Clemson’s record looks gaudy at 8-2 after a last-minute 24-20 win over Pitt. They likely will crack the top 20 now, but what do we make of Clemson after the victory?
The Tigers have gotten taken to the woodshed by the two best teams they’ve played Georgia and Louisville, and feasted for 2 months on bottom-tier ACC teams in between.
Since the Louisville loss, Clemson hasn’t looked dominant but they are 2-0 with a 24-14 win at Virginia Tech and the win Saturday.
For all the consternation about the Clemson program, they are a single ACC loss from Miami from appearing in the ACC TItle and playing for a playoff birth.
If FSU is Titanic and their program fell apart in a matter of months, then Clemson’s has been slowly sinking since 2020, and they very nearly started taking on too much water after blowing a t 17-7 4th quarter lead to trail 20-17 with 90 seconds.
Then something magical happened for Clemson. Clemson QB Cade Klubnik put together 50 yard run in the final minute to stun Pittsburgh. There’s no telling what a single play like that can do to galvanize the rest of the Tiger’s season. Clemson had injuries across the board and lost players during the game.
This is a game that the way Clemson played the 2nd half they should have lost, but they didn’t.
With the Citadel next week, Clemson has a chance to rest and cruise to what should be an easy victory in preparation for a solid South Carolina team.
The Gamecocks are in the top 25 themselves and are a very capable opponent.
If Clemson knocks them off they will be 10-2, ranked in the top 15, and either headed towards the ACC Title game or have the slimmest but non-zero chances of an at-large playoff bid.
If anything this year, Clemson has shown they might not be the 2015-2020 version, but there is still a lot of pride there, and that they aren’t quite ready to call it a season.
Make you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply