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1978 Clemson

11–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Charley Pell, then Danny Ford (bowl game), finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 1978, game by game: won vs. The Citadel 58–3; lost at Georgia 0–12; won vs. Villanova 31–0; won vs. Virginia Tech 38–7; won at Virginia 30–14; won vs. Duke 28–8; won at NC State 33–10; won at Wake Forest 51–6; won vs. North Carolina 13–9; won at No. 11 Maryland 28–24; won vs. South Carolina 41–23; won vs. No. 20 Ohio State 17–15+55−12Won 58–3 vs. The Citadel+55The CitadelLost 0–12 at Georgia-12GeorgiaWon 31–0 vs. Villanova+31VillanovaWon 38–7 vs. Virginia Tech+31Virginia TechWon 30–14 at Virginia+16VirginiaWon 28–8 vs. Duke+20DukeWon 33–10 at NC State+23NC StateWon 51–6 at Wake Forest+45Wake ForestWon 13–9 vs. North Carolina+4North CarolinaWon 28–24 at No. 11 Maryland+4No. 11 MarylandWon 41–23 vs. South Carolina+18South CarolinaWon 17–15 vs. No. 20 Ohio State+2No. 20 Ohio State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsThe CitadelW 58–⁠373%
Sep 23atGeorgiaL 0–⁠1247%
Sep 30vsVillanovaW 31–⁠069%
Oct 7vsVirginia TechW 38–⁠768%
Oct 14atVirginiaW 30–⁠1479%
Oct 21vsDukeW 28–⁠869%
Oct 28atNC StateW 33–⁠1039%
Nov 4atWake ForestW 51–⁠683%
Nov 11vsNorth CarolinaW 13–⁠976%
Nov 18at11MarylandW 28–⁠2437%
Nov 25vsSouth CarolinaW 41–⁠2379%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs20Ohio StateGator BowlW 17–⁠1558%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ohio State 17–⁠15 in the Gator Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 17th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 18
  2. Wk 8: 20
  3. Wk 9: 16
  4. Wk 10: 15
  5. Wk 11: 12
  6. Wk 12: 10
  7. Wk 13: 7
  8. Wk 14: 7
  9. Final: 6

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1978.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 6
Points
368–⁠131
Coach
Charley Pell, then Danny Ford (bowl game)
Elo
1706 +167 this season
SP+ rating
20.2 No. 14 of 133; offense No. 16, defense No. 14
SRS
18.5 No. 13 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jimmye Laycock
Defensive coordinator
Mickey Andrews
Captains
Steve Fuller and Randy Scott

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 1Jerry Butler WRBuffalo Bills
Rd 1Steve Fuller QBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 3Joe Bostic OTSt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 4Jonathan Brooks LBDetroit Lions

All-ACC

10 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson6–⁠011–⁠16
Maryland5–⁠19–⁠320
NC State4–⁠29–⁠318
North Carolina3–⁠35–⁠6
Duke2–⁠44–⁠7
Wake Forest1–⁠51–⁠10
Virginia0–⁠62–⁠9

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