After taking down East Tennessee State 38-10 in their season opener, the Mountaineers set their sights on the No. 25 Clemson Tigers.
App State has played Clemson four times in program history, most recently in 2015, with all four matchups resulting in a Clemson victory.
App State comes into this matchup after a win over the Buccaneers of East Tennessee State to open the season.
Senior quarterback Joey Aguilar threw for 22 completions, 326 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Black and Gold also had seven rushers account for 174 rushing yards. The Mountaineers’ defense accounted for three sacks, and three more tackles for loss.
On the other end of the spectrum, Clemson is coming off a 34-3 loss to the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. The Tigers entered the season ranked No. 14 and were ranked second in the ACC Preseason Poll. After the loss to Georgia, the Tigers fell to No. 25 in the AP Poll.
In the loss to Georgia, Clemson’s quarterback Cade Klubnik went 18 for 29, with 142 yards and an interception. The Tigers’ rushing game didn’t fare well either, as they left Atlanta with 46 rushing yards on 23 carries.
Recently the Mountaineers have earned the moniker of “giant killers.” The Mountaineers have won over three ranked opponents in the last three years, including a road win against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field.
“This is what they expect to do. That’s just woven into the DNA of App State,” Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said.
Mountaineers head coach Shawn Clark held a similar opinion.
“People say we’re the giant killers, we expect to win big games,” Clark said.
In his Monday press conference, Clark emphasized that there was more to the Clemson Tigers than what the world saw against Georgia.
“What impresses me is everything; their size, their speed,” Clark said. “There’s a reason that they have won National Championships. There’s a reason why they have won ACC championships. It’s because they do the right things all the time, they play the game the right way.”
Clark singled out the Mountaineers’ offensive line as needing some work before this weekend.
“There were some technical issues. It wasn’t the effort, we just gotta get some things cleaned up as far as technique goes. Again this week presents a huge challenge for us up front,” Clark said.
Clark highlighted the defensive line as a strength of the Clemson team.
“Their front four are some of the best we’ve played since I’ve been here as a position coach or as a head coach,” Clark said.
The Tigers’ front four struggled against the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, only creating one sack, but their obvious talent in that position group should shine through against the Mountaineers.
The game will kick off at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina at 8 p.m. on Saturday, and will be broadcast live on the ACC Network.