Under first year head coach John Heisman, the team posted a 6–0 record and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship.

[1][2][3] The Tigers outscored their opponents 222–10;[4] the 64–0 win over Davidson on opening day was then the largest score ever made in the South and the season's only home game.

[6] As Riggs recalled, "By 1899 the Clemson football team had risen steadily until its material was equal to that of any southern college, and the time had come to put on the long-planned finishing touch.

[8] The team took the field in jerseys and stockings bearing distinctive orange and purple stripes.

[9][10] Clemson opened the season at home in Calhoun on October 19, winning over Davidson 64–0, then the largest score ever made in the South.

Before the game with Georgia, students in the dorms barraged Clemson players with bits of coal.

[26] After the Tigers forced an Alabama punt to open the game, Douthit scored three consecutive touchdowns for Clemson en route to an 18–0 lead.