An Early Look at Clemson’s 2017 Football Schedule
Today, the Atlantic Coast Conference released the conference schedules for the 2017 football season. Clemson’s schedule at first look seems rather favorable.
The schedule is as follows:
Saturday, Sept. 2 vs. Kent State
Saturday, Sept. 9 vs. Auburn
Saturday, Sept. 16 at Louisville
Saturday, Sept. 23 vs. Boston College
Saturday, Sept. 30 at Virginia Tech
Saturday, Oct. 7 vs. Wake Forest
Friday, Oct. 13 at Syracuse
Saturday, Oct. 21 Bye week
Saturday, Oct. 28 vs. Georgia Tech
Saturday, Nov. 4 at N.C. State
Saturday, Nov. 11 vs. Florida State
Saturday, Nov. 18 vs. The Citadel
Saturday, Nov. 25 at South Carolina
Obviously, a lot has to develop between now and the start of the season to get an accurate reading for how the season will go. However, given that ESPN even released a “Way too Early Top 25” while confetti was still falling during Clemson’s championship celebration, it’s not too much of a stretch to assess this schedule. Most of Clemson’s more difficult games are in the friendly confines of Death Valley: notably the games against Auburn on September 9, Georgia Tech on October 28, and Florida State on November 11. Clemson does have three difficult away games however, with games at Louisville, Virginia Tech, and South Carolina more likely going to be hard-fought battles. However, in Clemson’s favor is the late home game against Florida State. Unlike in some years previous, where the game that has decided both the Atlantic Division Champion as well as the ACC Champion came early in both teams’ schedules. If Clemson can limit their losses to only one in-conference by the time they play the Seminoles in November, that game can yet again be a play-in for the Conference Championship game. Typically Clemson has done well against the Seminoles at home, with the 2013 loss to the Jameis Winston-led squad being an outlier. However, the Seminoles have come into this season as a favorite to win the ACC and possibly make the playoff.
Clemson does have a chance to retain the ACC Championship and play in either the playoff or a New Years’ Six bowl. An early look at this schedule and a prediction could probably be 10-2 or 11-1. Losses to Florida State, Louisville, Auburn, or Virginia Tech seem possible, especially the former three. However, Clemson does return a great deal of talent on both sides of the ball. Obviously losses such as Deshaun Watson, Mike Williams, Artavis Scott, Wayne Gallman, Ben Boulware, Cordrea Tankersley, and Carlos Watkins will definitely hurt. Pairing this with the losses of coaches Dan Brooks and Marion Hobby make for a rebuilding period. However, Clemson faced a similar situation in 2014: Clemson had to face the loss of talismanic playmakers such as Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins, Martavis Bryant, Spencer Shuey, and others. Clemson did just fine in a “rebuilding” year, having still won ten games, won the Russell Athletic Bowl in a blowout against Oklahoma, and ended the god-awful losing streak to South Carolina. While the offense did noticeably struggle when a true freshman Watson wasn’t playing, the top ranked defense in the country still led the Tigers to multiple victories. One mustn’t forget that the Tiger D were largely responsible for victories over Boston College, Louisville, and Syracuse in Watson’s absence. Given how well Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables has been able to handle massive losses and still put out top ten defenses, Clemson fans should have little fear going into 2017.
The offense will work itself out. Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott have proven to be elite level play callers and game planners, given that they’ve been 29-2 since they took the reigns from their departing predecessor, Chad Morris. One need only look at the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl to have some faith and confidence in the two. After losing Watson to ACL surgery following the victory over South Carolina, Scott and Elliott were able to successfully prepare long-maligned career backup Cole Stoudt for Oklahoma, where had his most successful game as a Tiger: 26/36 with 317 yards passing and 3 touchdown passes, while also adding another on the ground. Scott and Elliott have also been able to do well without Watson, given Nick Schuessler was able to succeed when Watson left the Syracuse game last season early with a bruised shoulder. Clemson has multiple QB’s that could win the starting job: Junior Kelly Bryant, redshirt freshman Zerrick Cooper, as well as true freshman and early enrollee Hunter Johnson could all see playing time as the Tigers’ starter next season. For a lot of fans, this creates anxiety about next season, however it should create more excitement. Swinney and other coaches have all commented about the talents of these three potential starters, and given how well Clemson has recruited as of late there should be no expected massive drop-off that other programs have suffered.
Looking at the players that are returning, the outlook does look rather bright. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, where a great deal of starters and players with significant snap amounts are all coming back, gives Clemson fans hope that 2017 will not see failure. Clemson returns defensive stars Dexter Lawrence, Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant, Clelin Ferrell, Dorian O’Daniel, Kendall Joseph, and Van Smith. Clemson will certainly miss Ben Boulware and his leadership on defense, but if the last three to four seasons have been any indication, Venables will find the right man to fill in for Boulware’s absence. This will be the strength of Clemson’s team next season, given that they stifled talented offenses in Auburn, Florida State, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, and Alabama. Clemson also brings in a great deal of talent in this recruiting class, most notably 5* defensive back, AJ Terrell. Terrell is very similar to Mackensie Alexander, with excellent speed and size. He should become a lock-down cornerback and will more than likely start or gain significant playing time with Tankersley leaving. Trayvon Mullen should also compete for significant starting time at cornerback.
On the offensive side of the ball, it could be easy to have a bleak outlook for the Tigers. They lose some of the best players to ever put on a Clemson uniform. Obviously the odds of finding another Watson the season after he leaves for the NFL are slim. Many see Watson as the best Clemson player of all time, for many reasons. Add in the departures of top receiver Mike Williams, leading rusher Wayne Gallman, receptions leader Artavis Scott, and the ever-reliant Jordan Leggett, the offense will surely suffer somewhat with so much firepower leaving for the NFL or graduation. Going forward, Clemson does return a great deal of talent however.
While the aforementioned quarterback situation needs to pan out in time, Clemson does not have many absences in other positions. The offensive line should be the strongest squad on the Clemson offense, given the only departure is center Jay Guillermo. The only other loss at this position is Jake Fruhmorgen, whom is transferring out after taking a personal hiatus from football. The rest of the OL squad consists mainly of underclassmen, which bodes well for the offense going into the future. A more experienced offensive line can only be a good thing with lesser-experienced skill position players. However, aside from quarterback, a great deal of experience does return in the skill positions. The wide receiver corps is by far Clemson’s deepest position. A testament to Swinney and Jeff Scott’s recruiting and development talents, Clemson should be able to plug in multiple players and not see significant drop off in numbers even with the departures of Artavis Scott and Mike Williams. Most notably, Deon Cain returns as the top-receiving target for the future starting quarterback. His speed, size, catching ability, and ability to run in space will continue to be utilized by Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott. Cain had masterful performances against Alabama and Louisville last season and should continue his success given he lacks the off the field issues he did as a freshman, which seems to be the case since he kept himself out of trouble in 2016.
The receiving corps also returns Ray-Ray McCullough, National Championship hero Hunter Renfrow, Trevion Thompson, and Cornell Powell. Thompson and Powell should see increased roles in the offense, and Powell also has talents in the return game given his experience in high school as a punt and kick returner. Clemson also brings in some solid talent at this position with the incoming recruiting class. Clemson famously raided the state of Tennessee at this position, bringing in Tennessee’s top ranked receiver and former UT commit Tee Higgins. Named for UT legend Tee Martin and ranked as a five star recruit in high school, Higgins flipped to Clemson last summer and will be sure to compete immediately for starting time when he comes on campus. Having been one of the better performers in the Under Armour All-American game, Higgins has gained comparisons to predecessors such as Williams, Sammy Watkins, and DeAndre Hopkins. Also joining Higgins is Knoxville Catholic HS receiver Amari Rodgers, a four star recruit from UT’s backyard. Both should see playing time and compete for starting roles. Clemson faces a problem that normally only Alabama, Ohio State, or Florida State may face: they have so much talent at this position that it will be difficult to say who will be most successful. However, as previously mentioned, Swinney and Jeff Scott have been masterful in their development of receivers. Referred to as “WRU”, Clemson has been putting talent in the NFL from the receiver spot consistently under Swinney. His recruiting at this position gives no indication that this trend will stop anytime soon. The only position where a potential weakness may be exposed is tight end. Jordan Leggett was a generational player and an excellent third down target for Watson. Leggett was influential in multiple games the last two seasons, not the least of which included Louisville, Florida State, and Alabama where he made catches that directly resulted in wins against these teams.
All in all, as other pundits have related, Clemson is here to stay. Their 2017 schedule has a nice balance of largely anticipated home and away games. The second match against Auburn will prove to be another classic- Auburn has Baylor-transfer Jarrett Stidham coming in, and Auburn’s talented offense will be sure to test the Clemson defense. However, Death Valley tends to be overwhelming for teams in such big games, and Clemson fans remember the 2011 match where the crowd played a huge factor in rattling Auburn’s quarterback, Barrett Trotter. Clemson’s friendly rivalry with the plains Tigers has made for some fun games, and this year should be no exception.
The early away game at Louisville against the returning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson will be difficult, especially given that in 2015 Clemson struggled there and needed another fourth quarter stop to defeat the Cardinals. Watson struggled with two interceptions there, and it should prove to be a most difficult environment for whatever new quarterbacks Clemson has playing. Virginia Tech will also be difficult, as Lane Stadium is never easy to play at and Clemson has had VT’s number the last four matches between the schools. VT will certainly want to avenge the embarrassing loss at Lane Stadium in 2011, where Clemson managed to hold the Hokies without a touchdown in their own stadium. NC State away could also be difficult, as other conference teams have struggled in Raleigh. However, NC State faces a massive talent gulf between them and Clemson. It could be a potential “trap” game, but Clemson should not lose this one. Georgia Tech and Florida State at home should be great games, and Florida State appears to be the game most pundits see Clemson as most likely to lose. Capping off the season with the annual showdown against the Chickens at the Trash Heap that is Williams-Brice, Clemson’s schedule is fairly balanced. Clemson should still be able to defeat the Gamecocks, given the recruiting gaffes the Gamecock program made under Steve Spurrier, which left the cupboard bare for Will Muschamp. That game will be close, but Clemson’s defense should suffocate the Gamecock offense yet again. Their quarterback Jake Bentley should make some improvements, but by and large the talent gulf, especially when comparing Clemson’s defense to SCAR’s offense, should tip the game in Clemson’s favor. For what it’s worth, Clemson’s subs did well against South Carolina in this past game at Death Valley. That should bode well for the rivalry in the future.
The way too early prediction for Clemson in 2017: Clemson goes 10-2 with losses to Virginia Tech and Florida State. Clemson’s starting quarterback will start off with Kelly Bryant, but he will be pulled in favor of Zerrick Cooper against Auburn where Cooper will win the starting position for most of the season. Hunter Johnson gets some playing time similar to Bryant in 2015, and makes some solid plays in blowout games. Clemson receives a bid to the Peach Bowl, Orange Bowl (best case scenario), or Russell Athletic Bowl. Deon Cain, Tee Higgins, and Tavien Feaster have breakout performances on the offense; Kendall Joseph and Dexter Lawrence anchor the defense as their best players.