Herbstreit Discusses His Level of Concern for Clemson

During a College GameDay segment following Clemson’s 51-10 blowout loss to LSU last Saturday, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit weighed in on the state of Dabo Swinney’s program.

Herbstreit stated that his level of concern for Clemson is a 9 out of 10.

“Clemson’s level of concern. On a scale of 1-10, I think it’s a 9,” Herbstreit said.

While he echoed fellow ESPN analyst Nick Saban’s advice not to entirely overreact by claiming “Clemson is done,” Herbstreit admitted he is heavily concerned about the Tigers as things stand now.

Herbstreit highlighted a couple main areas fueling his concern level, one of which is a difficult upcoming schedule, specifically mentioning the next four contests — tonight’s home opener against Georgia Southern, the ACC opener at home vs. Bill Belichick’s North Carolina squad (Sept. 19), a tough road trip to Cal (Sept. 25), and then a home matchup vs. Miami (Oct. 3).

“This is their schedule. Georgia Southern today. Bill Belichick coming up at home. At Cal, which will not be easy. And Miami (Fla.),” Herbstreit said.

“Going back to what Coach [Nick Saban] just said, let’s not overreact, which I think that’s been one of the biggest overreactions is ‘Clemson is done.’ It was the worst loss in Dabo’s era as a head coach. Coming off a 7-6 year.”

Herbstreit also pointed to a lack of offensive identity for the Tigers.

“They can’t run the ball. The offense doesn’t have any identity at all,” Herbstreit said. “So yeah, forgetting overreacting to it — I’m concerned about the schedule, and they’ve got to find an offense. Because I think the defense can hang around, but the offense has gotta get a lot better.”

Tonight’s game against Georgia Southern at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ACC Network. Clemson is a 19.5-point favorite, per FanDuel Sportsbook.