On October 11th, the Boston College football team will host the Clemson Tigers at Alumni Stadium for what is sure to be one of the most important games on the Eagles’ schedule. Clemson is the odds-on preseason favorite (+110) to win the ACC in 2025, with other schools like Miami (+390) and Louisville (+800) trailing much further behind. Other than possibly Notre Dame, this is the best team BC may face this season.
Game Notes
- Saturday October 11th at TBD
- Chestnut Hill, MA
Series
This will be the 33rd meeting between these two programs. Clemson leads the all-time series with a 21-9-2 record and is currently riding a 12-game win streak dating back to 2011. Boston College’s last win against the Tigers was on October 30th, 2010 at Alumni Stadium.
2024 Recap
Clemson had a rollercoaster year in 2024 that ended with a surprise ACC Championship victory and a College Football Playoff bid. The Tigers were in a heated race with SMU and Miami at the top of the ACC that lasted for much of the regular season. Clemson managed to reach the title game after some late season gaffes by Miami cost the Hurricanes two losses in the final three weeks. The Tigers proceeded to eke out a 34-31 win over SMU in the conference championship game before being soundly defeated by Texas in the CFP.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik led the way by operating top ACC offense with the help of WR Antonio Williams, who led the conference in receiving touchdowns, and RB Phil Mafah, who racked up over 1,000 rushing yards. They had a top-20 offense in the country in Cade Klubnik’s second year as the full-time starter.
Clemson’s defense, though, left something to be desired. They were middling in the ACC in defensive metrics and had one of the worst run defenses in the conference. They gave up 250+ rushing yards to Georgia and South Carolina in regular season losses and couldn’t hang with the top teams in the country like Texas and Georgia. The Tigers put together a great season that put them at the top of the ACC, but weren’t quite good enough to be relevant nationally due to their struggling defense.
Offense: Can they keep elevating?
Klubnik has shown himself to be one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC and should be a solid contender for ACC Player of the Year in 2025. He has shown an incredible ability to take care of the ball, make plays with his legs, and keep the offense churning along in tough moments. Clemson is returning 4/5 starters on the offensive line and key receivers like Antonio Willliams, TJ Moore, and Bryant Wesco. The only major question mark is at the running back position, now that their bellcow back from 2024, Phil Mafah, is gone.
So the baseline for Clemson’s offense this year is basically where we left off with them: top-3 in the ACC. But can they keep elevating to national contender status? That remains to be seen.
Defense: Stop the run
The run defense remains the biggest X factor for the team in 2025. Dabo Swinney actually brought in some transfers this offseason, including defensive end Will Heldt from Purdue, so the DL should see some improvement this season in the pass rush. But they really need their veteran tackles to make a leap if Clemson wants to stop the big mean SEC from pounding them at the line of scrimmage. The Clemson passing defense should remain rock solid at least, with their top cornerback Avieon Terrell returning alongside his entire supporting cast from last year.
Match-Up Versus Boston College
Even if all of the pieces come together beautifully for Boston College in 2025, this will be a difficult game no matter what. Perhaps Turbo Richard, Jordan McDonald and the running backs can make a dent in the Tiger defense. But with Cade Klubnik on the other side of the field, we’ll need to see something really special if BC is going to defeat the reigning conference champs.