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1983 Clemson

9–⁠1–⁠1 (7–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Danny Ford, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 1983, game by game: won vs. Western Carolina 44–10; lost at Boston College 16–31; tied vs. No. 11 Georgia 16–16; won vs. Georgia Tech 41–14; won vs. Virginia 42–21; won at Duke 38–31; won vs. NC State 27–17; won vs. Wake Forest 24–17; won at No. 10 North Carolina 16–3; won vs. No. 11 Maryland 52–27; won at South Carolina 22–13+34−15Won 44–10 vs. Western Carolina+34Western CarolinaLost 16–31 at Boston College-15Boston CollegeTied 16–16 vs. No. 11 Georgia0No. 11 GeorgiaWon 41–14 vs. Georgia Tech+27Georgia TechWon 42–21 vs. Virginia+21VirginiaWon 38–31 at Duke+7DukeWon 27–17 vs. NC State+10NC StateWon 24–17 vs. Wake Forest+7Wake ForestWon 16–3 at No. 10 North Carolina+13No. 10 North CarolinaWon 52–27 vs. No. 11 Maryland+25No. 11 MarylandWon 22–13 at South Carolina+9South Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsWestern CarolinaW 44–⁠1088%
Sep 10atBoston CollegeL 16–⁠3156%
Sep 17vs11GeorgiaT 16–⁠1648%
Sep 24vsGeorgia TechW 41–⁠1480%
Oct 8vsVirginiaW 42–⁠2178%
Oct 15atDukeW 38–⁠3174%
Oct 22vsNC StateW 27–⁠1782%
Oct 29vsWake ForestW 24–⁠1785%
Nov 5at10North CarolinaW 16–⁠339%
Nov 12vs11MarylandW 52–⁠2766%
Nov 19atSouth CarolinaW 22–⁠1372%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat South Carolina 22–⁠13; No. 11 in the final AP poll; first in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 11: 17
  2. Wk 12: 13
  3. Wk 13: 12
  4. Wk 14: 11
  5. Wk 15: 12
  6. Final: 11

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 1983.

Consensus All-AmericanWilliam Perry, MG

Record
9–⁠1–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 11
Points
338–⁠200
Coach
Danny Ford
Elo
1745 +91 this season
SP+ rating
16.2 No. 18 of 108; offense No. 9, defense No. 34
SRS
14.3 No. 13 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Nelson Stokley
Captains
James Farr and James Robinson

Drafted in 1984

The 1984 draft
Rd 3Rod McSwain DBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 6Jim Scott DENew York Giants

All-ACC

5 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1983 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1983 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson7–⁠09–⁠1–⁠111
Maryland5–⁠18–⁠4
North Carolina4–⁠38–⁠4
Georgia Tech3–⁠33–⁠8
Virginia3–⁠46–⁠5
Duke3–⁠43–⁠8
Wake Forest1–⁠64–⁠7
NC State1–⁠63–⁠8

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