The Clemson football depth chart got a makeover last week—and not for positive reasons.
The “decision” by rising senior left tackle Isaiah Battle to enter the supplemental draft (conveniently on the heels of a simple marijuana citation) and the indefinite suspension of incumbent placekicker Ammon Lakip after a disastrous traffic stop have momentarily halted the program’s momentum heading into the 2015 season. These two personnel changes have seemed to leave lofty preseason expectations in the rear view mirror.
If that’s actually the case, someone forgot to tell the rest of the nation.
When the Golden Nugget sportsbook released preliminary lines for more than 150 college football games last Friday, Clemson was listed as the favorite in all six listed matchups. Louisville, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Miami, Florida State, South Carolina—all of them are considered underdogs, albeit slight ones, against the Tigers.
In other words, on a per-game basis, the team that will begin the season with a true freshman left tackle protecting a thrice-injured quarterback and a totally green field goal kicker is still the favorite in the ACC. That’s remarkable.
When I heard about Battle and Lakip, my mind immediately turned to these toss-up games. Surely these two players are worth a touchdown or more, I thought. Two of the most important positions on the field will be manned by players with fully zero games under their respective belts. It seemed ridiculous to emerge from this new thought process with the same end result for the season.
Yet, the folks at Golden Nugget expect Clemson to end the season undefeated. Based on the events of last week, that simply seems too good to be true.
Consider the uphill battle Dabo Swinney’s team faces. In the ACC, only one other team—N.C. State—will feature both a freshman left tackle and a freshman kicker. In addition, Wake Forest will have a freshman left tackle, while North Carolina will use a freshman kicker.
That’s it. No teams from the upper crust have this problem. Only the middle of the pack deals with this.
If you have ambition, you have an experienced left tackle, and you have an experienced kicker. At the very least, you have a player who has prepared to play a college game before, even if there’s a lack of overall experience.
Barring another unforeseen event, Clemson will have uber-talented true freshman Mitch Hyatt manning left tackle in the opener. There are worse ways to fill out a starting lineup, and Hyatt has a ton of ability and moxie, but there’s still that “freshman” label that lends itself to fear and trepidation among fans and coaches.
The placekicker role is a bit more up in the air. Redshirt freshman Alex Spence appears to have the edge, but will he be up to the test if a big kick is needed to move Clemson further toward its goals? If he falters, can redshirt freshman walk-on Christian Groomes handle the gig? These are major questions that will only be answered through trial and error.
If you’re concerned out there in Clemson fandom, I’m with you. But as we always say, when Vegas tells us something that seems odd, maybe somebody knows something we don’t.
God Bless!
WQ