It is Game Day in Blacksburg where the Tigers look to continue the road to Miami and another national championship.  No. 3 Clemson battles Virginia Tech with a trip to the ACC Championship on the line.

Location: Lane Stadium

Kickoff:  7:30

Television:  ABC

Announcers:  Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler, Maria Taylor

2020 Record: Clemson  8-1,  Virginia Tech 4-5

ACC Record: Clemson 7-1, Virginia Tech 4-4

Series History: Clemson leads series 22-12-1

Last Meeting:  Clemson won 31-17 on September 30, 2017

CLEMSON TRAVELS TO VIRGINIA TECH FOR RARE REGULAR SEASON DECEMBER GAME

After wrapping up a perfect 6-0 home slate in 2020 on Senior Day in Death Valley last week, Clemson returns to the road this week for a matchup with the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday, Dec. 5. Kickoff at Lane Stadium is
scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

Clemson has played 1,218 regular season games in its 125-season history, posting a 734-439-45 record in those contests. However, only six of those 1,218 regular season games have been contested in the month of December.

Clemson is 3-3 all-time in December regular season games, dropping its first three in 1922, 1928 and 1945. Clemson has won its three most recent
December regular season games, including wins by Frank Howard’s squads in 1948 and 1956 and a win by Tommy Bowden’s 2001 team against Duke. Clemson’s 59-31 win against Duke on Dec. 1 was played on that date as a function of postponement following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

– Clemson attempting to earn a ninth win through the first 10 games of a season for the 15th time in school history. Clemson won at least nine games in its first 10 contests in the 1939, 1948, 1950, 1978, 1981, 1987, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
– Clemson attempting to win an eighth ACC regular season game for a third straight season for the first time in school history. It would be Clemson’s fourth time winning eight ACC regular season games in a single season, joining the 2015, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
– The 2020 Clemson seniors (49-4 since 2017) attempting to become the fourth straight Clemson senior class (and the 11th such class in FBS history) to record 50 wins in four years.
– The 2020 Clemson seniors (30-2 in ACC regular season play from 2017-20) attempting to surpass the 2018 and 2019 seniors (30 wins each) as the
winningest class in school history in regular season conference play and tie the four-year conference record of 31, set by multiple Florida State classes from 1995-2000.
– Clemson attempting to improve to 51-3 against conference opponents since the start of the 2015 season, the first year of Clemson’s active run of five
consecutive ACC titles.
– Clemson attempting to win a sixth consecutive game against Virginia Tech, dating to the 2011 season when the Tigers defeated the Hokies twice. It would be Clemson’s longest streak in the series since winning nine consecutive games against the Hokies from 1955-85.
– Clemson attempting to win a third consecutive game in Blacksburg.

NIGHT MOVES

Saturday night’s game against Virginia Tech will represent Clemson’s fifth night game of the season and its 41st since the start of the 2015 season. Since that time, Clemson is 35-5 in night games, including a 26-2 night record in the regular season. Clemson is 14-2 in road night games since 2015.

SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA TECH

Clemson has a 22-12-1 lead in its all-time series with Virginia Tech. Clemson’s 23-3 victory on Oct. 1, 2011 in Blacksburg ended a five-game Virginia Tech winning streak in the series, as Clemson is now in the midst of its own five-game winning streak against the Hokies.

Clemson’s five consecutive wins against Virginia Tech include a pair of ACC Championship Games, one in 2011 and one in 2016. The Tigers defeated Virginia Tech twice in 2011, 23-3 at Blacksburg and 38-10 in the ACC
Championship Game in Charlotte. It remains the only time Clemson has beaten the same school twice in the same year.

Clemson defeated Virginia Tech, 38-17, in the regular season at Clemson in 2012 and in the 2016 ACC Championship Game, 42-35. Clemson won the teams’ last meeting, a 31-17 prime-time win in a game that was ESPN College GameDay’s featured contest.

WITH THE WIN…

– Clemson has now earned eight wins through the first nine games of a season for the 16th time in school history. Clemson previously 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 won a seventh ACC regular season game for a sixth-straight season, adding to the longest streak in school history. It gives Clemson at least seven regular season conference wins in eight of the last nine
seasons, dating to 2012.
– The 2020 Clemson seniors improved to 27-0 at home from 2017-20 and tied the school record for most home wins by a senior class held by the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seniors (27 each). The group became the first Clemson class in the modern era to post a perfect four-year record at home and the first to do so since Memorial Stadium opened in 1942. (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 finished undefeated at home for the sixth time in seven years. It marks the school’s first time accomplishing the feat (including ties) since 1935-41, when the team was 15-1-1 in its final seven seasons at Riggs Field prior to the opening of Memorial Stadium in 1942.
– Clemson has now won all its home games in four consecutive seasons for the first time under Head Coach Dabo Swinney.
– Clemson won its sixth home game this season to give the Tigers a 10-year streak of winning at least six games at Memorial Stadium. Clemson has posted a winning record at home in 19 consecutive seasons.

TCI Predictions 

Robert – Clemson 42, Virginia Tech 21

Will – Clemson 47, Virginia Tech 17