ESPN predicts the final score of Clemson vs. Penn State Pinstripe Bowl

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Clemson football and the Penn State Nittany Lions don’t have much familiarity with one another on the gridiron.

Clemson will face the Nittany Lions for only the second time in school history when they meet in the 2025 Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday at Yankee Stadium in New York. The only other meeting between the two programs was on New Year’s Day 1988 in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. That resulted in a 35-10 Tigers win.

In contrast, Clemson has played Penn State rival Ohio State four times since the 2013 season and won all but one of those games. All three wins came in the College Football Playoff, which is where Clemson and Penn State thought they would be when the season kicked off. The Nittany Lions and Tigers were ranked No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.

Clemson (7-5) finished the season with four straight wins after a 3-5 start. In the Tigers’ 28-14 victory over rival South Carolina on Nov. 29, Cade Klubnik threw for 268 yards, Adam Randall ran for 102 yards and a touchdown and defensive back Ricardo Jones had two interceptions. One of those was a 12-yard pick six as the defense shut out the Gamecocks over the game’s final 35:29.

Penn State (6-6) last played on Nov. 29, closing its season with a 40-36 come-from-behind win at Rutgers. Running back Kaytron Allen finished with a career-high 226 yards and a touchdown in the victory. The Nittany Lions finished the regular season with three straight wins under interim coach Terry Smith. The school fired James Franklin on Oct. 12 after a third straight loss, 22-21 to Northwestern.

Will Clemson beat Penn State in Pinstripe Bowl? ESPN makes prediction

Ahead of Clemson-Penn State in the 2025 Pinstripe Bowl, ESPN’s Bill Connelly predicted who will win using his popular SP+ metrics. Connelly has the Nittany Lions winning by six points over the Tigers, which goes against what oddsmakers are saying.

Connelly’s final score prediction: Penn State 29, Clemson 23.

He gives the Nittany Lions a win probability of 64%.

Where Clemson football is in ESPN SP+ rankings entering Pinstripe Bowl

Clemson is No. 32 in the latest ESPN SP+ team rankings. The Tigers have an overall rating of 10.8. Dabo Swinney’s team is one spot ahead of the LSU Tigers (10.3) and one spot behind USF (10.9) in ESPN’s team rankings.

To break down Clemson’s rating by units, SP+ gives the Tigers a 29.1 rating on offense (No. 57 nationally) and a 19.4 rating on defense (No. 24). In special teams, Clemson is given a 1.1 rating, which ranks 34th nationally.

The metrics give Penn State a 35.8 rating on offense (No. 18 nationally) and a 20.6 rating on defense that’s No. 32 nationally, plus a 1.8 rating in special teams that is seventh best in the country.

What are ESPN SP+ rankings?

According to Connelly, SP+ is “simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”

“SP+ is not a résumé ranking, so it does not automatically give credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system does,” he adds.

Clemson football vs. Penn State: start time, channel for Pinstripe Bowl

Kickoff for Clemson-Penn State in the 2025 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl is noon ET Saturday at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York. The game will be televised on ABC.

Clemson football schedule 2025

Here’s a game by game look at Clemson’s 2025 schedule.

All start times Eastern.

  • Aug. 30: vs. LSU (L, 17-10)
  • Sept. 6: vs. Troy (W, 27-16)
  • Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech (L, 24-21)
  • Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse (L, 34-21)
  • Oct. 4: at North Carolina (W, 38-10)
  • Oct. 11: at Boston College (W, 41-10)
  • Oct. 18: vs. SMU, (L, 35-24)
  • Nov. 1: vs. Duke (L, 46-45)
  • Nov. 8: vs. Florida State (W, 24-10)
  • Nov. 14: at Louisville (W, 20-19)
  • Nov. 22: vs. Furman (W, 45-10)
  • Nov. 29: at South Carolina (W, 28-14)
  • Dec. 27: vs. Penn State, noon ET (Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium)

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football vs Penn State, final score prediction from ESPN

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