ESPN analyst Aaron Murray is certainly among those who’ve been surprised by Clemson’s 1-3 start.

Murray, the former Georgia star quarterback, is also one of the analysts who’ve been proven wrong for predicting the Tigers to win the national title this year.

Murray joined fellow ESPN analyst Greg McElroy on McElroy’s Always College Football show, and Murray discussed Clemson’s dreadful start to 2025 as a surprise that’s stood out to him in the first month of the college football season.

Murray is especially stunned by the way Clemson, with all the talent up front on defense, has been “punched in the mouth” at the line of scrimmage early in the season.

“I would say the big surprise, the low-hanging fruit, is Clemson,” Murray said. “I picked them to win the national championship. … I do the show with [Eric] Mac Lain, and we were both very confident in Clemson to start the season. But it’s the way they’re losing. They are getting just punched in the mouth up front. All these supposed first-round picks at defensive line, and now that LSU obviously hasn’t looked as good, you’re like, ‘OK, you got pushed around by LSU and that new offensive line Week 1.’ Georgia Tech beat them up at the line of scrimmage, and then this past week, Syracuse. I saw Syracuse moving them to the second level.

“Like, you are talking about a defense that’s supposed to have all this talent, all these first-rounders up front. And I’m not trying to dog Georgia Tech – I Iove Georgia Tech and I love Syracuse and what Fran Brown is doing. But you’re supposed to be Clemson and you’re supposed to be this elite team with all this talent, and you are getting blown off the ball in your home stadium.”

Murray blasted Dabo Swinney and the Tigers for their “embarrassing” start to the season that no one saw coming, including Murray himself.

“Losses suck. But the way they’re losing is just mind-blowing to me,” he said.

“It’s embarrassing,” he continued. “I’d be embarrassed if I’m a Clemson fan. I’d be embarrassed if I’m Dabo. Because you are what you put on tape, and it’s been four weeks of that, and I don’t know if you can really change it. You are who you are right now, and it’s not a physical team. The quarterback has been inconsistent throwing the football. All things that I thought Clemson was going to be this year, they’re not.”