Dabo Swinney opens up on tying Bobby Bowden with Clemson's 37th straight home win
Dabo Swinney opened up about tying Bobby Bowden and the Florida State Seminoles with their ACC record 37th straight home win on Saturday.
By virtue of their 30-20 victory over NC State, the Tigers tied the legendary head coach, something Swinney doesn’t take lightly. Speaking with the media afterwards, the Clemson leader elaborated on his feelings.
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“37 in a row, to tie a record, the ACC record. To be a part of that, I don’t even really have words for that. It’s just hard for me to process that. I can’t even really wrap my mind around that,” began Swinney. “I guess we tied Bobby Bowden’s record with his Florida State teams, whenever that was, and I mean it’s just incredible.
“The reason, that’s what I told this team, the reason we had an opportunity to do that tonight and be apart of something special like that is because of all those teams before that have taken pride in playing in the valley. Because of the great crowd, the great atmosphere that we have, it’s a special place. It’s always been great, but you know, with all the new stuff going on, it’s amazing. It really is. It’s a special environment, and we had a lot of people here tonight, thankful we were able to find a way to win.”
While Clemson is on the road the next two weeks, they’ll have a chance to break the record against the Syracuse Orange on October 22nd, ironically coming after a trip to Tallahassee for a showdown with Florida State the week prior.
ACC confirms Clemson vs Boston College as ABC night matchup
Continuing, the ACC has confirmed that Clemson will return to ABC’s Saturday Night Football for its Week 6 matchup. Kickoff on the road at Boston College has been set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
With consecutive ranked wins against NC State and Wake Forest the week prior, Clemson is beginning to prove it’s the team to beat in the ACC – and their schedule is now reflecting that.
Boston College sits at 2-3 through five games this season, but their opponent is the hottest team in their league this season and is likely to be displayed on a national scale television-wise for the rest of the year.
Moreover, Tigers quarterback DJ Uiagalelei rushed for a career-high 73 yards, which resulted in two touchdowns, on top of completing 21-of-30 passes for 209 yards and another score. Uiagalelei accounted for 282 of Clemson’s 352 total yards (80 percent), while standout running back Will Shipley rushed for 60 yards at 4.3 yards per carry to round out the majority of offensive production.
Defensively, the Wolfpack was held to 34 yards on 21 carries (1.6 yards per rush), the lowest mark NC State has been held to against the Tigers since 2001. Forcing an interception and a fumble in the game’s final 30 minutes kept Uiagalelei and the Clemson offense on the field en route to victory.
Clemson will likely be heavy favorites against Boston College, and a strong performance during the matchup for the Tigers is a necessity. Swinney’s Tigers have consecutive games against No. 23 Florida State and a 5-0 Syracuse squad before their BYE during Week 9, and can’t be caught overlooking the Eagles.