Keys to Victory: No. 1 Clemson vs. Charlotte

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Each week we give you a look at the history of the game, three keys to success, plus our staff predictions.

The Match Up:

#1 Clemson (3-0, 2-0 ACC) vs Charlotte (2-1, 0-0 C-USA)

Clemson vs. Charlotte Preview:

Note: There was no preview available. Enjoy Clemson’s latest Vlog. 

All-Time Series:

This is the first-ever meeting between Clemson and Charlotte.

Listen Live: Fox Sports Radio 1400 on iHeart Radio

Stat of the Week:

Amid the 150th season of college football, Saturday's contest will be Clemson's 150th game under the leadership of Head Coach Dabo Swinney. Swinney's 149 career games as head coach are the second-most in school history, trailing the 295 games coached by College Football Hall of Famer Frank Howard across the 1940-69 seasons.

With a 119-30 career record, Swinney enters the contest with a career winning percentage of .799, the 17th-best winning percentage of any coach in major college football history with at least 10 years of experience. Swinney passed Bob Stoops (.798) with Clemson's victory at Syracuse last week. With a win this week, Swinney can improve his career winning percentage to .800 and become the 17th coach (minimum 10 seasons in major college football) to reach that career mark all-time.

As a note, Clemson’s current 18-game winning streak is twice as long as the closest competition. Ohio State currently owns the second-longest streak at just nine games.

Clemson Sports Talk

Dabo Swinney looks to win his 120th game as Clemson’s head coach against Charlotte.

Key 1: Stay Healthy

When you are a 40-point favorite, the first key to success is to simply stay healthy. To be honest, that’s more important for the remaining games than this one. Matchups like this are the essentially college football’s example of the NFL’s preseason games. Get in a few reps for the starters and get them out of the game healthy and it’s a big win.

Key 2: Level off the offense

The whole week seemed to be focused on Clemson’s offense and their inability to get into a rhythm through the first three games of the season. Trevor Lawrence hasn’t looked great throwing five interceptions to go along with just five touchdowns. Let’s not forget that Deshaun Watson had some bumps in the road his junior season, so there’s no reason to panic.

The main thing that we’d like to see today is fluidity from the offensive playcalling and execution. Clemson’s staff seems to have limited the playbook to some degree, and the 49ers aren’t exactly a team you would expect Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott to believe they have to “open it up” on, but they still need to get the offense in sync.

Key 3: Win the turnover battle

When teams in Clemson’s position get upset, especially in matchups like this, it often starts with turnovers. As long as the Tigers play a clean game from that perspective, you can’t imagine a way that Charlotte sneaks out of Death Valley with an epic upset.

As long as Clemson does the little things, Tiger fans should be able to enjoy a nice evening at Frank Howard Field.

Prediction:

Shout out to Lowell who just edged out the simulation for the best pick of the week. Lowell’s 42-10 prediction just edged a 38-3 projection from our reigning champion. Will this be the week that Sanders, Brandon, Cade, or the sim bring home the win?

As for the Tigers and 49ers, it’s not going to be close. Unfortunately, Charlotte is outclassed at every position on the field, and head coach Will Healy is going up against the best in the business when it comes to motivation in Dabo Swinney.

Healy’s squad will fight hard, and he’s a rising star in the coaching ranks, but Clemson moves to 4-0 without hesitation. You can chalk up the Tigers’ 19^th consecutive win by a significant margin.

Swanny’s Prediction: 63-13 Clemson

Final Score Predictions: 

Perfect Prediction = 5 points              Best Prediction = 3 Points         Correct Prediction = 1 Point 

👑= 2018 Prediction Champion

**Pick of the Week: Indicates the best prediction.