2011 Clemson Tigers football team

The 2011 Clemson Tigers football team represents Clemson University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers eere led by head coach Dabo Swinney in his third full year and fourth overall since taking over midway through 2008 season. They played their home games at Memorial Stadium, also known as "Death Valley". They were members of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Clemson finished the previous season 6–7, losing in the Meineke Car Care Bowl to South Florida. They began the 2011 season unranked, but after a three-game winning streak against ranked opponents in late September, rose to #8 in the AP and Coaches Poll. However, the surprise Tigers lost three of their final four regular-season contests (with two of the losses to unranked opponents), they fell back to #21 in these polls. However, their early start was enough to clinch a spot in the 2011 ACC Championship Game. They won that game with an unexpectedly dominant performance over Virginia Tech, 38–10. In the process, they won their first ACC title since 1991, and with it an automatic berth in the 2012 Orange Bowl. It was the Tigers' first-ever Bowl Championship Series berth, as well as their first major-bowl appearance since the 1982 Orange Bowl. They lost the game in historic fashion to West Virginia by a score of 70–33, setting a bowl record for points conceded in a game.