Clemson football team 125 has its sights set on another national championship.
Now that Clemson football is in full swing and we know that a season is going to take place, there are notable items on the Tigers wish-list – that if all are met will end in another Clemson national championship.
These are areas that the TIgers have recently excelled in, struggled in, or have yet to accomplish under head Dabo Swinney.
1. Score 190 point in the 1st quarter
One frustration some have had is the seeming inability to jump on opponents early. It feels like there are too many games when fans are saying to themselves, “we should be up xx-0 right now”. It has to be acknowledged that Clemson is going to get their opponent’s best shot on a week to week basis.
The Tigers are sure to see a wrinkle early that was not on film. In a year where down roster development is going to be critical to the success of the 2020 team, the earlier the Tigers can deliver that decisive score the better. As well as Saturday night went there is plenty of opportunity for improvement.
2. Etienne 42 Receptions
With the hopes of playing 14 games this year. Travis Etienne will have to average three catches a game to accomplish this goal. As witnessed Saturday night in Winston-Salem, Etienne has demonstrated tremendous growth in this area.
Trevor’s usage of the check-down, especially early in the year as Ngata and Ladson find their way, will only make the Tigers offense more lethal as the season wears on.
Clemson football has its sights set on another national championship, here are three more areas to target.
3. 70 percent passing from TL16
Trevor Lawrence came into the 2020 season with a 65.5 percent passer completion. The statistics say 2019 was quite the year for Clemson offensively. Upon closer review (rewatching every game from 2019) the offense never lived up to its full potential.
While achieving 70 percent completion percentage is not wholly on Trevor, his receivers have to do their part. The emergence of the tight end group will make defenses have to respect the entire field. 70 percent passer completion in 2020 means the Tigers offense is not just winning in analytics but bringing home the golden scepter in January.
4. Kickoff Return for TD
If my research is correct it has been since Sammy Watkins’ record-setting performance against Maryland that Clemson has had a kickoff return for a touchdown. That seems unfathomable given the success of the program during the last 10 years.
If there has been an overall chink in the Clemson rise to prominence it has been special teams. Rule changes and the ability of more kickoff specialists to kick the ball into the endzone make this more difficult today’s game. It would be nice to see the Tigers put pressure on kickoff teams while asserting their domination.
5. 90 percent or better FG
There has never been a question if Clemson Kicker BT Potter has the leg strength to kick long-range field goals. Coming off a 13-21 (61.9 percent) year, Potter was locked in and on point Saturday night going 3-3 including drilling a 52 yarder at the end of the first half last Saturday.
There will come a point where Potter’s leg will be key and his ability to make a crunch time kick could be the difference between winning comfortably or sweating one out (insert UNC 2019).
The final three target areas that Clemson football must improve on in order to win their fourth national title.
6. Top 15 in Punting Average
How many times have we watched opposing punters earn NFL contracts for their performances against Clemson? The list is too many. It is time for the Tigers to start returning the favor. The punting game can be easily overlooked when you have Brent Venables and a stellar defense.
We know the groans that come from a moonshot when an opposing punter lets one rip. We need that from Will Spiers this fall. The ability to flip the field and force offenses to go 70-80 yards instead of 50 takes the pressure off the defense.
Based on 2019 stats a Top 15 punting performance would take him up to roughly 45 yards a kick up from 42.8 and 66th in the rankings.
7. Top 3 in takeaway average
One could accuse me of being greedy on this one but “Best is the Standard”. This is even more audacious when the Clemson defense ranked 9th in average takeaways per game. This is about playing chess when your opponents are playing checkers.
This is all about stepping on the throats of opponents early and sending a message that this team is focused on redemption.
8. Lead nation in tackles for loss
The return of the four-man front should allow for this to be a real possibility coming of 2019. Last season the Tigers ranked 7th at 7.9 tackles for loss a game. Negative plays are the bane of the existence of any offense.
The expectation in 2020 is DOMINANCE. Especially after giving up an average of 510 yards in three postseason games to close out the 2019 college football season.