Clemson football fans may have to reassess their expectations.
A lot of Clemson football fans, media, and writers all had a lot of differing opinions after the Tigers lost a close game at Notre Dame on Saturday. Some good, some bad, and some plain awful. While opinions typically cannot be wrong, they can be absurd.
After eight full games in 2020, this version of Clemson football looks much different than many of us anticipated. Many drank the Kool-Aid that was being served because this truly is the most talented Clemson team ever assembled.
It is hard to imagine a team with the nation’s best quarterback and running back could be anything other than a national title contender. While I am certainly not going to say that the Tigers are not a national title contender, they certainly are not as strong as a team as we all expected.
Fans have a hard time coming to grips with reality sometimes. That is why every year every fan across every sport believes that their team is going to surprise everyone or actually live up to elevated expectations.
After eight games one this is crystal clear with the Tigers – this team cannot run the football. There is no way of sugar-coating this. During his Monday night call with the media, head coach Dabo Swinney talked about how great the pass blocking has been.
He is correct, the pass blocking has been great. However, the run blocking is among the worst in program history. Saturday night, the Tigers attempted to run the ball 33 times and got a whopping 34 yards.
Travis Etienne is averaging 15 carries per game as a senior but is averaging 30 yards per game less than he did in 2018 and 2019 when he averaged 13 carries per game.
His offensive line has been unable to open up holes at all through eight games. If you go back and watch the games, the biggest runs he has are due to his running ability and not because the offensive line is creating any run lanes for him.
While Travis will never come out and say it, he has to be extremely frustrated with the lack of push upfront.
Clemson football run game has been anything but good.
Yes, this Clemson offense is putting up staggering numbers but when it comes to the run game, the Tigers simply are not getting it done.
Currently, Clemson football is 26th in the country in rush yards per game as they are averaging 150 yards on the ground and even their average is misleading. Virginia, Boston College, Notre Dame, and Syracuse all held the Tigers to under 150 yards on the ground.
Matter of fact, Citadel, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech all held Clemson football to 185 yards or less on the ground. The lone anomaly on the season is the game against Miami when the Tigers rushed for 258 yards. The Hurricanes are 55th in rushing defense in 2020.
All of the goals that Clemson football has set out to accomplish in 2020 – winning the first game, winning the conference, and winning the last game – can all still be achieved. Remember, Clemson football doesn’t have a goal of winning a national title, fans do and maybe it’s time that fans start aligning their goals with the team that they cheer for.