Clemson Football 2022 Schedule Breakdown: Vol. 6

NOV. 19 • VS. MIAMI (FLA.) • MEMORIAL STADIUM, CLEMSON, S.C.

Clemson will welcome the Miami Hurricanes to Death Valley on Nov. 19, marking the teams’ first meeting since 2020. In that game, a primetime audience and the ESPN College GameDay crew witnessed as No. 1 Clemson routed No. 7 Miami, 42-17, in the rain in the fifth matchup of AP Top 10 teams in Memorial Stadium history. Clemson is riding a three-game winning streak in its series with Miami, including wins in 2015, 2017 and 2020 by a combined score of 138-20.

Mario Cristobal has come home to Miami. In his first season as the Hurricane’s head guy he is charged with actually walking the walk unlike others that did little but talk and talk and talk. Maybe this year will be different?

Canes’ QB Tyler Van Dyke returns after a strong finish to last season. He’s touted by several Miami Fan sites as the best QB in the ACC. I won’t go that far because there was talk last year of DJ Uiagalelei being the best and that hasn’t been substantiated as of yet.

I’m of the belief that Miami is still a Top-15 wannabe. The Tigers will welcome them with open paws into their upcoming nightmare in Death Valley. The Tigers should win this matchup handily.

NOV. 26 • VS. SOUTH CAROLINA • MEMORIAL STADIUM, CLEMSON, S.C.

Clemson fans long wait will be over on Nov. 26 when the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry will return to Death Valley for the first time since 2018.

Clemson will attempt to set a series record with its eighth consecutive win in the rivalry, as the Tigers enter the contest tied with the 1934-40 Clemson squads (seven straight) for the longest winning streak by either team in series history. Clemson is coming off of a 30-0 win against South Carolina in 2021 and hasn’t surrendered a touchdown to the Gamecocks since 2018.

Without any hesitation, I’ll go on record and say, transfer QB Spencer Rattler may not even be the starter at this point of the season. In a recent interview, Rattler called Oklahoma’s locker room last season toxic. Of course it was and those close to the story believe the source of that toxicity might have left the program in search of a place of even greater toxicity, The University of South Carolina. They are a perfect match.

Now, onto the game breakdown. I’ve earnestly looked for any advantage for Shane Beamer’s squad, and the only one I can see is that they are used to losing. It’s in their DNA. With this game being played in Death Valley, against arguably one of the best defenses in all of college football, the Clemson Tigers will bury the Gamecocks.

Again, this will be the eighth straight victory in this rivalry. It could be a decent game through the first quarter but that’s it. It’s possible QB Hunter Helms and QB Billy Wiles could have career games in this one. The Tigers end the season with a win and will head to Charlotte for the ACC Championship the following week.

This ends the series of my breakdown of Clemson’s 2022 season. Thank you for reading and If I’m correct, the Tigers will find itself back in the CFB Playoffs. Let’s all hope I’m right.