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1980 Clemson

6–⁠5 (2–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Danny Ford.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 1980, game by game: won vs. Rice 19–3; lost at No. 10 Georgia 16–20; won vs. Western Carolina 17–10; won vs. Virginia Tech 13–10; won at Virginia 27–24; lost vs. Duke 17–34; lost at NC State 20–24; won at Wake Forest 35–33; lost vs. No. 14 North Carolina 19–24; lost at Maryland 7–34; won vs. No. 14 South Carolina 27–6+21−27Won 19–3 vs. Rice+16RiceLost 16–20 at No. 10 Georgia-4No. 10 GeorgiaWon 17–10 vs. Western Carolina+7Western CarolinaWon 13–10 vs. Virginia Tech+3Virginia TechWon 27–24 at Virginia+3VirginiaLost 17–34 vs. Duke-17DukeLost 20–24 at NC State-4NC StateWon 35–33 at Wake Forest+2Wake ForestLost 19–24 vs. No. 14 North Carolina-5No. 14 North CarolinaLost 7–34 at Maryland-27MarylandWon 27–6 vs. No. 14 South Carolina+21No. 14 South Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vsRiceW 19–⁠386%
Sep 20at10GeorgiaL 16–⁠2047%
Sep 27vsWestern CarolinaW 17–⁠1084%
Oct 4vsVirginia TechW 13–⁠1071%
Oct 11atVirginiaW 27–⁠2464%
Oct 18vsDukeL 17–⁠3487%
Oct 25atNC StateL 20–⁠2447%
Nov 1atWake ForestW 35–⁠3351%
Nov 8vs14North CarolinaL 19–⁠2442%
Nov 15atMarylandL 7–⁠3437%
Nov 22vs14South CarolinaW 27–⁠642%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat South Carolina 27–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 64th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

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 1980.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
2–⁠4 tied for 4th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
217–⁠222
Coach
Danny Ford
Elo
1559 −48 this season
SP+ rating
7.3 No. 49 of 133; offense No. 58, defense No. 49
SRS
6.4 No. 43 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Nelson Stokley
Defensive coordinator
Mickey Andrews
Captains
Lee Nanney and Willie Underwood

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 6Steve Durham DESeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Obed Ariri KBaltimore Colts

All-ACC

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Carolina6–⁠011–⁠110
Maryland5–⁠18–⁠4
NC State3–⁠36–⁠5
Clemson2–⁠46–⁠5
Wake Forest2–⁠45–⁠6
Virginia2–⁠44–⁠7
Duke1–⁠52–⁠9

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