CLEMSON, S.C. — A few days ago, The Athletic’s own Andy Staples delivered the ultimate viewing guide to help ease the transition into social distancing: 10 of the best college football games to watch again. The games he picked ranged from 1971 to 2013 and included at least one current representative from every Power 5 conference.
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Inspired by Andy, and at the request of several readers via Twitter, the task was accepted to piggyback off his format but turn it into a Clemson-only list.
Picking 10 of the best games in program history to re-watch proved difficult given the choices. Games under current coach Dabo Swinney alone offered more than 10 contenders.
But after serious contemplation and consultation (thanks to The Athletic’s Daniel Shirley for the assist), here are 10 of the program’s most memorable and entertaining games to queue on YouTube. Enjoy the stroll down memory lane.
2016: vs. Alabama in the national championship
Let’s start with the obvious. There’s no way to talk about the best games in Clemson history without first acknowledging the most memorable catch.
Former Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson smiled when he realized Alabama had left 2:01 on the clock after the Crimson Tide scored to take a late 31-28 lead.
All along, Swinney would say, the Tigers were playing to win. If they had to kick a field goal to tie the score they would. But that wasn’t the preference.
In the huddle, former co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott was adamant about a particular play call. He figured Clemson was about to get man coverage and told Swinney, along with co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, that the Tigers should run “Crush.” The play: an option route to wide receiver Hunter Renfrow with fellow receiver Artavis Scott blocking.
After Renfrow’s touchdown catch with one second left secured the national title, he said he had essentially blacked out in that moment and visualized vivid, dormant grass in order to keep his focus.
“I knew before we snapped the ball it was going to be a touchdown,” Watson said. “All I had to do was just get the ball to him.”
2018: vs. Alabama in the national championship
The Tigers and Crimson Tide met again at the end of the 2018 season — the third national championship matchup between the teams in a four-year span.
This time, no late-game heroics were needed en route to Swinney’s second title and the program’s third overall.
Clemson dominated Alabama 44-16 behind a star freshman quarterback who likely solidified his position that night as the projected No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Trevor Lawrence picked apart the Crimson Tide defense, putting on a rookie performance for the ages: 20-of-32 passing for 347 yards and three touchdowns.
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Clemson’s defense intercepted Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa twice: a pick-six from A.J. Terrell on the opening drive and a pick by Trayvon Mullen in the second quarter that led to another Clemson touchdown. Justyn Ross, who had six catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, served as Lawrence’s favorite target. The Alabama native spurned his home-state schools in Alabama and Auburn to suit up for Swinney.
1981: vs. Nebraska in the Orange Bowl
Long before Swinney became a football coach, when he was still a preteen in Pelham, Ala., Clemson won its first national title. The Tigers, who had gone 6-5 in 1980, entered the 1981 season unranked in every preseason poll. But the nation’s most improved team (+5.5 games) capped off an undefeated 1981 season with a 22-15 win against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to deliver the program its first national championship. Strength and conditioning coach George Dostal must have had a gut feeling the Tigers were destined for a national title, given the sign he made for the strength training facility in the 1981 offseason. It read: “1982 Orange Bowl, Clemson vs. Nebraska.”
Jeff Davis, Clemson’s current director of player relations and external affairs, had 14 tackles that game and was the defensive MVP. Quarterback Homer Jordan earned the award on the offensive side. That night, Danny Ford became the youngest coach to win a national championship at 33 years old.
2012: vs. LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl
Earlier this month, Swinney hosted a reunion for Clemson football players he has coached since 2009 who wanted to return to campus for a weekend of celebration. In between late-night basketball games at his house and 4 a.m. pizza, he made sure each former player knew how vital he was in helping establish Clemson’s current culture. The Tigers wouldn’t be on a run of five straight College Football Playoff appearances with two national titles without the players who first laid the foundation. Former quarterback Tajh Boyd is toward the top of that list.
Boyd led Clemson to a 25-24 win against No. 7 LSU in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl, which marked the first time Clemson finished the season ranked in the top 10 of one of the two major polls (USA Today, AP) since 1990. It was also the first time Clemson won 11 games since that 1981 season.
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The quarterback was named the MVP after going 36-of-50 passing for 346 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for an 11-yard score in the first quarter before the heroics of the fourth quarter. The leader of an 11-play, 77-yard drive, Boyd threw a 12-yard touchdown with 2:47 to play to Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. That put the Tigers within two points. After a failed two-point conversion, the Clemson defense forced a three-and-out to give Boyd the ball right back. From there, despite being sacked for a loss of 6 yards on the final drive to Clemson’s 14-yard line, Boyd went to work: a 26-yard pass to Hopkins on fourth-and-16 and a 13-yarder later on second-and-7. With two seconds left, he set Clemson kicker Chandler Catanzaro up for a game-winning, 37-yard field goal. Catanzaro delivered.
“I said, ‘Let’s get it,’” Boyd recounted after. “It didn’t look promising after the first few plays, but it became a special moment.”
