How scheduling Clemson helped save fall football for The Citadel
A month ago, Citadel head coach Brent Thompson wasn’t sure the day would come — game day against No. 1 Clemson.
He didn’t know if his team would play football at all. In August, after the Southern Conference announced it would push its football season to the spring, the Bulldogs were left without a fall schedule and little time to cobble one together.
Yet The Citadel found a way to arrange a four-game fall slate, the maximum number of non-conference games allowed under SoCon guidelines. And it all started by securing this Saturday’s road contest against Clemson.
“There’s so many unknowns, and going from not having anybody on the schedule to having a pretty substantial four-game schedule that we’re excited about, it was such an up-and-down roller coaster at the time,” Thompson told reporters over a Zoom call Monday. “As far as the Clemson game goes in particular, we knew that (Clemson) was going to have one opening, and we knew that one was probably going to go to South Carolina, being that it was the Palmetto Bowl there. And when the SEC came out with a 10-game conference-only schedule ... eventually we were the last man standing.
“So that was exciting. We were just happy to have one game on the schedule, one that was fairly close, and one that was actually scheduled and being able to be played. All those things went through in about a two- or three-weeks span. A little bit nerve-wracking but exciting, and we’re just happy with the way that it ended.”
After The Citadel confirmed it would play the Clemson game, which originally had been scheduled for Nov. 14, additional fall matchups against South Florida, Eastern Kentucky and Army West Point started trickling in.
Over the weekend, the Bulldogs opened their season at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, losing to FBS foe South Florida, 27-6. Players were tested for COVID-19 before and after the game and will receive two more tests this week, including when they travel Friday, Thompson said. Additionally, each Citadel player on the travel roster will have two tickets for family to attend Saturday’s limited-capacity game.
The Citadel — located in Charleston, South Carolina — will make $450,000 for the game, but the experience should provide more than a financial boost. Thompson said his players are thrilled about taking on Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers, with several Bulldogs growing up in the Upstate area and attending Clemson games as fans.
Saturday’s game will mark the third time The Citadel has played the No. 1 FBS team in the country since 2014.
“It means a lot,” Thompson said. “As I told our players, as well, we have an opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the nation, which is something that we do look forward to.
“It’s great that we have them in our state, being that our guys will be excited for that game. And we’ve got a lot of Clemson/Citadel fans. So it’s good for all those guys to be able to enjoy us all on the same field at one time. So it means a lot, it means a lot to us. And we do appreciate Clemson putting us on the schedule every couple of years.”
The Citadel 2020 football schedule
Sept. 12: South Florida 27, Citadel 6
Sept. 19: Citadel at Clemson, 4 pm (ACC Network)
Sept. 26: Citadel vs. Eastern Kentucky, 1 pm (ESPN+)
Oct. 10: Citadel at Army, 1:30 pm (CBS Sports Network
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 6:15 AM.
