ESPN analyst doesn't see Clemson offense in FSU's league, talks Swinney and transfer portal |
Clemson still has a game to play before an ACC showdown in Death Valley next Saturday, but that doesn't stop pundits from looking ahead.
On Clemson and No. 3 Florida State (noon/ABC/Sept. 23), ESPN's Trevor Matich says there isn't much comparison at all on one side of the ball, despite the Tigers being the preseason ACC favorites. "Let's say the defenses have the potential to be very similar," Matich told ACC PM Thursday. "Which I think they do. When you look at offensive line, Clemson (or) Florida State, who do you pick? Florida State. Quarterback right now, given the experience level and the performance, Florida State. Receivers, who would you pick? Not close, Florida State. Not close when you look at the way they can match-up with the other side of the ball. Running back Will Shipley over at Clemson leads a very good running back stable. I think you can call that one a wash. "But at the same time, I just don’t see Clemson right now in Florida State’s league when you compare offensive position groups across the two programs." Matich noted a culture change in Mike Norvell's program and improvement on the offensive line as key changes in recent years. "After they beat LSU, I would have put them at No. 1. Part of the reason is the convincing nature of that game, especially the second hand," he said. "And second question, who else do you put above them?...I don't think there's anyone you can say is convincingly better than the Seminoles are right now. Because you're right, they check every box, and some incredibly important ones, such as pass rush and downfield passing attack. They are absolutely stellar." Matich had one word to describe Clemson's season so far. "Disappointed," Matich said. "I thought they would be a lot better than they’ve been. Because I thought they would cut out a lot of the mistakes. I thought the chemistry would be better on both sides of the ball. They’ve got a lot of talent on defense, and coming into the season, I expected Clemson to have one of the better defenses – one of the best defenses – in college football. The offense, I expected to be more in sync. But the receivers and quarterbacks haven’t been on the same page. "I thought the offensive line would have one guy mess up, miss a block here or there, and that throws off the whole thing. They haven’t had that chemistry, I think you’d say. They haven’t lived up to their talent." Matich was asked to weigh in on the transfer portal effect on Clemson, and he says he thinks Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was caught off guard. “I think Dabo Swinney is one of the greatest coaches of his generation. I think he’s phenomenal," Matich said. "What I think happened is a sea change that happened all at once. All at once. And I think it caught him a little bit by surprise... The NIL thing and the transfer portal is an instant thing. And a lot of the players that would normally come to Clemson because of the development as future NFL players, the family atmosphere is an amazing thing – that takes a backseat to cash, doesn’t it? "And I’ve got to wonder, I don’t know this, but because Clemson is in such a beautiful small town environment, I wonder how far they have to go to get a lot of NIL dollars focused into that program. Maybe it’s there and it’s easy and doing it and it’s more difficult, I don’t know. A lot of the programs that they are competing with have a whole of people and a whole lot of business, and it makes it a lot easier to get those contributions. "There are things that I think Clemson is going to have to iron out. For all of the greatness of Coach Swinney and what he’s built in a national championship program, cash is going to matter to recruits moving forward more than anything else."
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