Week-by-week predictions
Game 1: vs. Georgia Tech
The Geoff Collins hire for Georgia Tech has the makings of being a great move for the program, but one that won’t start with a win as the Yellow Jackets will likely get throttled in this season-opener.
Result: Win
Game 2: vs. Texas A&M
Perhaps the toughest game on Clemson’s schedule comes in the second week of the season as the ever-familiar Jimbo Fisher comes to town. Despite the Aggies looking quite fearsome for 2019, Clemson has too much firepower to succumb to an early upset.
Result: Win
Game 3: at Syracuse
Syracuse has been a team that has pushed Clemson to their limits recently, upsetting them in 2017 and narrowly losing in 2018. With Eric Dungey gone, however, the Tigers should go to the Carrier Dome and try to make an early-season statement.
Result: Win
Game 4: vs. Charlotte
The 49ers are still a young program that is trying to find consistent footing in Conference-USA, which doesn’t bode well for them as they head to Death Valley early in the season.
Result: Win
Game 5: at North Carolina
Hiring Mack Brown to come back to Chapel Hill should work in favor of the Tar Heels program long term. While that may be so, the turnaround isn’t going to be immediate and the Tigers shouldn’t have much difficulty dispatching UNC.
Result: Win
Game 6: vs. Florida State
It would be difficult for Florida State to be more disappointing than they were last season and the talent on the Seminoles is still evident. However, they still have far too many questions to answer to consider them a threat to beat Clemson in 2019.
Result: Win
Game 7: at Louisville
There were few games in the 2018 season as emphatic as the Tigers hanging 77 points on Louisville in a midseason win. Though expecting that to repeat might be far-fetched, expecting a big win for Lawrence and co. is not.
Result: Win
Game 8: vs. Boston College
This could be a sneaky interesting game with the way A.J. Dillon and the Boston College offense can potentially control the pace. Even still, the explosive Clemson offense should ultimately prevail.
Result: Win
Game 9: vs. Wofford
While Wofford has proven that they are a strong force in the Southern Conference, they have still struggled against high-level competition in recent years. The Terriers won’t buck that trend here.
Result: Win
Game 10: at NC State
With Ryan Finley gone from NC State, it’s likely that the Wolfpack will not be near as formidable of a team as they were in 2018. Subsequently, this should be another comfortable ACC victory for the Tigers.
Result: Win
Game 11: vs. Wake Forest
Last season, Clemson made a 63-3 rout of Wake Forest look quite easy. Considering that the Demon Deacons haven’t done much to improve, expect more of the same from this matchup.
Result: Win
Game 12: at South Carolina
Though the rivalry between these two teams always adds fuel to the fire, the Gamecocks simply aren’t at the level of the Tigers heading into the 2019 season. Even if South Carolina puts up an admirable fight as they did last season, Swinney’s team should ultimately prevail.
Result: Win