Clemson football to open 2023 season on the road vs. ACC opponent, report says
Another year. Another ACC road opener?
TigerIllustrated.com, citing sources, reported Monday that its “latest intel points to Clemson opening at Duke on Labor Day” after a late change to the Tigers’ 2023 non-conference football schedule left them without a Week 1 opponent.
Under that schedule, Clemson would visit Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium for a season-opening primetime game on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023 before returning to Memorial Stadium the following weekend for its Sept. 9 home opener against FCS Charleston Southern.
The Tigers opened the 2022 season on the road against an ACC opponent, beating Georgia Tech 41-10 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That game, technically a Tech home game, was also played on Labor Day.
A Clemson football spokesperson told The State they couldn’t confirm the report from TigerIllustrated. As of Wednesday, the spokesperson said, the ACC hadn’t provided Clemson its finalized schedule for the 2023 season.
The ACC will release the full 2023 schedules for each of its 14 member schools during a two-hour TV special this Monday night — 7-9 p.m. on ACC Network.
A season-opening Clemson-Duke matchup would pit the reigning ACC champions against one of the conference’s up-and-coming programs in Durham.
The Blue Devils were widely expected to be one of the ACC’s worst teams in 2022, but they went 8-4 in the regular season and won five ACC games under first-year coach Mike Elko to finished tied for second in the Coastal Division.
Duke also beat UCF in the Military Bowl to secure its first nine-win season since 2014 and ACC Football Coach of the Year honors for Elko, the former Texas A&M defensive coordinator who succeeded longtime coach David Cutcliffe.
Clemson went 11-3 in 2022, winning its seventh ACC title in the last eight years but missing out on a second consecutive College Football Playoff under coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers finished No. 13 in the final AP Top 25 poll after losing to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.
Schedule swaps
Clemson was previously scheduled to open next season at home against FCS Wofford on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023 in Memorial Stadium.
But those plans changed last November when Pittsburgh added a home game against Wofford to its 2023 schedule on the same date.
Clemson, which has hosted an in-state FCS program every season since 2007, responded by adding a home game against Charleston Southern to its schedule for Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. It’ll be the first meeting between the schools.
The Charleston Southern contest is one of four non-conference games Clemson’s playing in 2023. The Tigers will also host Florida Atlantic on Sept. 16 and Notre Dame on Nov. 4 before playing at rival South Carolina on Nov. 25.
As noted by FBSchedules.com, Duke is a logical candidate to open against Clemson because it’s the only team on the Tigers’ schedule with a Week 1 open date.
Under the ACC’s new 3-5-5 schedule, which eliminates the old Atlantic and Coastal Divisions, Clemson will host Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Wake Forest at home in 2023 and play on the road at Duke, Miami, N.C. State and Syracuse.
Outside of Duke, Clemson’s other seven ACC opponents currently have Week 1 games scheduled. That includes marquee matchups for North Carolina, which is playing South Carolina in the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Classic on Sept. 2 in Charlotte, and Florida State, which is playing LSU in the 2023 Camping World Kickoff on Sept. 3 in Orlando.
Clemson 2023 football schedule
Home games (7): Charleston Southern (Sept. 9), Florida Atlantic (Sept. 16), Notre Dame (Nov. 4), Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest
Road games (5): South Carolina (Nov. 25), Duke, Miami, N.C. State, Syracuse
