After an extended layoff, Clemson is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, Nov. 28 when the Tigers welcome the Pittsburgh Panthers on Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff in Death Valley is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. The contest will represent Clemson’s first game action in 21 days. Clemson has often had similar (and longer) layoffs prior to postseason play, but the 21-day layoff
is Clemson’s longest between regular season games in a single season since 1918, when Clemson went 28 days between games against Georgia Tech and South Carolina.
Clemson’s seniors are in the midst of a historic run at home. Clemson is attempting to extend its current school record by winning a 28th consecutive game at home and perhaps avenge its only home loss since 2014, a 43-42 loss to Pitt in 2016. In the last four years, Clemson’s senior class is 26-0 in Death Valley, one victory away from tying the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Clemson seniors (27 wins each) for the most career wins
at Memorial Stadium. With a win this week, Clemson’s senior class can become the first Clemson class ever to go undefeated in Death Valley since the facility’s opening in 1942 and can become the first FBS senior class to post a perfect career record at home since the 2010 Boise State (26-0) and Oklahoma (25-0) seniors. Though he is a junior in official eligibility, quarterback Trevor Lawrence is an academic senior and among those eligible to be honored on Senior Day. In his long awaited return on Saturday, he will attempt to tie the school record with his 32nd career win as Clemson’s starting quarterback. Saturday’s contest will feature two of college football’s most disruptive defenses. Clemson has
recorded 391 sacks and 1,034 tackles for loss since hiring Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables in 2012, the most in the nation in both categories. Over the last two seasons, Pitt and Clemson rank No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the country in both sacks and tackles for loss, with the two teams combining for 168 sacks and 392 tackles for loss in that span. Since the start of the 2019 season, both teams rank in the top three in SportSource Analytics “Defensive Mayhem” metric, which calculates the percentage of plays a defense generates a sack, tackle for loss, interception or fumble recovery. Clemson ranks first
across 2019-20 (15.85), while Pitt ranks third (15.18).
