Schedule thoughts: Tigers host FSU in culture battle, finish with rivalry game

Dabo Swinney is looking to notch another win over the Seminoles when they come to Death Valley in September.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Jan 31 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson’s 2023 football schedule has been released, and the schedule appears to have a little more meat on the proverbial bone than some of the more recent schedules.

The schedule includes three teams that finished the season ranked (Florida State, Notre Dame, South Carolina) and is front-loaded and back-loaded with home games with an October that includes just one home game.

Let’s take a look at the schedule with some quick thoughts:

The Tigers open the season on Monday night (Labor Day) at Duke. The Tigers haven’t played at Duke since the days of Sammy Watkins and Tajh Boyd, and this is merely an exercise in the ACC getting its premier program to play in front of a national audience.

Charleston Southern is one of those in-state games that nobody really likes to play. The Bucs finished just 2-8 last season and lost 55-3 against the ACC’s NC State early in the season. The next home game, against FAU, is notable in that former Texas head coach Tom Herman is the head coach. The program fired Willie Taggart after a 15-18 record.

The next game is huge – the Tigers host Florida St. in a battle of culture and program differences. The Seminoles are built on the mercenary side of things, with Mike Norvell relying on the transfer portal to try and bring the ‘Noles back to national prominence. The Tigers prefer to build from the high school ranks and develop players within the program. This could be the first of two matchups between the teams next season.

The month closes with a trip to Syracuse, which means another tough game in an environment that has given the Tigers fits at times. I had one Syracuse writer tell me that the Orange put so much effort into the game at Clemson last season they came out so banged up it cost them the next five games.

October starts out with a home date against Wake Forest – a program the Tigers have owned for over a decade – and a rematch of last season’s overtime thriller in Winston-Salem. The Tigers then have an open date at the exact midpoint of the season.

The rest of October sees the Tigers on the road. First up is a trip to Miami for a battle with Mario Cristobal’s Hurricanes. The Tigers dispatched the ‘Canes rather easily in Death Valley last season and Cristobal’s first season in Miami didn’t go quite as expected. But they’ve recruited well, and this will be an early statement game for them.

Speaking of statement games – NC State’s Dave Doeren and his Wolfpack always sell out to beat the Tigers. The Pack did just that in Raleigh two years ago, prompting the fans to rush the field and Doeren to light up a victory cigar (see a trend here), and this is another one where the Tigers will have to play well to win.

November starts out with the Tigers hosting Notre Dame in a rematch of last year’s beatdown in South Bend. This is another program on the rise, and it’s the first trip to Death Valley for the Irish since the famous rain game in 2015.

The Tigers host Georgia Tech, another team in transition, and then host North Carolina in a rematch of the ACC Championship Game. The Tar Heels figure to be dangerous again behind quarterback Drake Maye, but you have to figure that Tar Heel head coach Mack Brown hates the fact this game comes this late in the season. With the top two teams making the ACC title game, this could be an elimination game for one of the teams.

The Tigers close the season against South Carolina, a team it should have beaten in Death Valley last season. South Carolina is gaining momentum under the thin-skinned Shane Beamer and have all the confidence heading into next season. What we don’t know is what this game will look like? Will it be two top teams? One top team? Two teams fighting for relevance? Doesn’t matter. It’s the rivalry game and the Tigers owe the Gamecocks.

2023 Clemson football schedule

April 15 Spring game (1 p.m./ACCNX)

Sept. 4 @Duke* (Labor Day)

Sept. 9 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN^

Sept. 16 FLORIDA ATLANTIC

Sept. 23 FLORIDA STATE*

Sept. 30 @Syracuse*

Oct. 7 WAKE FOREST*

Oct. 14 Bye week

Oct. 21 @Miami*

Oct. 28 @NC State*

Nov. 4 NOTRE DAME