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Clemson vs. Tennessee

Clemson and Tennessee have 19 meetings on file, the first in 1902; Tennessee leads the series 12–⁠6–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Tennessee 8–⁠2.

Clemson wins
6
Tennessee wins
12
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1902
Longest streak
7 Tennessee
Current streak
1 Tennessee
Last 10 meetings
Tennessee 8–⁠2
Most recent
2022

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s3–⁠2–⁠1
1910s2–⁠2
1920s0–⁠1
1930s0–⁠3
1940s0–⁠1
1970s0–⁠2
2000s1–⁠0
2020s0–⁠1
Both ranked
1 meeting: Clemson 0, Tennessee 1; 1 both in the top 10
Average margin
13.6 points; 6 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Clemson
2–⁠2–⁠1 Clemson’s record at home
At Tennessee
9–⁠3 Tennessee’s record at home
Neutral sites
1–⁠1 Clemson first
Shutouts
11

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Clemson’s biggest win1906: Clemson 16, Tennessee 0by 16 points
  2. Tennessee’s biggest win1931: Tennessee 44, Clemson 0by 44 points
  3. Upset1907: Tennessee 4, Clemson 0Tennessee had a 23% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Ranked showdown2022: Tennessee 31, Clemson 14No. 6 Tennessee at No. 10 Clemson

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Clemson and Tennessee, 1902 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Named most valuable

Joe Milton Tennessee2022

Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).

From the newspapers

  • The The Savannah morning news's story of the 1902 game: TENNESSEE WENT DOWN BEFORE CLEMSON.

    1902 · The Savannah morning news, Georgia, Nov 28, 1902

  • The The times dispatch's story of the 1904 game: Clemson Wins From Tennessee.

    1904 · The times dispatch, Richmond, Va., Nov 13, 1904

  • The Waterbury evening Democrat's story of the 1905 game: OTHER FOOTBALL GAMES.

    1905 · Waterbury evening Democrat, Oct 16, 1905

  • The The Montgomery advertiser's story of the 1908 game: CLEMSON IS DEFEATED BY UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

    1908 · The Montgomery advertiser, Alabama, Nov 15, 1908

  • The Keowee courier. (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current's story of the 1915 game: CLENlSON-TENNESSEE GAME. Clemson Victorious With Score of Three to Nothing

    1915 · Keowee courier. (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, South Carolina, Oct 13, 1915

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Dec 30, 20226Tennessee 31, 10Clemson 14Hard Rock StadiumOrange Bowl
Jan 2, 2004Clemson 27, 7Tennessee 14Georgia DomePeach Bowl
Oct 2, 1976Tennessee 21, Clemson 19at Tennessee
Oct 26, 1974Tennessee 29, Clemson 28at Tennessee
Oct 28, 194419Tennessee 26, Clemson 7at Tennessee
Oct 1, 1938Tennessee 20, Clemson 7at Tennessee
Oct 3, 1931Tennessee 44, Clemson 0at Tennessee
Nov 1, 1930Tennessee 27, Clemson 0at Tennessee
Oct 23, 1920Tennessee 26, Clemson 0at Tennessee
Oct 25, 1919Clemson 14, Tennessee 0at Clemson
Oct 14, 1916Tennessee 14, Clemson 0at Clemson
Oct 9, 1915Clemson 3, Tennessee 0at Tennessee
Oct 10, 1914Tennessee 27, Clemson 0at Tennessee
Nov 14, 1908Tennessee 6, Clemson 5at Tennessee
Oct 21, 1907Tennessee 4, Clemson 0at Clemson
Nov 19, 1906Clemson 16, Tennessee 0at Clemson
Oct 14, 1905Clemson 5, Tennessee 5at Clemson
Nov 12, 1904Clemson 6, Tennessee 0at Tennessee
Nov 27, 1902Clemson 11, Tennessee 0at Tennessee

Every game is listed as played on the field.