Eight days ago, Clemson trailed UNC at the half 17-6. This followed a blowout loss to LSU and a lackluster effort against Georgia Southern. At that moment in time, Clemson’s season was on the brink. A loss and Clemson could be staring at a 4-8, 5-7 type season.
That didn’t happen. The Tigers made a resilient comeback and won 28-20. Could they validate that win with a victory at California a decent if unspectacular team? Yes, they could, and in doing so, a reset on Clemson’s season had to be made.
The 24-10 win is the way Clemson will have to win games, likely the rest of the year. Good special teams and opportunistic, aggressive defense, with a running game that controls the clock while the passing game does just enough.
Now don’t confuse a reset with Clemson being ready to go 11-1 and make the playoffs. Clemson isn’t that program anymore, but what has happened is the floor and ceiling have moved from a floor of 4-8 and a ceiling of 7-5, to a floor of 6-6 and a ceiling of 9-3.
Dabo Swinney has gotten a lot of criticism in recent years, but he deserves some credit for the last 2 weeks. After getting clobbered by LSU, Clemson could have packed it in. Certainly at the half of the UNC, the season could have spun out of control. Now there is a renewed hope that maybe the Tigers can salvage this season.
Other than the game against Miami, there isn’t a game left on Clemson’s schedule where they will be a decided underdog. That would be a 10-2 finish with a likely appearance in the ACC Title game.
I’m not willing to go that far. I think there are still too many issues on offense. The receivers are fine, but freshman QB Tait Reynolds is a work in progress. You can’t build a passing game around him at the moment, but he’s slowly improving. The offensive line is slowly improving. The defense has made a nice leap forward under DC Tom Allen.
Clemson is a team we forgot about after LSU, but keep an eye on them. They have a chance to be a factor in the ACC race.
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