1978: vs. Ohio State in the Gator Bowl
There can’t be a Clemson list without the 1978 Gator Bowl on it. Clemson beat the Buckeyes 17-15, but this game is famous for one notorious reason: Ohio State coach Woody Hayes lost his job because of it.
Down two points with about two minutes to play, Ohio State was driving when quarterback Art Schlichter threw an interception, picked off by Clemson’s Charlie Bauman. Once Bauman was pushed out of bounds on his return, he ended up feet away from an angry Hayes, who punched him. Hayes lost his job the next day. Meanwhile the Tigers, coached by the 30-year-old Ford, had college football’s attention. Ford had just taken over as the head coach about three weeks prior, after Charley Pell left Clemson to take the head coaching job at Florida. Now, Ford was on the national radar.
2004: at Miami
Clemson went 6-5 in 2004, which included wins in five of its last six games. None brought excitement quite like the matchup with Miami.
Down 14 points at the half on the road, Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst and running back Reggie Meriweather led the Tigers to a comeback 24-17 win. Merriweather rushed for 114 yards and three touchdowns, including a 2-yard touchdown run in overtime.
Clemson kept the Hurricanes scoreless in the second half while the Tigers cashed in on 21 unanswered points.
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The win knocked Miami out of first place in the ACC and marked a first for the Bowden family. Tommy Bowden, Clemson’s coach at the time, became the first member of his family to beat Miami coach Larry co*ker. His father, legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, was 0-5 against co*ker at the time.
2015: vs. Notre Dame
Hurricane Joaquin barreled through the Carolinas in 2015, prompting then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to beg fans to stay home from this game. But Haley, a Clemson graduate, knew the landscape of college football in the Palmetto State. Clemson fans came anyway, and in masses. Memorial Stadium holds about 80,000 people. The attendance that night was 82,415.
Like multiple games on this list, Clemson won by a margin smaller than a field goal. The final score: Clemson 24, Notre Dame 22. This put Swinney on the map nationally. When re-watching this game, also enjoy The Athletic’s oral history on one of the most memorable nights of Swinney’s career. It spawned one of his favorite phrases: “B.Y.O.G. — Bring Your Own Guts.”
2018: vs. Syracuse
Former Clemson quarterback Chase Brice is on to Duke for his final two years of eligibility, but his mark on Clemson’s program has him forever endeared to the fan base. It was Brice who had Clemson’s season in his hands in 2018 for the second half of Clemson-Syracuse. Days earlier, Clemson decided to promote the freshman Lawrence to starting quarterback. That prompted incumbent Kelly Bryant to abruptly leave the team and catapulted Brice from third-string to backup. When Lawrence went down with an upper-body injury right before halftime that sidelined him for the rest of the game, Clemson turned to Brice.
Down 16-7 at the half, Brice finished the day 7-of-13 passing for 83 yards. A 20-yard pass to Tee Higgins in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-6 with the Tigers down three points, followed by Brice then running for 17 yards, put Clemson on the Syracuse 15-yard line to set up for a touchdown. Brice and running back Travis Etienne, who ran for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries, saved Clemson’s season when the Tigers won 27-23. Clemson went on to win the national title and finished the 2018 season 15-0.
2003: vs. Florida State
In an all-Bowden matchup, Tommy Bowden’s Clemson team stunned Bobby Bowden’s No. 3 Florida State team 26-10 in one of the most memorable games at Death Valley.
Fighting for his job, Tommy got the best of his father on Bobby’s 74th birthday and effectively ended the Seminoles’ hopes at a national title run. Florida State had already lost to Miami previously and the loss to Clemson put a dagger in its plan.
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Clemson fans reportedly celebrated by tearing down the goal posts. The win was Clemson’s first against the Seminoles since 1989 when Ford was coaching.
2016: vs. Louisville
Looking for one of the best quarterback battles in Clemson’s history? Deshaun Watson. Lamar Jackson. What more must be said?
This 2016 battle between the eventual Heisman Trophy winner (Jackson) and his fellow frontrunner (Watson) became a clinic. Clemson needed this win for ACC championship and Playoff purposes. It delivered.
Honorable mention
2008: at Boston College
Dabo Swinney’s first victory as the interim head coach came at Boston College, 27-21. Running back C.J. Spiller’s six catches for 105 yards were the most by a Clemson running back in program history. The Tigers wouldn’t be where they are now without win No. 1 for Swinney.
1981: at North Carolina
Much like a memorable encounter during Clemson’s 2019 season, the 1981 Tigers slid past North Carolina by two points in a wild game on the road.
2019: vs. Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl
This is still fresh on the mind. The Tigers and Buckeyes played the most entertaining game of the 2019 season in a Playoff national semifinal in December.
(Photo of Tajh Boyd in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
Grace Raynor is a staff writer for The Athletic covering recruiting and southeastern college football. A native of western North Carolina, she graduated from the University of North Carolina. Follow Grace on Twitter @gmraynor
