It can be argued that the toughest opponent Clemson has faced over the past two seasons has been a surprise thorn in the side of the Tigers.
In fact, over Clemson’s last 36 games, only two teams can say they sent the defending national champions home with a loss: Alabama in the 2018 Sugar Bowl and division foe Syracuse, which beat them three months earlier.
The Orange were close again last year and had the Tigers dead to rights after Trevor Lawrence was knocked out the game in the second quarter of his first college start with a head injury.