People have already forgotten about the 2018 Clemson football team.
Here we are two years later and people have already forgotten about the 2018 Clemson football team, which was the first team in modern college football history to go 15-0.
After the last two years with titles by LSU and Alabama, the Tigers seem to be a footnote but should be given just as much respect. 2018 Clemson would have beaten 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.
How do the teams compare? Let’s take a look at several measuring sticks that are currently being used.
Points per game – offense
The 2018 Clemson football team averaged an impressive 44.2 points per game. 2019 LSU averaged 48.4 while in 2020 Alabama averaged 48.5 points per game. It should be noted that Alabama played just 13 games in 2020 compared to both Tigers playing 15.
Advantage: 2020 Alabama
Points per game – defense
This is not going to be close or debatable here. The 2018 Clemson football team gave up just 197 total points all season which worked out to just 13.3 points per game. 2019 LSU gave up 21.8 points per game on their way to 15-0 and in 2020 Alabama gave up 19.4 points per game.
Advantage: 2018 Clemson
Average margin of victory
This one will not SEC apologists happy either.
The 2018 Clemson football Tigers beat their opponents by an average of 31.3 points per game. While 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama were not that far behind, 26.5 and 29.1 respectively, they still were not that impressive when compared to what 2018 Clemson accomplished on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
Advantage: 2018 Clemson
College football playoff point differential
All three teams won their playoff games convincingly.
The results for the last three seasons in college football’s biggest games were blowouts and not because the opponents were undeserving but because each of these three teams was just that good.
The 2018 Clemson football run through the College Football Playoffs saw them beat number three Notre Dame and number one Alabama by a combined score of 74-19, a 55-point differential on their way to the program’s second title in three seasons.
The 2019 LSU football run to their first national title since the BCS era saw the Cajun Tigers beat number four Oklahoma and number two Clemson by a combined score of 105-53. That comes out to a 52 point scoring differential.
Finally, the 2020 Alabama football run to their sixth title under Nick Saban saw the Crimson Tide beat number four Notre Dame and number three Ohio State by a combined score of 83-38 – a point differential of 45 points.
While that is still impressive, it is not nearly the dominating fashion of 2018 Clemson nor 2019 LSU.
Advantage: 2018 Clemson
As you can see from these four areas, not only is it inappropriate to not include the 2018 Clemson football team in the conversation in the greatest team of all time, but they are clearly the greatest team in modern college football history.
Clemson didn’t have the Heisman Trophy winner like 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama nor did they have an abundance of award-winning players, but they did have the greatest defense in the country led by three defensive linemen that went in the Top 20 picks of the 2019 NFL draft as well as the top pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
It is time to put some respect on their accomplishment.