Where Can The Clemson Tigers Go Following the Bye Week?

The open date can create a moment of reflection for teams, and that’s something the Clemson Tigers will do during the break.

After beginning the year No. 4 in the country, by the end of September, the team was unranked, and almost everything was off the table for the future of the season. After Clemson’s loss to SMU last weekend, the Tigers are now 3-4, and any long shot of making the ACC Championship disappeared.

So, where do head coach Dabo Swinney and the team go from here? Here are the major points of emphasis for the rest of the season.

Get to the bowl game

Clemson is eyeing its 21st season of making a bowl game in the postseason, the fourth-longest active streak in the country. The most important thing that’s on the table for the Tigers is to make a bowl game, winning at least three of its last five games.

The question that comes with that is, which games have the best winning percentages? Clemson’s home finale against Furman is almost a shoe-in, as the Tigers have a 98.9% chance to win that game, according to ESPN Analytics. With that game also being the contest that honors the senior class, there’s an extra edge to winning that game.

The rest of the schedule will be competitive, however. Clemson is the underdog in two of those four matchups, according to those analytics. The Tigers have a 45.1% chance to win their Palmetto Bowl game against South Carolina, while a 38.4% chance to win at Louisville on Nov. 14 provides a tough matchup as well.

Against a Florida State team that’s trending down, the team has a 53.5% chance to win at home on Nov. 8, and the Tigers are favored against Duke next week with a 58.4% chance.

All games are winnable for Clemson if it plays the complementary football necessary. However, with how things have trended, if things remain out of sync, there’s always a chance that the Tigers miss their first bowl game since the 2004 season.

Win the Palmetto Bowl

Clemson fans saw a run like this two seasons ago, when the Tigers were eyeing a 4-4 record before rattling off five straight wins to go into the offseason. That included a strong defensive win at Williams-Brice Stadium, winning 16-7.

Now, Clemson can do that again this season, perhaps with the same implications.

The game could add new heights from a bowl game perspective as well, with both teams looking to still make a bowl game despite underwhelming seasons. South Carolina also needs three wins from five available games to play in a bowl game, meaning the contest could be for the spot in a bowl game if the Gamecocks pick up enough wins by then.

Winning a rivalry game is important, as well as getting the Palmetto Bowl trophy back in the offseason. If Clemson can do it in South Carolina’s building, it could create a little more momentum going into the offseason.

Finding next year’s pieces

There will be an emphasis on the players returning for next season, and Clemson will want to make sure that it doesn’t lose any key pieces that could be crucial for next season.

The Tigers will most likely lose players like Cade Klubnik, T.J. Parker, Peter Woods and Avieon Terrell to the NFL Draft, as well as a handful of other players on the roster due to looking for more opportunity elsewhere.

That begs the question: who can Swinney use to form the team’s core next season?

On the offense, receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore could be those guys, and depending on where the team goes at quarterback, that could lead to backup Christopher Vizzina headlining the team. Defensive pieces Will Heldt and Sammy Brown should headline the team’s defense once again, but it’s going to be about players who can step up from being a role player into a leader for the team.

There are always a few players who begin to come into their own towards the end of the season, and it will be imperative for Swinney to continue to give them the necessary playtime as the season comes to an end.

Maybe it’s not the season that Clemson and its fans wanted, but a key factor to next season will be who continues to step up in the next five games, perhaps changing the outcome of a game throughout the next month.