To know one’s surprise, the media narrative surrounding Clemson football is trash.
Saturday afternoon Clemson football faced an 18 point deficit and for the first time in program history, overcame that deficit to win at home.
It is really easy to say that the Tigers aren’t the same team without Trevor Lawrence but that is because even college football experts and media aren’t actually paying attention to what is taking place at lil ole Clemson.
Next man up isn’t just a mantra for Clemson football, they are living it. This program is missing a lot more than just Trevor Lawrence at the moment. The Tigers are missing arguably their three best defenders in defensive tackle Tyler Davis, linebacker Mike Jones Jr., and fifth-year senior linebacker James Skalski.
That doesn’t even include not having Justin Foster who has yet to take a snap all season due to an injury or Xavier Thomas, who originally was going to be out all season but thanks to the NCAA deciding that everyone gets a red-shirt year this year regardless of playing time, he is starting to play sparingly.
Offensively, while both Frank Ladson Jr.and Joseph Ngata took a couple of snaps on offense, however, they saw very little action because both were game-time decisions as they are battling injuries themselves.
Recruiting is paying off quickly for Clemson football.
Clemson football is currently relying on a handful of true freshmen to play significant minutes at key positions. While guys like D.J. Uiagalelei, Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy, and Trenton Simpson are ridiculously talented but they are learning on the fly and have no experience to rely on.
This by no means is an excuse and head coach Dabo Swinney will refuse to ever provide excuses, however, media people, voters, and fans are acting like Clemson football is at full strength sans Trevor Lawrence and that simply is not the case.
For this program to be 7-0 heading into a battle with number four Notre Dame speaks volumes about just how good this Clemson football roster is. The playing time these young guys are being forced into now will pay off huge come early 2021 when they are fighting for a chance to play for another national title.
It would just be nice for everyone who is going to keep talking about Clemson football to be knowledgeable enough to do so intelligently.