No. 2 Clemson visits old friend Fisher at Texas A&M

Dabo Swinney just can’t seem to get away from Jimbo Fisher. And vice versa.

Fisher, who spent the previous eight seasons as head coach at Florida State before accepting the job at Texas A&M last December, faces off against Swinney and Clemson for a ninth consecutive year on Saturday when the Aggies host the No. 2 Tigers in a nationally televised game (7 p.m., ESPN) at Kyle Field.

“It was kind of ironic, when I accepted the job, looked down (at the schedule): ‘you’ve got to be kidding,'” Fisher said. “I said, ‘Really?’ It’s ironic, because whoever won that game for so many years won the conference. Every year that was a critical game. I guess it’s kind of ironic; I guess it’s fitting.”

Fisher and Swinney split their eight games when Fisher was in the Atlantic Coast Conference, although Clemson won each of the last three meetings.

“We’ve been in some great games,” Fisher said. “Whether we won or they won, they’ve been very competitive games.”

Fisher is hoping for another competitive game Saturday night.

“You’re not going to be given anything (against Clemson),” Fisher said. “You’re going to have to earn everything you get, and that’s going to be the key. You can’t wait for them to make a mistake and say, ‘Oh, that’s a big play.’ You have to earn everything.”

Especially against a Clemson defense that returned eight starters from last season’s 12-2 team that advanced to the College Football Playoff for a third consecutive year.

“Clemson’s D-line is dynamic,” Fisher said. “They can beat you with power. They beat you with speed. They have good experience. It’s going to be a great challenge.”

Clemson will be the highest-ranked non-conference opponent ever to play at Kyle Field, but Swinney is taking nothing for granted.

“This will be a whole other animal,” said Swinney, whose team opened the season last week with a 48-7 victory against FCS foe Furman.

The Aggies drubbed Northwestern State 59-7, also an FCS opponent, in their opener, racking up 758 yards, including 503 on the ground. Running back Trayveon Williams had 240 of those yards and three touchdowns while quarterback Kellen Mond passed for 187 yards and two scores.

Clemson’s quarterback remains a two-head monster – at least for now.

“We’ll definitely play both quarterbacks,” Swinney said. “Nothing happened Saturday to warrant not playing both of those guys.”

“Those guys” are Kelly Bryant, the incumbent and the bigger running threat. He started last week, but was upstaged by Trevor Lawrence, a 6-foot-6 freshman who tossed three touchdown passes in his first game.

“If you’re preparing for Clemson right now, you’ve got to prepare for two quarterbacks,” Swinney said. “I’m not trying to keep anybody from transferring. I just want to win.”

–Field Level Media