Believe it or not, the most disappointing team in the country still has a chance to win its conference.
Clemson kept its flickering hopes alive with a second-half comeback to beat Louisville on Saturday, the latest in a string of near misses (Florida State, Syracuse, Boston College, Georgia Tech). If Wake Forest can topple NC State next week, and Clemson beats Wake in Week 12, the ACC Atlantic, for the seventh straight year, will belong to the Tigers.
It's unlikely, sure, but let's take a moment to appreciate how far Clemson has come while the overriding narrative surrounding the team hasn't changed much at all.
The Tigers are 5-3, [should be 6-3 David, but ok] and while four of those wins came by the narrowest of margins, they are but a victory over woeful UConn away from bowl eligibility.
Those three losses, by a combined 23 points that included a defensive score and an overtime game, all came to ranked teams.
Clemson remains the only team to give Georgia a run for its money this season.
The Tigers have endured myriad injuries, transfers and COVID-19 setbacks, and yet they're still here, with a shot to win the league again.
Doesn't that say something about just how good this team really is?
To be sure, this year's Tigers aren't ever going to resemble the team we all thought they would be back in August. D.J. Uiagalelei isn't a Heisman contender, Justyn Ross isn't dominating the league, and the weekly blowouts that had become de rigueur for Clemson in the ACC simply aren't going to happen in 2021. And that's OK.
Clemson easily could have lost Saturday, too. Had Malik Cunningham not left the game with a bum ankle in the third quarter, nursing a seven-point lead, Louisville probably would have won. But had any handful of small things gone differently this year, the Tigers could be 1-8 or 9-0. The margins have been that slim.
But we also saw Clemson's defense continue to fight, as it has all season, in spite of injuries and an offense that has offered little to no support. We saw freshman receiver Beaux Collins blossom in the slot -- six catches, 104 yards and a TD -- allowing Ross to move to the outside, where he's a far greater threat. We saw a run game that continues to evolve behind three young backs -- Will Shipley, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah -- in spite of an offensive line desperately in need of an upgrade. We saw a five-star QB who might've given up on his season a dozen times by now let out a sigh of relief after the game, saying, "I'm just so tired of losing." Uiagalelei played with a sprained knee, and he turned in his best performance of the year.
Clemson's playoff hopes likely died after Week 1, and its national prestige disappeared a few weeks later with the overtime loss to NC State. But the team has kept fighting, even when the light at the other end of the tunnel was little more than a flicker.
There's still a chance 2021 ends with an ACC championship, but that's not the biggest takeaway. The real lesson of this season is that, with a few tweaks and a small influx of new talent, the 2022 Tigers already look like they'll be title contenders once again. -- David Hale
Clemson kept its flickering hopes alive with a second-half comeback to beat Louisville on Saturday, the latest in a string of near misses (Florida State, Syracuse, Boston College, Georgia Tech). If Wake Forest can topple NC State next week, and Clemson beats Wake in Week 12, the ACC Atlantic, for the seventh straight year, will belong to the Tigers.
It's unlikely, sure, but let's take a moment to appreciate how far Clemson has come while the overriding narrative surrounding the team hasn't changed much at all.
The Tigers are 5-3, [should be 6-3 David, but ok] and while four of those wins came by the narrowest of margins, they are but a victory over woeful UConn away from bowl eligibility.
Those three losses, by a combined 23 points that included a defensive score and an overtime game, all came to ranked teams.
Clemson remains the only team to give Georgia a run for its money this season.
The Tigers have endured myriad injuries, transfers and COVID-19 setbacks, and yet they're still here, with a shot to win the league again.
Doesn't that say something about just how good this team really is?
To be sure, this year's Tigers aren't ever going to resemble the team we all thought they would be back in August. D.J. Uiagalelei isn't a Heisman contender, Justyn Ross isn't dominating the league, and the weekly blowouts that had become de rigueur for Clemson in the ACC simply aren't going to happen in 2021. And that's OK.
Clemson easily could have lost Saturday, too. Had Malik Cunningham not left the game with a bum ankle in the third quarter, nursing a seven-point lead, Louisville probably would have won. But had any handful of small things gone differently this year, the Tigers could be 1-8 or 9-0. The margins have been that slim.
But we also saw Clemson's defense continue to fight, as it has all season, in spite of injuries and an offense that has offered little to no support. We saw freshman receiver Beaux Collins blossom in the slot -- six catches, 104 yards and a TD -- allowing Ross to move to the outside, where he's a far greater threat. We saw a run game that continues to evolve behind three young backs -- Will Shipley, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah -- in spite of an offensive line desperately in need of an upgrade. We saw a five-star QB who might've given up on his season a dozen times by now let out a sigh of relief after the game, saying, "I'm just so tired of losing." Uiagalelei played with a sprained knee, and he turned in his best performance of the year.
Clemson's playoff hopes likely died after Week 1, and its national prestige disappeared a few weeks later with the overtime loss to NC State. But the team has kept fighting, even when the light at the other end of the tunnel was little more than a flicker.
There's still a chance 2021 ends with an ACC championship, but that's not the biggest takeaway. The real lesson of this season is that, with a few tweaks and a small influx of new talent, the 2022 Tigers already look like they'll be title contenders once again. -- David Hale
