Clemson v. FAU Prediction: Tigers host Owls under the Death Valley lights

Clemson football is back under the Death Valley lights.

by TigerNet Staff - Sat Sep 16 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson football takes its show under the Death Valley lights for the first time this season, hosting the Florida Atlantic Owls (8 p.m.).

FAU (1-1) AT NR/22 CLEMSON (1-1)

TELEVISION: ACC Network (Wes Durham, Tim Hasselbeck, Taylor Tannebaum)
RADIO: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, Reggie Merriweather)
SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM 158 or 193

CLEMSON/FAU SERIES HISTORY

OVERALL: Clemson leads series, 1-0
HOME: Clemson leads series, 1-0
ROAD: No meetings
NEUTRAL: No meetings
LAST MEETING: Sept. 2006 (54-6) W
STREAK: Clemson, Won 1

NOTABLE

* Clemson is 45-15-1 all-time in night games at Memorial Stadium. That includes a 21-3 record under the Death Valley lights in Dabo Swinney's tenure. Clemson has not lost a prime-time game at home since October 2013.

* Clemson is one of two teams in the country to rank in the Top 10 in both total offense (550.5 yards per game, 7th) and total defense (223.5, T-8th). Clemson's defense vaulted into the Top 10 after surrendering only 73 yards and four first downs a week ago. After two games, Clemson ranks ninth in the nation in pass defense (118.0 yards per game) following a season in which the Tigers ranked 76th nationally at 231.7 yards allowed per game in 2022.

* Clemson is attempting to exceed 200 rushing yards and 200 passing yards in three straight games for the first time since a five-game streak in 2019. Clemson is trying to open the first three games of a season by reaching 200 rushing yards and 200 passing yards in three consecutive games for the first time on record. Clemson is attempting to rush for 200 yards in each of the first three games of a season for the first time since 2000 (vs. The Citadel, Missouri and Wake Forest).

* Since the last time Florida Atlantic visited Clemson in 2006, the Owls became a full FBS member, have played in five bowl games, captured three conference titles, moved into a new football facility and changed conference affiliation twice (now in the AAC). Clemson and Florida Atlantic have only met once, a 54-6 win by Tommy Bowden’s Clemson squad against Howard Schnellenberger’s Florida Atlantic team in the 2006 season opener at Death Valley.

CLEMSON/FAU BY THE NUMBERS

1 - Clemson and FAU have scored one touchdown each versus FBS competition this season, with the Owls getting theirs by a 72-yard pick-six from Kurtis Rourke in a 17-10 loss to Ohio and the Tigers getting theirs by a 2-yard touchdown reception from Will Shipley early in the second quarter of the 28-7 loss to Duke.

-25.5 - Clemson is a 25.5-point favorite for the game.

28 - Since knocking off Minnesota in the 2007 season, FAU has lost its last 28 versus teams in Power 5 leagues at the time, but the Owls did take Purdue to the wire on the road last year in a 28-26 defeat.

130 - FAU receiver LaJohntay Wester totaled 130 all-purpose yards to lead the Owls in the home loss to Ohio last week.

679 - Clemson compiled 679 yards of offense in its 66-17 home win over Charleston Southern last week, which was its most since gaining 702 yards against Wofford in 2019.

WHAT CLEMSON WANTS

1. Smooth day for Klubnik - Clemson will have a talent advantage for a third consecutive game to start the season, and with a couple of starts under the belt now, Cade Klubnik has a chance to put together an efficient effort. Maybe most importantly: not find himself on the defensive stat sheet with a tackle in a third-straight game by cutting out the turnovers.

2. Havoc in the backfield - The Tiger defense will get its best chance to create some negative yardage, with the Owls surrendering 12 tackles for loss already to competition such as Monmouth and Ohio (77th nationally).

3. Big plays - As referenced above, the Tigers have racked up the yardage at a Top-10 rate, but that’s come with only seven plays of 20+ yards (96th) and three of 30+ (88th).

WHAT HAPPENS

Clemson keeps building back its confidence in all three phases before hosting a likely Top 5-ranked Florida State next week at noon.

TigerNet picks

David Hood - TigerNet senior writer - 38-10 Clemson
Mickey Plyler - The Roar 105.5 morning show host - 49-14 Clemson
Nikki Hood - Staff writer - 49-17 Clemson
Brandon Rink - Associate editor - 42-17 Clemson
Tony Crumpton - Associate editor - 42-10
Pigskin Prophet - 44-3 Clemson
Ryan Kantor - Contributing Writer - 41-10 Clemson
Ariana Pensy - TigerNet Intern - 45-14 Clemson
Merrell Mann - Photographer - 42-14 Clemson

PREDICTION TRACKER

Game	Actual	David Hood	Plyler	Nikki Hood	Rink	Crumpton	Prophet	Kantor	Pensy	Mann
Duke	28-7 DU	38-20 CU	31-17 CU	45-17 CU	31-16 CU	34-20 CU	37-17 CU	41-17 CU	35-10 CU	35-13 CU	-
CSU	66-17 CU	56-3 CU	56-0 CU	42-10 CU	52-3 CU	45-6 CU	60-13 CU	41-10 CU	21-14 CU	45-3 CU	-
Points	-	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	1

* Points: 3 pts for best correct prediction of the week (tiebreaker is Clemson score), 2 pts for picking score exactly, 1 pt for picking the correct winner