The 2015 football season will go down as one of the best seasons in Clemson history. In terms of wins, it is the greatest as the Tigers became just the eighth team in college football history, just the second in the ACC, to win 14 games in one season.
Clemson finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record and for the first time since 1988 beat rival South Carolina, won the ACC and won its bowl game. The Tigers won their 15th ACC Championship and won the Orange for a fourth time overall, and for the second time in three years.
They also advanced to the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game, in just the second year of the College Football Playoffs. The Clemson Insider takes a look at how the Tigers graded at every position in the 2015 season.
Quarterback
Do I really need to give this grade out? Deshaun Watson is the best quarterback in the country, hands down. On Thursday he was the recipient of the Manning Award as the nation’s best quarterback, while on Wednesday he was named the winner of the Archie Griffin Award as the nation’s best player. He also won the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s best quarterback, was a consensus All-American, was named the ACC Player of the Year and was voted as the Most Valuable Player of the ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl. Some in the media have argued he was the Most Valuable Player in the National Championship Game because he totaled a National Championship Game record 478 yards, including 405 through the air on 30 of 47 passing with four touchdowns. Watson finished the year as the first players in FBS history to throw for more than 4,000 (4,104) yards and run for 1,000 (1,105) more in the same season. Watson averaged 5.3 yards per carry and scored 12 touchdowns. He also completed 67.8 percent of his passes and threw 35 touchdowns compared to just 13 interceptions. Watson set a school and ACC record with 5,209 yards of total offense. Grade: A
Running back
Those who had Wayne Gallman rushing for 1,500 yards show your hands. That’s what I thought! No one has their hands up. Gallman exceeded everyone’s expectations this year and his productivity played a huge role in why the Tigers found themselves in Arizona playing for the National Championship. Gallman set a Clemson single-season record 1,527 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 5.4 yard per carry. Grade: A
Offensive line
Early in the season the offensive line showed what it can do when it pushed around Notre Dame’s very good front seven. The Tigers rushed for 222 yards in that game. Clemson averaged 223.0 yards per game on the ground, which ranked 21st nationally. Led by All-ACC guard Eric Mac Lain, All-ACC center Jay Guillermo and Freshman All-American Mitch Hyatt, the offensive line allowed just 18 sacks this season, which ranked 19th nationally at 1.2 per game. As a team, Clemson averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Grade: A
Wide receivers & tight end
Clemson’s depth at wide receiver really showed in 2015. Despite losing All-ACC wide receiver Mike Williams and his 1,000 yards in the season opener, the Tigers did not miss a beat. Clemson was one of only two schools in the country to have five different players catch at least five touchdown passes. Tight end Jordan Leggett led the way with eight, while wide receiver Artavis Scott had six and three others—Charone Peake, Deon Cain and Hunter Renfrow—had five. Scott led the Tigers with 93 catches for 901 yards, while Peake had 50 for 716 and Leggett had 40 for 525. Cain, just a freshman, had 34 catches for 582 yards. Renfrow, another freshman, tallied 33 for 492 yards. Grade: A
Defensive line
With exception of Alabama’s, was there another defensive line any better than Clemson’s? You can argue Clemson’s was better than Alabama’s because the Tigers outshined the Crimson Tide’s in the National Championship Game. Defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd combined for five sacks in that game, while Clemson had nine tackles for loss overall. Lawson was a consensus All-American and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He led the nation in tackles for loss (25.5) and was fifth in sacks (12.5). Dodd was not too far behind. He was second in tackles for loss (23.5) and seventh in sacks (12.0). Carlos Watkins and freshman Christian Wilkins were huge up front, as was senior D.J. Reader once he returned. The Tigers also got good production from Scott Pagano. Wilkins, just a freshman, finished the season with 85 tackles. Watkins, a junior, recorded 82 and had eight tackles for loss. Grade: A
Linebackers
B.J. Goodson and Ben Boulware were all over the place. Goodson, an All-ACC performer, led the Tigers with 146 tackles. He had 14 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He also had 17 quarterback pressures. Boulware had 135 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and 23 quarterback pressures. Also an All-ACC linebacker, Boulware broke up seven passes. They both recorded two interceptions as well, including one each in the Tigers’ Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma. Travis Blanks had 43 tackles and Dorian O’Daniel had 33 from the strong side linebacker position. Grade: B
Secondary
For the most part the Clemson secondary was the strength of the defense, especially early in the season. But later in the year against South Carolina, Oklahoma and Alabama, they struggled at times. Regardless, cornerback Mackensie Alexander was as shutdown as a shutdown cornerback can be. Over the 106 times he was targeted, only 32 passes were completed. He did not allow a touchdown in the final 25 games he wore a Clemson uniform. Safety T.J. Green finished third on the team with 128 tackles, but he sometimes was caught out of position or he would bust on a play like he did in given up those two touchdown passes to Alabama in the National Championship Game. The other safety, Jayron Kearse, had a great first half of the season, but he fizzled out in the end. He did not record a tackle in the National Championship Game and was seen out of position in a lot of plays. Kearse did have a really good Orange Bowl Game and finished the year with 84 tackles and one interception. Cornerback Cordrea Tankersley had 59 tackles, five interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. The Clemson secondary finished 17th nationally in yards allowed and second in completion-percentage defense. They ranked 11th in passing-efficiency defense. Grade: A
Special Teams
Greg Huegel was the surprise of the team. The walk-on, who won the job because of Ammon Lakip’s suspension from the team, connected on a school record 27 field goals in 32 attempts. He completed the ACC season perfect at 17-for-17 and set the school record for points in a season with 137 points. His only fault was missing five extra points. Punter Andy Teasdall averaged just 39.0 yards per punt, but his net average was 37.7 yards. He had just one punt go into the end zone for a touchback and that came in the National Championship Game. The Tigers did not fair too well on kickoff and punt returns, but their only real trouble all season long came on kick coverage. They allowed three kickoff returns to be returned for touchdowns, which led the nation. The 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Alabama in the National Championship Game perhaps cost them a national championship. Grade: C
Coaching
Dabo Swinney and his staff did a magnificent job getting this team ready to play each and every week, while keeping them focused just on the task at hand. Swinney used the “We get no respect” card better than anyone to motivate his team, especially in the big games. Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott did better than anyone could have imagined in their first year as co-offensive coordinators. Clemson averaged 554.2 yards per game over the last 11 games in which they tallied a school record 500-plus yards in every game. On defense, Brent Venables took a unit that lost nine starters from a year ago and led them to another top 10 finish in terms of total yards allowed. Grade: A