It is Game Day in Death Valley as the Tigers look to continue the road to Miami and another national championship.  No. 3 Clemson hosts Pitt for senior day and the first game in three weeks.

Location: Memorial Stadium (Death Valley)

Kickoff:  3:30

Television:  ABC

Announcers:  Todd Blackledge, Sean McDonough, Todd McShay, Molly McGrath

2020 Record: Clemson  7-1,  Pitt 5-4

ACC Record: Clemson 6-1, Pitt 4-4

Series History: Clemson trails series 1-2

Last Meeting:  Clemson won 42-10 on December 1, 2019

CLEMSON HOSTS PITT ON SENIOR DAY IN DEATH VALLEY

After an extended layoff, Clemson is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, Nov. 28 when the Tigers welcome the Pittsburgh Panthers on Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff in
Death Valley is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.

The contest will represent Clemson’s first game action in 21 days. Clemson has often had similar (and longer) layoffs prior to postseason play, but the 21-day layoff is Clemson’s longest between regular season games in a single season since 1918, when Clemson went 28 days between games against Georgia Tech and South Carolina. For more context on that 1918 campaign and other notable postponements in Clemson history.

Clemson’s seniors are in the midst of a historic run at home. Clemson is attempting to extend its current school record by winning a 28th consecutive game at home and perhaps avenge its only home loss since 2014, a 43-42 loss to Pitt in 2016. In the last four years, Clemson’s senior class is 26-0 in Death Valley, one victory away from tying the 2017, 2018 and 2019
Clemson seniors (27 wins each) for the most career wins at Memorial Stadium. With a win this week, Clemson’s senior class can become the first Clemson class ever to go undefeated in Death Valley since the facility’s
opening in 1942 and can become the first FBS senior class to post a perfect career record at home since the 2010 Boise State (26-0) and Oklahoma (25-0) seniors,

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

– Clemson attempting to earn an eighth win through the first nine games of a season for the 16th time in school history. Clemson won at least eight games in its first nine contests in the 1939, 1948, 1950, 1978, 1981, 1987, 2000, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
– Clemson attempting to win a seventh ACC regular season game for a sixth-straight season, adding to the longest streak in school history. It would give Clemson at least seven regular season conference wins in eight of the last nine seasons, dating to 2012.
– The 2020 Clemson seniors (26-0 at home from 2017-20) attempting to tie the school record for most home wins by a senior class held by the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seniors (27 each) and become the first Clemson class in the modern era to post a perfect fouryear record at home. (Note: Clemson was undefeated at home in a four-year span from 1900-03 but only played
a total of five home games in that four-year window).
– Clemson’s seniors attempting to become the first FBS senior class to post a perfect career record at home since the 2010 Boise State (26-0) and Oklahoma (25-0) seniors.

SENIOR DAY

Currently, the 2020 senior class…

… holds a 48-4 overall record in the last four years, two wins shy of becoming only the 11th senior class in FBS history (and fourth in Clemson history) to post at least 50 career wins in four years.
… is attempting to become the third senior class in conference history to play in four consecutive ACC Championship games, and with a win in Charlotte, could become the third class in conference history to win four ACC titles outright, joining Clemson’s 2018 and 2019 classes.
… is attempting to become Clemson’s third straight senior class to earn four consecutive College Football Playoff berths during their careers.
… has won 40 games against Power Five conference opponents since 2017, the most in the country. No other active senior class in the country has more than 36 wins against Power Five teams.
… has been ranked in the AP Top 10 in every poll of their careers, one of only two senior classes in the country able to make that claim. That includes a streak of 51 consecutive appearances in the Top 5 since 2017, the third-longest streak in AP Poll history. Clemson has been in the Top 5 of 58 of 61 total polls since the 2017 preseason poll, tied for the most such appearances in the country,

MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY

Clemson, formally founded as Clemson Agricultural College in November 1889, was originally a military school, reflecting a belief at the time that a military atmosphere produced the highest academic excellence.

Beginning with the first graduating class of 1896, more than 10,000 Clemson men and women have served in the armed forces. Throughout the decades, Clemson’s military heritage has remained, even as the university transitioned
to a coeducational civilian institution in 1955.

Saturday’s game against Pitt will be Clemson’s 27th Military Appreciation Day. The history of the special day dates to 1994 when Clemson had a special flyover for the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech game on Nov. 12, just one day after Veterans Day. The flyover of four F-16s from Shaw Air Force Base during pregame was the highlight of the celebration that day.

Clemson has celebrated its military history every year since during games held in November or when Clemson plays host to a school with its own military heritage.

Clemson has a 22-4 record in the previous 26 Military Appreciation Day games. The Tigers have won 12 such games in a row, with the last loss coming against Virginia Tech in 2007.

12-WIN SEASONS

Clemson has won at least 12 games in five consecutive seasons, the longest active streak of 12-win seasons and one of only four such streaks in major
college football history, joining Alabama (five from 2014-18), Penn (seven from 1892-98) and Yale (five from 1888-92).

TCI Predictions 

Robert – Clemson 49, Pitt 23

Will – Clemson 34, Pitt 20

Gavin – Clemson 41, Pitt 17