Former Georgia All-American linebacker and ex-ESPN analyst David Pollack didn’t mince words when talking about Clemson’s season-opening performance in the 51-10 loss to LSU last Saturday.

Pollack, who now hosts his own show called See Ball Get Ball, knows Clemson got “embarrassed” and called the game an “absolute trainwreck.”

However, Pollack says it’s too early to fully crown LSU, or completely write off Clemson.

“I don’t know if LSU’s really good, and Clemson’s boo-boo. I don’t know. I think it’s probably somewhere in the middle, and it’s a perfect storm,” Pollack said.

“But Clemson got embarrassed,” Pollack added. “I mean, there’s nothing you can say otherwise.”

Pollack broke down the myriad issues regarding Clemson’s performance, noting that there’s plenty of blame to go around, both offensively and defensively.

He criticized the offensive line for getting pushed around and what he saw as a “lack of effort” up front. Pollack also called out defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s unit for a lack of eye discipline and the safeties for failing to understand run support, leading to “consistent misfits.”

“Chad Morris is brought back to fix the offense. I don’t think it matters when you don’t have a quarterback,” Pollack said. “And listen, could I blame a lot of this on [Christopher] Vizzina? Sure. But if you can’t run the ball, if you can’t protect your QB, goodness gracious, there’s not a lot that was set up to be successful. There’s a lot of things that are fixable on this tape, watching this tape back. There’s a lot of things that can be fixed. But 1-for-13 on third down, not pushing anybody around up front, looking at times up front like not just you’re confused — it’s almost like a lack of effort. And you had guys to be there to block, and they didn’t get it. 145 total yards? It was an absolute trainwreck. … Of course Dabo’s to blame, of course Chad Morris is to blame. Everybody gets plenty of the blame.

“I’ll give blame to Tom Allen, because when I’m watching this defense, it’s very clear to me that the eyes in the second level are not where they’re supposed to be. Time and time again, safeties [not] understanding when they’re supposed to come down and fit. … Consistent misfits. Consistently not having enough numbers in the right spot, that’s not a good thing. Like, I have to adjust to shifts, to motions, I can’t just let them line up. … But the eye discipline is going to have to get better. I think they will get better. I think it was tough to see this offense to start the season. Like, that’s what you come out the gates with, and you don’t really know what they’re going to do wholeheartedly.”

Pollack defended Clemson’s head coach by pointing out that Dabo Swinney utilized the transfer portal more than ever this past offseason, but Pollack also acknowledged that standing pat at quarterback and choosing not to pursue a proven quarterback in the portal carries massive weight.

Pollack expressed respect for Swinney’s loyalty to the QBs on his roster and for letting Vizzina and Tait Reynolds battle for the starting job, but says the offense would be “totally different” had the Tigers gone out and gotten a top-tier portal arm.

“He went to the portal more than he’s ever been to the portal this past year, so I don’t know that he’s anti-portal,” Pollack said. “… I don’t think he’s anti-portal. When you’re looking at Clemson’s roster and you’re looking at who they are, if they had a quarterback that could maximize those two wide receivers, it changes the game and it makes it different. In order to do that, you would have had to go out and spend money, top dollar, to go get a [QB like Miami’s Darian] Mensah. If they have Mensah, it’s totally different. The offense is totally different. You’re maximizing those receivers. …

“I understand Dabo doing it his way, and you’ve gotta respect the piss out of it, man. Like, I respect the piss out of him going, I want to give these guys a shot that I told was going to get a shot. I told them I’d let them duke it out. If I go and spend $6 million on a quarterback, it ain’t no duke out. It’s over. But, you can’t win without a quarterback. And Tait Reynolds is a freshman kid, he got some reps. Ain’t much he can do about it, either. How do you expect a guy that just got there to come in there and to make it happen?”

Pollack added that despite the disastrous start to the season, he does not believe “it’s over for Clemson” — and he doesn’t think Swinney is going anywhere, either.

“You play Miami in a couple of weeks. I think the biggest hope if you’re a Clemson fan is you go OK, I want to see you destroy Georgia Southern. Because last year they flirted with so many teams. After that first loss, it was like, oh my gosh, flirting with them again, flirting with them again, flirting with them again,” Pollack said. “Let’s see the identity grow. Let’s see the offensive line get tougher, get more physical, create some running lanes, the offense pick up a little bit. I don’t know what you’re going to do with your QB. You’ve got some decisions on who you want to use and how it’s gonna work.

“But I don’t think it’s over for Clemson. And if you’re thinking Dabo’s getting fired, I think you’re wrong, too. I don’t think Dabo’s going anywhere. But the whole thing is about how can you get the identity of this team, how can you grow, how can you get better? They’ve got to be more disciplined, and they’ve got to be tougher. Those are two areas, man, they’re going to have to continue to do throughout the season.”