Five Reasons Clemson Will Not Win It All In 2020
Having won two national titles in the past four years, Clemson Football is in the midst of the greatest run in program history. Dabo Swinney has taken a team mired in mediocrity, and turned it into a national powerhouse.
After losing to LSU in last years national title game, the Tigers are currently an overwhelming favorite to win it all next season. However, as Dabo Swinney continuously reminds the fan base, winning a championship is a difficult task.
Regardless of how talented a team is, or how heavily favored they are, it only takes one small bump in the road to derail a season. Today we take a look at five reasons why Clemson will not win a fourth national title in 2020.
1. Injuries: The quickest way for a team to have a season go off the rails is for the injury bug to hit. The Tigers have been very fortunate on this front during their current run of five consecutive playoff appearances. That isn't to say there haven't been injuries, but they have yet to experience any of the catastrophic type that kill seasons.
2. ACC Being Down Again: It is something the fans do not like to hear, but when the ACC is down as much as it was in 2019, that can be detrimental to making a run at a national title. In the Fiesta Bowl matchup with Ohio State, it seemed to take the Tigers some time to adjust to the physical style that the Buckeyes brought to the table. It was something Clemson had not seen through the entire regular season during conference play, and neither Texas A&M nor South Carolina were capable of replicating a similar style of physicality. If it happens again in 2020, it's possible that they do not survive.
3. Offensive Line: The Tigers will need to replace four starting offensive linemen in 2020. LT Jackson Carman is the only returning starter, meaning they will have to rely on some young, and inexperienced players to step in and play championship level football. If that transition isn't as smooth as expected, the Tigers could have issues protecting star QB Trevor Lawrence and/or opening running lanes for the school's all time leading rusher Travis Etienne. Winning it all requires stellar offensive line play, and there is no guarantee that Clemson gets that in 2020.
4. Secondary: Clemson loses both starting safeties, as well as one of the two starting corners. After the pass defense became one of the strengths of the defense last season, the team will now have to rely on some new faces to play key roles. Clemson fans saw firsthand against Alabama in 2015 that busts in the secondary can sink a teams title hopes.
5. No Jeff Scott: Since the departure of Chad Morris, it has been assumed by some fans that Tony Elliott was mostly responsible for running the offense. While Elliott has been responsible for most of the play calling duties, Jeff Scott played a vital part when it came to preparing the gameplans. With Scott now the head coach at South Florida, Elliott is now the lone offensive coordinator. How much the team misses Scott next season is impossible to know at this point, but it is a little naive to think a team can lose a coach the quality of Jeff Scott and him not be missed on game days and the practice fields.
