October 3, 2004

Thursday Nights Unkind to Clemson

Clemson's game at Virginia this week will be their 6th appearance on ESPN's Thursday Night College Football. The Tigers are 0-5 in previous appearances. 5 of the 6 opponents (including the Cavaliers this week) have been ranked and Clemson has been the underdog in all 6 games. Tommy Bowden has been coach for 4 of the 5 losses.

Clemson's last Thursday win was on Thanksgiving in 1963 against South Carolina after the season-ending rivalry game was moved from the previous Saturday following the JFK assassination. Prior to 1960, the Tigers and Gamecocks always played on "Big Thursday" (watch film clip 1 here) during the week of the State Fair in Columbia. Clemson is 52-59-10 on Thursday (compared to 500-321-30 overall.)

At Clemson, Bowden is 37-20 on Saturdays and 2-7 on other days of the week (both wins were bowl games) with an overall record of 39-27.

Clemson's ESPN Thursday Night Games
(Opponent Rank Parenthesized)

Please note that all comments are subject to the Fanblogs Comment Policy.