The defending ACC Champs and D1A runner-ups roll into Bobby Dodd Stadium on a Thursday night for the nationwide ESPN cameras coming off a home glorified scrimmage blowout most likely of South Carolina State. This will be the Kitty Cats second road game of the season as they open at Auburn before hosting Troy and SC State. This game will go up against the NFL Thursday game of the week, Texans at Patriots, which kicks off around what should be the start of the 2nd quarter in the Clemson-Tech game at 8:25 on CBS.
Game Info: Sep. 22, Thursday, 7:30, ESPN
Last Meeting: 2015, Clemson destroyed Tech 43-24 at Death Valley in a game that IMO the final margin wasn't really indicative of how dominant Clemson was...Clemson was up 40-10 with 2 minutes to go in the 3Q, for instance
All-time series: Tech leads 51-28-2...Tech leads 44-13-2 at home...Tech has defeated Clemson on Grant Field 5 straight times...last Clemson win on Grant Field was 2003...3 of those 5 straight wins saw Clemson as a ranked team...Paul Johnson is 5-4 vs Clemson as HC at Tech
Clemson Offense: Not much really needs to be said. One word... loaded. They have a Heisman front-runner and potentially the overall #1 pick in next spring's NFL draft in QB DeShaun Watson, who returns to Atlanta for his final game back "home". They have an underrated runner (IMO) in Gallman. They don't rebuild at the skill positions. They just reload. Clemson continues to bring in burners at the WR position. It will require one of Tech's best defensive efforts in many years to hold Clemson under 30 points. Having said that, it can be done. Tech has proven that over Clemson more than once when they've rolled into town with an explosive offense.
Clemson Defense: As Athlon pointed out in its preview of Clemson... "A year ago, Brent Venables lost nine starters from the nation’s No. 1 defense and forged a unit that still finished No. 10 nationally." That pretty much supports the notion that Clemson is now at a point where they just reload on defense as well. Clemson has defensive players yet again projected in the first 2 rounds of next spring's NFL Draft. For more from Athlon... http://athlonsports.com/college-football/top-25/clemson-tigers-2016-preview-and-prediction
What I Expect To Happen: This should be a great atmosphere and BDS will be rocking. Clemson attempts to exorcise some demons that have haunted them over the last decade with Tech ending up on top when playing at Grant Field. I think Tech will be jacked up and will keep this game interesting until mid-3Q when Clemson's superior talent will take over. I don't think Clemson runs away from Tech until late, but they get the 2 TD victory with a late score to seal it. Would love to be wrong on this one, but have to lean towards the Tigers... Clemson wins 41-27...Tech moves to 2-2/0-2 on the season
Game Info: Sep. 22, Thursday, 7:30, ESPN
Last Meeting: 2015, Clemson destroyed Tech 43-24 at Death Valley in a game that IMO the final margin wasn't really indicative of how dominant Clemson was...Clemson was up 40-10 with 2 minutes to go in the 3Q, for instance
All-time series: Tech leads 51-28-2...Tech leads 44-13-2 at home...Tech has defeated Clemson on Grant Field 5 straight times...last Clemson win on Grant Field was 2003...3 of those 5 straight wins saw Clemson as a ranked team...Paul Johnson is 5-4 vs Clemson as HC at Tech
Clemson Offense: Not much really needs to be said. One word... loaded. They have a Heisman front-runner and potentially the overall #1 pick in next spring's NFL draft in QB DeShaun Watson, who returns to Atlanta for his final game back "home". They have an underrated runner (IMO) in Gallman. They don't rebuild at the skill positions. They just reload. Clemson continues to bring in burners at the WR position. It will require one of Tech's best defensive efforts in many years to hold Clemson under 30 points. Having said that, it can be done. Tech has proven that over Clemson more than once when they've rolled into town with an explosive offense.
Clemson Defense: As Athlon pointed out in its preview of Clemson... "A year ago, Brent Venables lost nine starters from the nation’s No. 1 defense and forged a unit that still finished No. 10 nationally." That pretty much supports the notion that Clemson is now at a point where they just reload on defense as well. Clemson has defensive players yet again projected in the first 2 rounds of next spring's NFL Draft. For more from Athlon... http://athlonsports.com/college-football/top-25/clemson-tigers-2016-preview-and-prediction
What I Expect To Happen: This should be a great atmosphere and BDS will be rocking. Clemson attempts to exorcise some demons that have haunted them over the last decade with Tech ending up on top when playing at Grant Field. I think Tech will be jacked up and will keep this game interesting until mid-3Q when Clemson's superior talent will take over. I don't think Clemson runs away from Tech until late, but they get the 2 TD victory with a late score to seal it. Would love to be wrong on this one, but have to lean towards the Tigers... Clemson wins 41-27...Tech moves to 2-2/0-2 on the season
