hall of Famers Bo Schembechler (.775), Bear Bryant (.780) and Henry Williams (.785), as well as Nick Saban (.791 prior to NCAA adjustment), whose Crimson Tide were defeated by Swinney and the Tigers in the most recent national championship game.
Against Florida State earlier this year, Swinney passed the career total of Danny Ford, who won 121 combined games at Clemson (96) and Arkansas (25). With a win against Wofford in early November, Swinney recorded his 125th win in his 155th career game.
Per records available via Sports Reference, he became the 10th-fastest coach to reach 125 career wins in terms of games coached.
NIGHT MOVES
The Fiesta Bowl will represent Clemson’s seventh night game of the 2019 season. Clemson is 31-3 in night games since 2015, including victories in each of its last 12 night games since the start of the 2018 season.
300 OR FEWER YARDS
Clemson opened the season by keeping each of their first 12 opponents to fewer than 300 yards, marking the first time in ESPN Stats & Info searchable data going back to 1996 that a team had held the first 12 opponents of a season under that mark. ACC Coastal Division champion Virginia became the first team to hit the 300-yard plateau on Clemson, accounting for 387
in the ACC Championship Game.
SWINNEY IN NFL STADIUMS
The Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, will be Clemson’s 13th game in an NFL stadium in the last five years. Clemson has won 13 of its last 15 games in NFL stadiums, including three last season (an ACC Championship victory at the home of the Panthers, a Cotton Bowl victory at the home of the Cowboys, and a National Championship Game at
the home of the 49ers) as well as one this season in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte. Clemson has a 16-6 record.
TCI Predictions
Robert – Clemson 35, Ohio State 17
Will – Clemson 37, Ohio State 33
Gavin – Clemson 28, Ohio State 24
Clemson is back in the College Football Playoffs once again. Get the latest official Clemson CFP gear right here!
