The 2021 Clemson football season hasn’t gone as many would’ve hoped, but that doesn’t mean there still isn’t time to turn things around.
As the Tigers enter their bye week, they sit at 3-2 overall with a 2-1 record in the ACC and they’re currently third in the ACC Atlantic Division behind NC State (1-0), who holds the tiebreaker with a win over Clemson, and Wake Forest (3-0).
Here’s what the rest of the Clemson football schedule looks like following the bye week:
- @ Syracuse
- @ Pittsburgh
- vs. Florida State
- @ Louisville
- vs. UConn
- vs. Wake Forest
- @ South Carolina
The path to running the table for this Clemson football team won’t be an easy road
Now, obviously, the UConn and South Carolina games don’t count towards the ACC standings but they will matter in terms of the Tigers’ ranking and if they can ascend far enough up the rankings to earn a bid in a New Year’s Six Bowl.
That being said, when you look at the rest of this schedule, I’m not prepared to give Clemson many guaranteed wins.
As a matter of fact, the Tigers could very well be the underdog against Pittsburgh and Wake Forest and there’s a decent chance that the line for the Louisville game will be relatively close.
This team has shown that its floor is much worse than we could’ve imagined and, frankly, there is a scenario out there where they only go 7-5 or 8-4.
If they’re wanting to get back to Charlotte to play in the ACC Championship, though, they’ve got to find a way to run the table.
That means finding a way to go on the road and beat a Pittsburgh team that has shown competence, at least in some fashion, this season, and the Panthers are led by a veteran quarterback in Kenny Pickett, who has seen that Tiger defense before. That means finding a way to beat a Wake Forest team that has yet to lose and is looking really good heading into the second month of the season. And, that means finding a way to escape in games that will likely be ugly against teams that should have no business even being competitive, because as long as you have a mediocre offense, every single opponent is going to have an opportunity to win.
And, all of that won’t matter if NC State doesn’t drop two games in conference– or we end up with some weird three-team tie.
The point is that every single game on this schedule– with the exception of UConn– presents a challenge for this Clemson football team until the offense shows competence.
There is no guaranteed win and, as a result, the Tigers are going to be walking a fine line each and every week for the rest of the season.