The 2021 Clemson football season did not get started as many Tiger fans would have hoped.
Clemson dropped its season-opener to the Georgia Bulldogs 10-3 in a game where two defenses dominated and offense was hard to come by. The lone touchdown of the game came when D.J. Uiagalelei was picked off in Georgia territory and Christopher Smith returned it 74 yards for a touchdown.
Now, with an 0-1 record, the Tigers will be afforded absolutely no room for error as we head through the rest of this season if their goal is to make the CFB Playoff.
Clemson football is no longer guaranteed anything as we head through the rest of 2021
Clemson isn’t guaranteed anything in two ways:
- The Tigers aren’t guaranteed a win in any contest moving forward
- The Tigers aren’t guaranteed a spot in the CFB Playoff even if they win-out
When your offense looks as out-of-sync as Clemson’s did on Saturday, we’re not going to sit here and give the Tigers any automatic wins. Yes, Clemson will be favored in every single game they play the rest of the way. The Tigers will be the more talented team in every single game they play the rest of the way.
Unfortunately, though, until your offensive line takes some pride in their work and until the offense is in sync, you’re not guaranteed anything. That’s especially true moving forward in just a few weeks when the Tigers play a stretch of two games, one on the road at NC State and then one at home against Boston College.
Now, we don’t want to pretend the sky is falling, but we are going to also point out the truth: Clemson football is no longer in control of its own destiny in relation to the CFB Playoff.
The Tigers certainly still have a shot at going 12-1 with an ACC Championship and getting into the CFB Playoff. But, let’s not pretend that’s a guarantee.
Even if Clemson wins out, the Tigers could still be left out.
What if UGA goes undefeated and then loses to Alabama in the SEC Championship? Do you really believe the committee is going to take one-loss Clemson over one-loss Georgia if that’s what the decision comes down to?
It’s more likely that Clemson still gets into the CFB Playoff. There were a ton of programs that struggled across the nation in Week 1 and we can’t expect that everyone– like Oklahoma and Ohio State– goes undefeated.
But, we also can’t rule out the possibility.
Clemson football fans will be left waiting and hoping to see results from other games fall their way throughout this season, rather than the Tigers controlling their own destiny without a care what happens across the country.