The new reality of life as an Atlantic Coast Conference school will set in Saturday when Stanford attempts to shake off the jet lag of its second cross-country trip in a little over a week when visiting 17th-ranked Clemson.
Both teams are coming off impressive wins in their ACC openers last week.
Stanford (2-1, 1-0) traveled to New York and benefited from a 39-yard field goal from Emmet Kenney as time expired in a 26-24 victory at Syracuse on Friday.
The next day, Clemson (2-1, 1-0) rode a monster game from quarterback Cade Klubnik to a 59-35 home romp over North Carolina State.
Stanford and Clemson, located almost 2,600 miles apart, have gone head-to-head in football just once. That occurred 38 years ago when Stanford, then coached by Jack Elway and ranked 20th in the nation, was upset 27-21 by Clemson in the postseason Gator Bowl.
This time, the Tigers are the ranked team despite having been blown out 34-3 by Georgia in the season opener.
Clemson rebounded to put up a total of 125 points over its next two games, with Klubnik having vaulted among the ACC leaders in passing yards (729) and touchdown passes (eight).
Tigers coach Dabo Swinney credits Klubnik’s ability to bounce back from a poor opener (142 yards, no touchdowns) as the key to his team’s offensive explosion the last two weeks.
“It all starts with Cade … just his growth,” Swinney said. “When you have that, as a play-caller, with those weapons, you can load him up with more than you would be able to with a younger player. He’s done a good job with the protections, some of the checks he’s made, using his legs and things. Hopefully he’ll continue to stay the course there.”
Clemson fans unfamiliar with Stanford will see a Cardinal team whose season has mirrored that of the Tigers. Stanford dropped its season opener 34-27 to TCU, rebounded by drubbing an outmanned regional opponent in Cal Poly, and opened conference play with a performance vs. the Orange that was far more polished than its first game.
Improved effort or not, the Cardinal were three seconds from an ACC-opening defeat. Kenney, a senior who had scored a total of just two points in his first three seasons on the team, drilled his game-winning kick against Syracuse.
The North Dakota native had never attempted a field goal for the Cardinal while watching Joshua Karty, now of the Los Angeles Rams, go 51-for-60 on field-goal attempts the last three years.
Kenney has yet to miss a kick this season, going 8-for-8 on field goals and 10-for-10 on extra-point attempts.
“A lot of confidence,” Stanford coach Troy Taylor said of Kenney. “He replaced a guy that was arguably the best kicker in the country last year, so those are big shoes to fill. Frankly, I didn’t know if anybody could fill those shoes, and he has. He has been amazing.
“You really don’t know what you’ve got with kickers until you get in a game. You can kick really well in fall camp and practice, but it really comes down to being able to do it under the bright lights with pressure, and he’s been phenomenal.”
