The 2015 season is shaping up to be much like the 2014 version.
Okay, I don’t even believe that statement. I can’t. It would mean throwing away every bit of predictive nonsense we launched onto the information highway from January until the beginning of September.
We never went so far as to say this team would be the inverse of the last at Clemson. However, the idea that the Tigers’ offense would be the predominant unit while the defense would only need to do enough to supplement it—basically the opposite of what happened last year—was seemingly the most popular theory thrown around by media types and fans.
Considering two weeks’ worth of evidence, the idea of reversing conventional wisdom isn’t really that farfetched. In fact, ignoring it might be crazier than blindly accepting it at this point.
A week ago, Clemson’s peak productivity was realized. Strings of scores followed by stops led to a dominating victory over Wofford that reminded onlookers of the best of times in 2014.
We assumed the second week of action would be different. Appalachian State was a better team, so the offense wouldn’t look quite as good but would eventually pull away. The defense would struggle in spots but would create enough havoc to get critical stops in the middle of the game.
Instead, the opposite happened. For a moment in Clemson’s 41-10 romp over visiting Appalachian State, a familiar refrain took hold.
An early turnover by Deshaun Watson put the Clemson defense in a bad spot. A lack of cohesiveness affected Clemson’s ability to move the ball, and the Mountaineers’ defensive scheme and execution had a lot to do with that.
Undeterred, the Tigers produced three straight three-and-outs, then turned the Mountaineers over on their next three drives. The first of those turnovers was an interception return for a touchdown that gave the defense four more points than the offense at that juncture.
In all, Clemson’s defense held for 12 consecutive drives without giving up a point. The Tigers only gave up a pair of first downs during that stretch.
All the while, Clemson’s offense was kicking it into gear. The defensive tenacity of Brent Venables’ unit bought time for the brain trust of Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott to start piling up points. It felt more like what we witnessed a year ago than what we expected to witness a couple of weeks ago.
It’s apparent the Tigers have a stout defense once again and that it can do many of the things that made its predecessor so feared around the country. It’s also apparent Clemson’s offense might have some deep-seeded issues that may pop up from time to time.
Certainly the loss of Watson’s primary downfield weapon made things uncomfortable for a while, but the offense settled in and began picking apart the App State defense. Certainly the youth and inexperience up front was cause for concern already, and it remains that way after an uninspiring performance against a Mountaineer squad that was supposed to provide a test, just not one of that caliber.
If—and this is a major “if”—2015 resembles 2014, the difference is that Clemson should be able to score on almost every team it plays, even if it takes a little while to happen. When it clicked on Saturday, an uncomfortably tight game at the start became a laugher almost immediately.
A Clemson squad that can rely on its defense in 2015 should strike legitimate fear into the hearts of every single team on the schedule. This time, it has an offense to match.
God Bless!
WQ