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1948 Clemson

11–⁠0 (5–⁠0 Southern Conference), coached by Frank Howard, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 1948, game by game: won vs. Presbyterian 53–0; won vs. NC State 6–0; won at Mississippi State 21–7; won at South Carolina 13–7; won at Boston College 26–19; won vs. Furman 41–0; won at No. 19 Wake Forest 21–14; won vs. Duquesne 42–0; won at Auburn 7–6; won at The Citadel 20–0; won vs. Missouri 24–23+53Won 53–0 vs. Presbyterian+53PresbyterianWon 6–0 vs. NC State+6NC StateWon 21–7 at Mississippi State+14Mississippi Sta…Won 13–7 at South Carolina+6South CarolinaWon 26–19 at Boston College+7Boston CollegeWon 41–0 vs. Furman+41FurmanWon 21–14 at No. 19 Wake Forest+7No. 19 Wake ForestWon 42–0 vs. Duquesne+42DuquesneWon 7–6 at Auburn+1AuburnWon 20–0 at The Citadel+20The CitadelWon 24–23 vs. Missouri+1Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25vsPresbyterianW 53–⁠093%
Oct 2vsNC StateW 6–⁠051%
Oct 9atMississippi StateW 21–⁠732%
Oct 21atSouth CarolinaW 13–⁠751%
Oct 29atBoston CollegeW 26–⁠1947%
Nov 6vsFurmanW 41–⁠089%
Nov 13at19Wake ForestW 21–⁠1442%
Nov 20vsDuquesneW 42–⁠088%
Nov 27atAuburnW 7–⁠683%
Dec 4atThe CitadelW 20–⁠085%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsMissouriGator BowlW 24–⁠2351%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Missouri 24–⁠23 in the Gator Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; Southern Conference champions.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 15
  2. Wk 3: 14
  3. Wk 4: 13
  4. Wk 5: 12
  5. Wk 6: 10
  6. Wk 7: 9
  7. Wk 8: 9
  8. Final: 11

Southern Conference champions5–⁠0 in the conference

Record
11–⁠0
Conference
5–⁠0 first in Southern Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 9
Points
274–⁠76
Coach
Frank Howard
Elo
1651 +160 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
12.1 No. 24 of 117 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Bob Martin and Phil Prince

Drafted in 1949

The 1949 draft
Rd 1Bobby Gage BPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Frank Gillespie OGPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2Bobby Gage BBaltimore Colts (AAFC)

All-Southern Conference

2 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1948 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1948 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson5–⁠011–⁠011
North Carolina4–⁠0–⁠19–⁠1–⁠13
VMI5–⁠16–⁠3
William & Mary5–⁠1–⁠17–⁠2–⁠217
Wake Forest5–⁠26–⁠420
Maryland4–⁠26–⁠4
Duke3–⁠2–⁠14–⁠3–⁠2
Richmond3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠3–⁠2
Washington and Lee2–⁠24–⁠6
George Washington2–⁠44–⁠6
Furman2–⁠42–⁠6–⁠1
Davidson2–⁠53–⁠5–⁠1
South Carolina1–⁠33–⁠5
NC State1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Virginia Tech0–⁠6–⁠10–⁠8–⁠1
The Citadel0–⁠52–⁠7

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.