Like 2015, Clemson About to Catch Most Prognosticators by Surprise

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson has had a lot of success in the last 12 seasons.

With that said, it is easy to say the Tigers are not going to catch anyone by surprise if they make it to the College Football Playoff for the seventh time in eight years.

Clemson enters the 2022 football season ranked fourth in the Associated Press preseason poll, which at least tells us that some think the Tigers might have what it takes to get back to the CFP.

However, do not let Clemson’s No. 4 ranking fool you. There are some prognosticators out there who do not believe the Tigers have what it takes to be a CFP team.

Maybe they are right.

Though everyone believes Clemson has a national championship-caliber defense, it's their lack of faith in Clemson’s offense that has them doubting the Tigers.

It is understandable why they do not have any faith in Clemson’s offense. Last year, the Tigers were awful on that side of the ball. It was the worst offense in the Dabo Swinney era since 2010.

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was inconsistent. They lacked continuity and chemistry along the offensive line and the wide receivers were banged up all season long.

As a result, Clemson ranked near the bottom of the ACC in total offense and passing yards per game. This after the Tigers averaged 40-plus points and 500-plus yards in each of the previous three seasons.

It does not help the Tigers lost longtime offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and some wonder if the promotion of Brandon Streeter to be his replacement was the right call. They wonder the same thing about Wes Goodwin on the defensive side after he was promoted to replace longtime defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

But despite all of that, I wonder why so many are doubting Dabo Swinney. If Clemson’s track record under Swinney is any indication, then Clemson should be right back at the top this year.

If anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s Clemson, right?

Clemson is still the only team to take down big-bad Alabama twice on the big stage in the Nick Saban era, and the Tigers did it both times in the national championship game.

Since 2015, no one has won more games outside of Alabama than Clemson. Only Alabama and Clemson have posted 10-win seasons in each of the last 11 years. Only Clemson and Alabama have won multiple national championships and played in the title game at least four times.

If any two schools deserve the benefit of the doubt it is Alabama and Clemson.

You think some of them would have learned their lesson back in 2020 after they thought Alabama was done following an 11-2 campaign in 2019, one that saw the Crimson Tide miss the CFP for the first time.

But what happened in 2020? Alabama won another national championship. Then they played for the national championship again in 2021.

I am not saying Clemson is going to win the national championship this year, but I am not discrediting that possibility, either.

As I wrote earlier, Clemson has a national championship-caliber defense. The offense, we do not know about just yet. Maybe it does, maybe it does not.

But what I do know is this: There is real competition at quarterback, that was not the case last season. The offensive line is much better, too. And from what we are hearing, they will catch those doubters off guard.

The wide receivers are still a question mark. However, we have heard nothing but good things about Brannon Spector, Will Taylor and Antonio Williams in the slot.

Remember, Clemson went all of last season without a true slot guy and it was obvious it hurt Uiagalelei and the offense as a whole.

As Clemson gets set to play Georgia Tech on Labor Day night in Atlanta, all of this doubting reminds me of the 2015 season. The difference is all the question marks this time are on the offensive side of the ball.

In 2015—when Clemson went undefeated in the regular season, and nearly knocked off Alabama in the title game—no one considered the Tigers a national championship contender at the start of the season. They lost almost everyone from a defense that led the nation in 2014.

Oh, by the way, Clemson was also breaking in two new coordinators--Elliott and Jeff Scott--on the offensive side of the ball in 2015, plus Streeter was the new quarterbacks coach. Like this year's coaching staff, they also had a trial run at a bowl game in Orlando, Fla.

People knew Clemson would be good, but not national championship good. Most prognosticators think Clemson is going to be good this year, but just not national championship good.

I think they are going to be in for a surprise.