Fall is here; Is Clemson a Contender or Pretender? - SCACCHoops.com

Fall is here; Is Clemson a Contender or Pretender?

by All Things ACC

Posted: 9/22/2016 11:33:55 AM


Surprisingly Clemson has not played up to their expectations, and the fans are anxious to see Clemson drop the offensive sledgehammer on opponents. In one-half of play, Clemson fans saw Deshaun Watson carve up the South Carolina State defense. Although South Carolina State is an inferior opponent, don’t discount the performance as a mere bag of shells. Watson did not start last season off as sharp as he would have liked, but he eventually found his rhythm and carved up defenses like it was the turkey at Thanksgiving. So the concerns about Watson’s play so far are warranted, but he should be the least of Dabo Swinney’s concerns.

Swinney said that preseason is over, and they now have eight straight conference games. The offense is starting to show signs of urgency because finally, they have challenges. A lot of people looked at the schedule earlier in the year and said that the only hurdle Clemson would have to climb would be at Florida State. However, Louisville has emerged as a threat due to the play of the Heisman front runner Lamar Jackson. This will be a prime-time game against two Heisman-caliber quarterbacks and will definitely be a must watch for fans of offense.

Before Clemson can focus on the game against Louisville, they have a tall task of beating Georgia Tech on the road. Clemson has not beaten Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium since 2003. Swinney brought this statistic up during a preseason meeting and one of their goals on the year is to beat Georgia Tech at home according to Watson.

What poses another challenge is that Clemson is playing this game on a short week of preparation with so many inexperienced guys on defense. However, Brent Venables record against Georgia Tech is 3-1 and that lost came in 2014 when Watson got injured early in the game. Venables has the recipe to stop Tech’s offense and Venables always has his guys ready no matter the circumstances.

Clemson total offense is currently ranked 39th behind Auburn, a team who has played multiple quarterbacks and has struggled immensely on offense. These numbers indicate how inept Clemson has looked on offense, but since the last three possessions of the Troy game and the first seven possessions of the South Carolina State game, Clemson has scored on all those drives. The offense is starting to look like what they were projected to be and it could not have come at a better time.

Since Clemson plays Georgia Tech every year they know what Clemson likes to do, and Clemson knows what Georgia Tech likes to do. So it will come down to who executes their game plans better. Clemson has the potential to still be one of the best offenses ever; Deshaun Watson still has a chance at getting the Heisman Trophy. Will it come to fruition that has yet to be seen, but a convincing win at Bobby Dodd Stadium will be a step in the right direction. Fall is finally among us and we will find out if Clemson is contenders or pretenders.

 

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