Suddenly, Clemson finds itself in a position that it hasn’t been in for a decade.
After Georgia Tech walked it off with a 55-yard field goal as time expired, the Tigers are now 1-2 out of the gate for the first time since 2014.
Sure, the two losses came to teams that were expected to be really good, but it’s more about some of the deficiencies seen with this team. A team that was supposed to be Dabo Swinney’s best since Trevor Lawrence departed for the NFL.
After this kind of start, Clemson is barely hanging on to any shot at making the College Football Playoff. And we’re talking about a team that was SUPPOSED to be good enough to compete for a national title, not just good enough to get in.
Where Does Clemson Go From Here
All the playoff talk needs to be eliminated from the vocabulary at this point. The same can be said for any talk of an ACC Championship. The Tigers are still mathematically alive to secure a spot in Charlotte, but they are severely behind the eight-ball now and no longer control their own destiny. They will need help if they are to play for another conference championship.
Instead, like Dabo Swinney said after Saturday’s loss, this team just needs to find a way to win a game. Especially against a Power-4 opponent. Clemson is just 1-4 in its last four against Power-4 teams, and that one win came on a 56-yard field goal as time expired in a game that they could have just as easily lost.
Next up is Syracuse, and somehow, some way, this team needs to find a way to win a game just to stop the bleeding. The Orange come in at 2-1, with the wins coming over UConn and Colgate. Clemson opened as a 16.5-point favorite.
No Edge
Those Clemson teams that were making all of those playoff appearances and winning two national titles all played with an edge. They hit the field with a chip on their shoulder. They played like they expected to win.
This team just doesn’t have that. There is no killer instinct. They play like they are just hoping to win.
The Tigers had a chance to put their foot on Georgia Tech’s throat late in the third quarter. With the ball near midfield and facing a 3rd and 4, Cade Klubnik hit Bryant Wesco right in his hands, and then the ball went right through them. Great football teams make those plays. And that is just one example of many.
DL Not So Vaunted After All
Three games into the season, and TJ Parker has pretty much been a non-factor in all three. Yes, the Parker that so many have been projecting as a first-round pick.
However, it wasn’t just Parker in Saturday’s loss. Will Heldt and DeMonte Capehart showed up, but the rest were outplayed or outworked. Parker didn’t even register a tackle, while Peter Woods was credited with just one solo stop. Time and again, Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King ran it right into the teeth of the defensive line, and time and again, he had very little resistance getting into the second level.
Some of those guys up front just aren’t playing up to their potential. Some have yet to even come close.
The rotation up front has also been hard to figure out. There was one instance in the third quarter where Tech was backed up deep in its own territory, and the coaches ran out Cade Denhoff and Jahiem Lawson at defensive end and Champ Thompson at one of the defensive tackle spots. King ran for six yards on first down, with Eric Rivers running for six more on second. While Tech didn’t score on the possession, they marched 50 yards and flipped the field.
Not Getting Off Field
Georgia Tech was 8-of-15 on third down. That just isn’t winning football. Opponents are now converting 44% of their third downs against this defense. That’s not winning football either.
Missed Tackles
So much for being the best tackling team in the country. While some of that had been cleaned up over the first two games, it reared its ugly head again in the loss to the Yellow Jackets. There were so many in this game. The secondary was particularly bad. Many came against King, who ended up running for 101 yards.
When the Spy Doesn’t Work
Even when the Tigers were using Wade Woodaz to spy, it didn’t always work. King converted a 2nd and 9 with his legs with Woodaz spying, and also converted on 3rd and 16 with Woodaz spying. That’s not really how spying is supposed to work. As Woodaz said after the game, “You are what you put on tape.”
Can’t Ice Your Own Kicker
Let’s be honest, no kicker is going to hit on every one of his attempts outside of 50 yards, and Nolan Hauser had been perfect in his career in those opportunities coming into Saturday. His miss from 52 yards turned out to be huge, but it’s the moments leading up to the kick that were bizarre.
Clemson was facing a 4th and 3 from the Tech 35, when the staff sent the kicking team onto the field. Instead of attempting the kick, the Tigers tried to draw the Jackets offside, which would have resulted in a first down. Tech didn’t flinch, so Swinney called a timeout.
Instead of drawing up something to go for it on 4th and 3, Swinney ran Hauser back out there, and he missed the kick. Clemson basically iced their own kicker. And those three points ended up being the difference in the game.