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1996 Clemson

7–⁠5 (6–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Tommy West.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 1996, game by game: lost at North Carolina 0–45; won vs. Furman 19–3; lost at Missouri 24–38; won vs. Wake Forest 21–10; lost at No. 2 Florida State 3–34; won at Duke 13–6; won vs. No. 22 Georgia Tech 28–25; won vs. Maryland 35–3; won at No. 15 Virginia 24–16; won vs. NC State 40–17; lost vs. South Carolina 31–34; lost vs. No. 17 LSU 7–10+32−45Lost 0–45 at North Carolina-45North CarolinaWon 19–3 vs. Furman+16FurmanLost 24–38 at Missouri-14MissouriWon 21–10 vs. Wake Forest+11Wake ForestLost 3–34 at No. 2 Florida State-31No. 2 Florida StateWon 13–6 at Duke+7DukeWon 28–25 vs. No. 22 Georgia Tech+3No. 22 Georgia TechWon 35–3 vs. Maryland+32MarylandWon 24–16 at No. 15 Virginia+8No. 15 VirginiaWon 40–17 vs. NC State+23NC StateLost 31–34 vs. South Carolina-3South CarolinaLost 7–10 vs. No. 17 LSU-3No. 17 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atNorth CarolinaL 0–⁠4544%
Sep 7vsFurmanW 19–⁠385%
Sep 21atMissouriL 24–⁠3863%
Sep 28vsWake ForestW 21–⁠1076%
Oct 5at2Florida StateL 3–⁠3417%
Oct 12atDukeW 13–⁠664%
Oct 19vs22Georgia TechW 28–⁠2553%
Nov 2vsMarylandW 35–⁠368%
Nov 9at15VirginiaW 24–⁠1627%
Nov 16vsNC StateW 40–⁠1777%
Nov 23vsSouth CarolinaL 31–⁠3470%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs17LSUPeach BowlL 7–⁠1042%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to LSU 10–⁠7 in the Peach Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 60th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 25
  2. Wk 14: 22

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 1996.

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 22
Points
245–⁠241
Coach
Tommy West
Elo
1567 +3 this season
SP+ rating
2.1 No. 54 of 111; offense No. 82, defense No. 36
SRS
2.2 No. 50 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Darrell Moody
Defensive coordinator
Ellis Johnson
Captain
Dexter McCleon

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 1Trevor Pryce DTDenver Broncos
Rd 2Dexter McCleon DBSt. Louis Rams

All-ACC

3 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State8–⁠011–⁠13
North Carolina6–⁠210–⁠210
Clemson6–⁠27–⁠5
Virginia5–⁠37–⁠5
Georgia Tech4–⁠45–⁠6
Maryland3–⁠55–⁠6
NC State3–⁠53–⁠8
Wake Forest1–⁠73–⁠8
Duke0–⁠80–⁠11

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