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2011 Clemson

10–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dabo Swinney, finished No. 22 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Clemson in 2011, game by game: won vs. Troy 43–19; won vs. Wofford 35–27; won vs. No. 21 Auburn 38–24; won vs. No. 11 Florida State 35–30; won at No. 11 Virginia Tech 23–3; won vs. Boston College 36–14; won at Maryland 56–45; won vs. North Carolina 59–38; lost at Georgia Tech 17–31; won vs. Wake Forest 31–28; lost at NC State 13–37; lost at No. 14 South Carolina 13–34; won vs. No. 5 Virginia Tech 38–10; lost vs. No. 23 West Virginia 33–70+28−37Won 43–19 vs. Troy+24TroyWon 35–27 vs. Wofford+8WoffordWon 38–24 vs. No. 21 Auburn+14No. 21 AuburnWon 35–30 vs. No. 11 Florida State+5No. 11 Florida StateWon 23–3 at No. 11 Virginia Tech+20No. 11 Virginia TechWon 36–14 vs. Boston College+22Boston CollegeWon 56–45 at Maryland+11MarylandWon 59–38 vs. North Carolina+21North CarolinaLost 17–31 at Georgia Tech-14Georgia TechWon 31–28 vs. Wake Forest+3Wake ForestLost 13–37 at NC State-24NC StateLost 13–34 at No. 14 South Carolina-21No. 14 South CarolinaWon 38–10 vs. No. 5 Virginia Tech+28No. 5 Virginia TechLost 33–70 vs. No. 23 West Virginia-37No. 23 West Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsTroyW 43–⁠1956%
Sep 10vsWoffordW 35–⁠2775%
Sep 17vs21AuburnW 38–⁠2438%
Sep 24vs11Florida StateW 35–⁠3054%
Oct 1at11Virginia TechW 23–⁠329%
Oct 8vsBoston CollegeW 36–⁠1481%
Oct 15atMarylandW 56–⁠4566%
Oct 22vsNorth CarolinaW 59–⁠3872%
Oct 29atGeorgia TechL 17–⁠3160%
Nov 12vsWake ForestW 31–⁠2882%
Nov 19atNC StateL 13–⁠3761%
Nov 26at14South CarolinaL 13–⁠3438%
Dec 3vs5Virginia TechACC Championship GameW 38–⁠1030%
Jan 4Bowls & playoffvs23West VirginiaOrange BowlL 33–⁠7054%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to West Virginia 70–⁠33 in the Orange Bowl; No. 22 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 21
  2. Wk 5: 13
  3. Wk 6: 8
  4. Wk 7: 8
  5. Wk 8: 8
  6. Wk 9: 6
  7. Wk 10: 11
  8. Wk 11: 9
  9. Wk 12: 7
  10. Wk 13: 18
  11. Wk 14: 21
  12. Wk 15: 14
  13. Final: 22

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠2 in the conference, won the ACC Championship Game

John Mackey AwardDwayne Allen, TE

Consensus All-AmericanDwayne Allen, TE

Bobby Dodd Coach of the YearDabo Swinney, coach

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 22 peak No. 6
Points
470–⁠410
Coach
Dabo Swinney
Elo
1624 +96 this season
SP+ rating
7.8 No. 39 of 120; offense No. 24, defense No. 69, special teams No. 25
SRS
5.5 No. 35 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 10
Offensive coordinator
Chad Morris
Defensive coordinators
Kevin Steele and Charlie Harbison
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense55th of 120
  • Defense55th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted49th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted55th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0543%0.9555th of 120
Defense0.0443%0.8855th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.04 def		44% off
42% def		—49th off
55th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.3own 332% allowed
Defense-0.1own 281% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsTajh Boyd QB3,828 yds
Passing touchdownsTajh Boyd QB33 TD
Rushing yardsAndre Ellington RB1,178 yds
Rushing touchdownsAndre Ellington RB11 TD
Receiving yardsSammy Watkins WR1,219 yds
Receiving touchdownsSammy Watkins WR12 TD
InterceptionsJonathan Meeks S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2011 class

Tony Steward OLB★★★★★No. 16
Sammy Watkins WR★★★★★No. 20
Stephone Anthony OLB★★★★★No. 21
Charone Peake WR★★★★No. 37
Mike Bellamy APB★★★★No. 39
Corey Crawford SDE★★★★No. 123
Lateek Townsend OLB★★★★No. 146
Eric Mac Lain TE★★★★No. 186

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.50.803
Running backs14.00.979
Receivers63.80.900
Offensive line23.00.860
Defensive line53.20.860
Linebackers63.70.886
Defensive backs23.00.854
Athletes and specialists13.00.820
Whole class253.40.874

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 2Andre Branch DEJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 3Dwayne Allen TEIndianapolis Colts
Rd 3Brandon Thompson DTCincinnati Bengals
Rd 4Coty Sensabaugh CBTennessee Titans

Roster 106

The 2011 roster

106 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 35 have a stat line. See the roster

2011 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech7–⁠111–⁠321
Clemson6–⁠210–⁠422
Florida State5–⁠39–⁠423
Georgia Tech5–⁠38–⁠5
Virginia5–⁠38–⁠5
Wake Forest5–⁠36–⁠7
NC State4–⁠48–⁠5
North Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
Miami3–⁠56–⁠6
Boston College3–⁠54–⁠8
Duke1–⁠73–⁠9
Maryland1–⁠72–⁠10

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