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1953 Clemson

3–⁠5–⁠1 (1–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Frank Howard.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 1953, game by game: won vs. Presbyterian 33–7; tied at Boston College 14–14; lost vs. No. 3 Maryland 0–20; lost at Miami 7–39; lost at South Carolina 7–14; won vs. Wake Forest 18–0; lost at No. 6 Georgia Tech 7–20; won at The Citadel 34–13; lost vs. No. 14 Auburn 19–45+26−32Won 33–7 vs. Presbyterian+26PresbyterianTied 14–14 at Boston College0Boston CollegeLost 0–20 vs. No. 3 Maryland-20No. 3 MarylandLost 7–39 at Miami-32MiamiLost 7–14 at South Carolina-7South CarolinaWon 18–0 vs. Wake Forest+18Wake ForestLost 7–20 at No. 6 Georgia Tech-13No. 6 Georgia TechWon 34–13 at The Citadel+21The CitadelLost 19–45 vs. No. 14 Auburn-26No. 14 Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19vsPresbyterianW 33–⁠790%
Sep 26atBoston CollegeT 14–⁠1451%
Oct 3vs3MarylandL 0–⁠2032%
Oct 9atMiamiL 7–⁠3946%
Oct 22atSouth CarolinaL 7–⁠1428%
Oct 31vsWake ForestW 18–⁠043%
Nov 7at6Georgia TechL 7–⁠2014%
Nov 14atThe CitadelW 34–⁠1365%
Nov 21vs14AuburnL 19–⁠4548%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Auburn 45–⁠19; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The tied 104th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

Record
3–⁠5–⁠1
Conference
1–⁠2 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
139–⁠172
Coach
Frank Howard
Elo
1444 −39 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
−4.9 No. 69 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Dreher Gaskin and Nathan Gressette

All-ACC

2 second team

Second team

  • Dreher GaskinEAP-2
  • Don KingBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke4–⁠07–⁠2–⁠118
Maryland3–⁠010–⁠11
South Carolina2–⁠37–⁠3
North Carolina2–⁠34–⁠6
Wake Forest2–⁠33–⁠6–⁠1
Clemson1–⁠23–⁠5–⁠1
NC State0–⁠31–⁠9

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