Joel Klatt on Why He’s ‘Concerned about Clemson’

Before Week 1, Joel Klatt picked Clemson to win the national championship, and even after the opening loss to LSU, he believed the Tigers could still make a deep College Football Playoff run.

Now, even Klatt admits he’s concerned about Clemson.

In an episode of The Joel Klatt Show, Klatt, Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst, discussed his concern about Clemson after the Tigers fell down 16-0 vs. Troy last Saturday before coming back to win, 27-16.

“Clemson, we’ll see, but they were down 16-0, and the offense did not look right,” Klatt said. “If we’re going to be concerned or not concerned, we start with, I’m concerned about Clemson.”

After his preseason pick of Clemson to win it all, Klatt no longer has Dabo Swinney’s team in his top 10 following Week 2 of the season.

His new top 10 is comprised of Ohio State, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Georgia, Texas, Miami, Florida State, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, in that order, with Clemson among the group of teams that “almost” made his top 10.

“This was my national championship pick. I don’t even have them in the top 10 anymore,” Klatt said of Clemson.

“I told you I was not concerned about them after their loss to LSU, because I thought LSU was really, really good. Now, LSU, we’ll see. They did not play great against Louisiana Tech. Only beat them 23-7. I know Brian Kelly was not happy about that.”

Klatt says his concern about Clemson boils down to “the lack of consistency out of their offense’s performance, and specifically their quarterback.”

Quarterback Cade Klubnik had less than 100 passing yards and a pick-six in the first half against Troy, before completing 8 of 9 passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, as the Tigers outscored the Trojans 24-0 after halftime.

Clemson managed just 316 yards of offense in the comeback win over Troy, mustering just 114 in the first half.

Clemson is currently ranked No. 110 nationally in scoring offense, scoring 18.5 points per contest. The Tigers rank No. 120 in total offense, averaging 288.5 yards per contest.

Through two games, the rushing offense ranks No. 128 overall, averaging 75.5 yards per game. The passing attack hasn’t fared all that well either, as Clemson ranks No. 78 with 213 passing yards per contest.

“There’s an issue with Clemson’s offense,” Klatt said. “Cade Klubnik has gotta get this together. They just have way too many peaks and valleys. We don’t see the sustained success and the sustained quality play and excellence out of their offense, and I think that’s a problem.”