ESPN Playoff projections drop Clemson out, analyst says Tigers maybe not top-10 team

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was pleased with the effort he saw Monday in Atlanta.

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Sep 06 13:23:43 GMT-04:00 2022

One game was enough to drop Clemson out of the Playoff projections according to ESPN's Playoff prognosticators.

Both Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura moved Brent Venables and Oklahoma into the spot previously projected for Clemson in the Peach Bowl Playoff semifinal.

They instead have the Tigers as a New Year's Six team in the Cotton Bowl versus Cincinnati or Houston.

ESPN's staff power rankings have Clemson at No. 12 overall.

"If you were looking for convincing evidence that Clemson fully left its offensive woes in 2021, Week 1 did not provide it. The Tigers pulled away late for a 41-10 victory over Georgia Tech -- thanks in part to one score set up by a blocked punt and another led by blue-chip freshman QB Cade Klubnik -- but starting QB DJ Uiagalelei still went through long stretches of ugly play, the receivers still struggled to get separation downfield and the O-line failed to create much room for the ground game against a Yellow Jackets defense that, on paper, is one of the easier tests Clemson should expect in 2022," said David Hale. "The good news is the Tigers' defensive front looks as good as advertised, and as long as K.J. Henry, Barrett Carter & Co. continue their dominance, Clemson will be in every game."

Jay Williams and Harry Douglas broke down the game as well this morning. Douglas said the Clemson offense doesn't look explosive enough to be a top team.

"I don't know if they're a top-10 team based on what I saw last night," said Douglas, who was on site for the game. "If they had played an opponent that was even halfway better than Georgia Tech last night, they woulda lost that game to anybody else. If I'm in the ACC looking at things across the board, I know right now -- if my team is up to standards now -- (they) can win the ACC at any moment so in my eyes it's up for grabs -- and it's not just Clemson that's going to take the throne this year."

In the ESPN metrics, Clemson is fourth in the Football Power Index and seventh in the SP+.

Clemson is 68th in offensive efficiency, 21st on defense and 23rd on special teams according to the FPI. In SP+, Clemson is 38th on offense, fourth on defense and 22nd on special teams.