Clemson snuck into the College Football Playoff by winning the ACC Championship. With that win, the Tigers earned the 12th seed in the CFP officially beginning their climb to the National Championship. They will have to go on the road in the first round to face Texas in Cade Klubnik’s hometown of Austin. The question for Clemson now is how deep can it go in the CFP.
One major factor in how early the Tigers are bounced is having to play in an opponent’s stadium. Clemson has actually played well on the road this season, though. The Tigers are undefeated in away games this year. But, they have yet to put together a complete game this season. How deep Dabo Swinney’s team will go in the playoffs is completely up to their ability to execute.
At Its Best?
At its best Clemson can hang with anyone in the 12-team field. The Tigers have already played two teams in the playoff bracket, Georgia and SMU. Clemson beat SMU 34-31 to make the playoff. The Tigers played Georgia in week one of the season and lost 34-3. The score does not tell the whole story though. Clemson made things tough for the Bulldogs the whole first half. Kirby Smart even commented on how good the Tigers’ defense was. Georgia was able to create separation in the second half. It was also the worst game offensively of the year for the Tigers though.
It did not take long after that matchup for the Clemson offense to finally find their rhythm after years of stagnation. Over the next three weeks, Clemson put up 40+ points against the likes of Appalachian State, NC State, and Stanford. The Tigers have not finished a game with a single-digit score since week one. That Georgia game sparked belief back into Swinney’s program. They felt like they could compete with any playoff-caliber team coming out of that game despite the score.
Clemson has proven that sentiment to be true even with a couple of stumbles along the way. The Tigers earned their way in and now have a chance to make a run. They have already shown they can be competitive and win against playoff teams already. Not only that, but they can do it in playoff-type atmospheres with similar stakes to the ACC Championship game.
At Its Worst?
When playing at their worst, the Tigers look like what they almost were, a team on the outside looking in. Clemson gave up 28 points to Georgia in that second-half plummet. The Tigers also lost to both Louisville and South Carolina at home. The common denominator in each of those losses was the lack of run defense by Clemson.
The Tigers’ defense gave up over 200 yards to both the Cardinals and Gamecocks. They gave up 169 rushing yards to Georgia, most of them coming in the second half. This problem defending the run game was not just in losses either. Even in some of Clemson’s biggest wins, it played badly against the run.
The worst was against the Citadel. Although the Tigers won the game 51-14, they gave up 288 yards on the ground. If the Tigers let any of these playoff teams run all over them in the same manner they will not go very deep in the CFP. If Clemson makes it past Texas, it will have to play against the tough run game of Arizona State with Cam Skattebo. That is not an offense the Tigers want to see without major improvements to the run defense.
How Far Will the Tigers Go?
The Tigers will go as far in the playoffs as their run defense and Klubnik will take them. If Clemson can defend the run better, there is not much else teams can do against its defense. The Tigers still have a good defense with loads of talent, they are just undisciplined in one area. It is worse because it is also the number one thing no defense wants to be bad at. The run defense for Clemson must show up.
The other thing the Tigers will need is great performances by Klubnik. The junior has really grown through this season. He looks like he’ll be one of the top quarterbacks in the country as he approaches the end of his college development. His first reps in the CFP will be a huge part of that development.
Klubnik played great in the ACC Championship Game. He threw four touchdown passes on his way to winning his second MVP award for the conference championship game. Klubnik needs to keep up his high-level play and leadership to give the Tigers a chance to make a deep run.
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