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1988 Clemson

10–⁠2 (6–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Danny Ford, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 1988, game by game: won vs. Virginia Tech 40–7; won vs. Furman 23–3; lost vs. No. 10 Florida State 21–24; won at Georgia Tech 30–13; won at Virginia 10–7; won vs. Duke 49–17; lost at NC State 3–10; won at Wake Forest 38–21; won vs. North Carolina 37–14; won at Maryland 49–25; won vs. South Carolina 29–10; won vs. No. 10 Oklahoma 13–6+33−7Won 40–7 vs. Virginia Tech+33Virginia TechWon 23–3 vs. Furman+20FurmanLost 21–24 vs. No. 10 Florida State-3No. 10 Florida StateWon 30–13 at Georgia Tech+17Georgia TechWon 10–7 at Virginia+3VirginiaWon 49–17 vs. Duke+32DukeLost 3–10 at NC State-7NC StateWon 38–21 at Wake Forest+17Wake ForestWon 37–14 vs. North Carolina+23North CarolinaWon 49–25 at Maryland+24MarylandWon 29–10 vs. South Carolina+19South CarolinaWon 13–6 vs. No. 10 Oklahoma+7No. 10 Oklahoma
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsVirginia TechW 40–⁠781%
Sep 10vsFurmanW 23–⁠389%
Sep 17vs10Florida StateL 21–⁠2452%
Sep 24atGeorgia TechW 30–⁠1371%
Oct 8atVirginiaW 10–⁠763%
Oct 15vsDukeW 49–⁠1770%
Oct 22atNC StateL 3–⁠1061%
Oct 29atWake ForestW 38–⁠2164%
Nov 5vsNorth CarolinaW 37–⁠1488%
Nov 12atMarylandW 49–⁠2567%
Nov 19vsSouth CarolinaW 29–⁠1071%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs10OklahomaCitrus BowlW 13–⁠646%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oklahoma 13–⁠6 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 12th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 4
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 12
  6. Wk 6: 11
  7. Wk 7: 11
  8. Wk 8: 11
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 11: 17
  12. Wk 12: 16
  13. Wk 13: 15
  14. Wk 14: 13
  15. Wk 15: 13
  16. Wk 16: 13
  17. Final: 9

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 1988.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanDonnell Woolford, DB

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 3
Points
342–⁠157
Coach
Danny Ford
Elo
1735 +108 this season
SP+ rating
22.7 No. 9 of 102; offense No. 20, defense No. 7
SRS
20.1 No. 8 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jack Crowe
Captains
Rodney Williams and Donnell Woolford

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 1Donnell Woolford DBChicago Bears
Rd 4Richard McCullough DEDenver Broncos
Rd 5Keith Jennings TEDallas Cowboys

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson6–⁠110–⁠29
Virginia5–⁠27–⁠4
NC State4–⁠2–⁠18–⁠3–⁠1
Wake Forest4–⁠36–⁠4–⁠1
Maryland4–⁠35–⁠6
Duke3–⁠3–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
North Carolina1–⁠61–⁠10
Georgia Tech0–⁠73–⁠8

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