Clemson vs. NC State Moved to October 16, 2003

July 10, 2003

The Clemson at NC State football game originally scheduled for October 18, 2003 in Raleigh has been moved to Thursday evening, October 16th. The game was moved to accommodate ESPN, who will televise the game nationally. Kickoff is slated for 7:45 PM at Carter Finley Stadium. The announcement was made by both schools on Thursday.

As a result of the schedule move, Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips was assured by ESPN that Clemson would have a maximum of one home night game in 2003. ESPN is the only one of the ACC’s television partners that televises games at night. Also, fans traveling to the game in Raleigh will not have to face weekend North Carolina State Fair traffic. The State Fairgrounds are across the street from Carter-Finley Stadium.

Thus, six of Clemson’s seven home games this year will kickoff prior to 6:00 PM. The Georgia game on August 30 will have a 12:00 noon start and will be televised by ABC. That game will be shown to 50 percent of the nation as ABC will show just two games in that time slot that day. The Furman game on September 6 and the Middle Tennessee game on September 13 will have a 5:00 PM start.

This will be the third time in the last five years that Clemson and NC State have faced each other in a night game televised by ESPN. In 1999, the two teams played a Saturday evening game in Raleigh that was televised by the network. The two teams played a Thursday evening game at Clemson in 2002 that was shown by ESPN. NC State won last year’s game at Clemson, but the Tigers won the last time the two teams met in Raleigh (2001).

Clemson was shown on ESPN eight times a year ago. Heading into this season, 39 of the 49 games since Tommy Bowden has been the Clemson head coach have been televised.

Clemson Football Schedule for 2003

#Note game is on a Thursday evening