The biggest games are not always the most important games for a team when they play the regular season. Rivalries are important, but with the new rules of the 12-team playoff, conference games can be the real key to earning a spot in the postseason.
Then again, we all still have to keep our eyes out for that trap game against an opponent that might not get the same attention as a recent two-time national champion or the defending conference champion.
Here are the five most important games for Clemson Football this upcoming season.
No. 5: Clemson vs Georgia
Many people would have this game ranked at No. 1 on this list. It is a huge game. I am old enough to remember how heated the rivalry was when the two programs stopped playing annually years ago. The two campuses are incredibly close together.
Not to mention a win by Clemson would shock the world and publicly announce that the Tigers are back in contention for national accolades.
All this is true and a big reason why it is an exciting contest. This is, however, a list of the most important games, and this game isn’t nearly as important for Clemson as it is exciting for fans.
Objectively, Clemson is a long shot to win this game in Atlanta. Fans should want the victory, but the truth is that all Clemson needs to do is look respectable. More than likely, Clemson’s fate at the end of the 2024 regular season will be defined by the eleven games that follow the opener, not what they do against Georgia.
It ranks in the top five because of the rivalry, which is one of the best things about college football. When it comes to importance, it only beat out Clemson’s November visit to Virginia Tech by a hair.
No. 4: Appalachian State at Clemson
At the risk of spoiling this post for you, most of Clemson’s important games happen in the first half of the season. Head coach Dabo Swinney has rallied his squad to big finishes in two of the last three seasons. If things don’t go the Tigers’ way in September, he might need to do it again in 2024.
The trap during the first month is this contest in Death Valley in Week 2. Before it, the Tigers open the season against the Bulldogs. Following it, the Tigers host NC State and then soon travel to Florida State.
The natural worry here is that the team sees this as a home game against a regional Group of Five opponent. The reality is that Appalachian State is one of the best Group of Five programs in the country. They have been one of the pillars that has elevated the Sun Belt Conference from being the worst FBS conference in college football to being a league that other teams want to join to get more respectability.
I know Swinney and his staff are smart enough to take the Mountaineers seriously. I think the players should be as well. Nonetheless, this is the textbook definition of a trap game, and it is in Week 2. Scary.
No. 3: NC State at Clemson
The Wolfpack is a high-ceiling, low-floor team in 2024. They had some talent on the roster (most notably WR Kevin Concepcion and DL Davin Vann) and they added some familiar names through the transfer portal, such as QB Grayson McCall from Coastal Carolina and WR Noah Rogers from Ohio State.
If the new components complement the returning roster, NC State could be very good. When people are ranking the teams in the ACC, the Wolfpack are a popular pick to join Clemson and Florida State as contenders for the ACC Championship.
The Tigers will host NC State in Week 3 after they play Georgia and host Appalachian State. Clemson classically calls the last third (four games) of the regular season as ‘championship mode’. If the Tigers want to qualify for the College Football playoff in 2024, they will need championship mode in September.
Georgia is a massive test and a big rival. Appalachian State is a sneaky good opponent that could embarrass the Tigers if they aren’t focused. NC State is the first contest of the season that will impact Clemson’s quest to win the ACC Championship and secure a College Football Playoff berth.
Not to mention the Wolfpack have won 2 of the last 3 against the Tigers.
The first three games of the season will be a crescendo of importance.
No. 2: South Carolina at Clemson
I am not saying the second half of the regular season isn’t important, but a quick look shows the level of competition isn’t as fierce as the opening half.
Following the FSU game, the Tigers play at Wake Forest, host Virginia, host Louisville, at Virginia Tech, at Pittsburgh, and host The Citadel.
I’ve already mentioned that Virginia Tech will be a test, and I respect what Jeff Brohm did in Louisville in Year 1, but collectively that stretch isn’t as intimidating at first glance as the first five weeks of the season. The last game of the season doesn’t appear to be intimidating either, but it is the second most important, nonetheless.
While Clemson got the win last season against South Carolina (thank you Khalil Barnes!), they didn’t exactly look fantastic. The defense was good but the offense wasn’t able to maintain the momentum they had built in the previous three weeks.
This contest will be held in Death Valley, which gives the Tigers the advantage, but it is the first time they have played there since the Gamecocks grabbed a one-point win to ruin Clemson’s winning streak against their biggest rival and their home winning streak in the Valley.
SC looks improved at running back but they will be less experienced at quarterback. I like LaNorris Sellers but it would be a big ask to expect him to lead the offense with the same authority as the departed Spencer Rattler. There are also question marks surrounding most other positions. On paper, the Tigers should be a healthy favorite against the Gamecocks in Clemson.
No one will want to hear should of’s or could of’s, however. Clemson must defend its home field against South Carolina. End of story.
No. 1: Clemson at Florida State
Mike Norvell had a big job ahead of him when he arrived in Tallahassee. He didn’t turn things around overnight. He persevered and got the Seminoles over the hump. They won the ACC in 2023 and went undefeated.
Then the plausible deniability sets in. We have no idea how far the Seminoles might have advanced if Jordan Travis had not been injured. We don’t know how they would have looked with Tate Rodemaker if they had gotten into the College Football Playoff or if they had been able to put most of their roster on the field against Georgia.
Because we didn’t get to see FSU at their best with Travis (or even 2nd-best with Rodemaker) in the postseason against either Michigan or Georgia, it is very difficult to gauge exactly where we think this revised roster could fall this season with all the turnover. Norvell did a good job of reloading on defense with 4-star transfers from Alabama, West Virginia, and Oregon State. Florida State did add a 4-star transfer from LSU at receiver, but there wasn’t as much activity on the offensive side.
Enough of the preamble. The only transfer that really matters for the importance of this game is at quarterback for the Seminoles.
Clemson vs Florida State is important because it will be directly impactful to both teams’ chances to go to the ACC Championship game and subsequently the College Football Playoff. It will be a challenge for Clemson because they will have to go on the road to Doak Campbell Stadium.
The importance of both of those factors seems minute compared to the ultimate fallout if Clemson loses to a team that is led by DJ Uiagalelei. There are plenty of people nationally who still think it was Clemson and Swinney who failed DJU, and his late-season swoon with the Beavers didn’t change their opinion.
Now, considering the press that Coach Swinney has received following the national recognition that the Tigers didn’t take any transfers, for one of his former ‘next big things’ to defeat Swinney’s program as a transfer quarterback (that isn’t good enough to help them) will be gasoline on the fire. Even if Clemson were to beat Georgia in the first game, finish the season at 11-1, and qualify for the ACC championship game, no one nationally will forget that Clemson lost to DJU.
There is no doubt that this is the most important game of the season for the Tigers.
