With the bitter end to the 2019 football season still fresh in Clemson fans’ minds, the Atlantic Coast Conference released its complete schedule for the 2020 football season Wednesday morning. The schedule revealed the dates of the Tigers’ eight conference games of the season.
Clemson will again start the season on a Thursday night against Georgia Tech, this time at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. The Tigers follow up with their home conference opener against the Louisville Cardinals on Sept. 12. The Cardinals open against N.C. State before heading to Tigertown for the season’s second game.
This is the first time since the 2004 football season that Clemson will open with back-to-back conference games. That year, the Tigers won the first game against Wake Forest but dropped the second contest against Georgia Tech.
The Louisville game starts the first of a three game home stretch for Clemson, the first since the 2015 season. This is followed by two consecutive road games, which also last happened during the 2015 football season. Following the Louisville game is the team’s first out-of-conference game against the Akron Zips.
Clemson’s week four matchup is an ACC Championship reunion when the Virginia Cavaliers come to Death Valley on Sept. 26. The Tigers defeated the Cavaliers last season, 62-17, enroute to their fifth consecutive ACC football title.
The Tigers then travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. for a Friday night matchup with the Boston College Eagles before heading to Tallahassee the following Saturday for a matchup with division rival Florida State.
Following this road trip is the team’s second two-plus game homestand of the year when they host the N.C. State Wolfpack and the Syracuse Orange.
The Tigers follow up the homestand with three weeks off from conference play. The first of these weeks is a bye before the season’s marquee matchup against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The last time these teams met, the Tigers topped the Fighting Irish 30-3 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl enroute to Clemson’s third national title. The last regular season matchup between the two schools came in Death Valley during the 2015 football season, which the Tigers won 24-22.
Clemson concludes conference play at Wake Forest on Nov. 21 before hosting in-state rival South Carolina on Nov. 28.
FULL SCHEDULE
(Home games in bold, ACC games with asterisk)
9/3 @ Georgia Tech* (Thursday)
9/12 vs. Louisville*
9/19 vs. Akron
9/26 vs. Virginia*
10/2 @ Boston College* (Friday)
10/10 @ Florida State *
10/17 vs. NC State*
10/24 vs. Syracuse*
10/31 (Bye week)
11/7 @ Notre Dame
11/14 vs. The Citadel
11/21 @ Wake Forest*
11/28 vs. South Carolina
