The 2021 Clemson football season is one that many Tiger fans will simply want to forget.
If something was going to go wrong, it basically has for Clemson in every single facet over the course of the season. The Tigers have had a little bit of luck on the field in close games, but other than those last-minute bounces that have gone their way, not much else can be said to have done anything except go staunchly against Dabo Swinney and his program.
Clemson football has seen four players– Lyn-J Dixon, Michel Dukes, Joseph Charleston and Paul Tchio– enter the NCAA Transfer Portal midseason and the Tigers have suffered a double-digit amount of season-ending injuries.
The Roar’s Mickey Plyler reported on his Monday morning show that Clemson has seen 41 of its 85 scholarship players miss time due to injuries or transfers. That’s nearly half of the scholarship roster.
Injuries have not been kind to this inexperienced Clemson football team
We’ve talked ad nauseum about the problems that this team has faced from questionable play-calling to bad QB play to an inconsistent offensive line and a WR room that has had its fair share of mistakes, as well.
But, no one should underestimate or forget the volume of injuries and what effect that has on a team.
Clemson has had to mix-and-match offensive linemen throughout this season due to injuries. Will Shipley, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah have all been injured. DJ Uiagalelei, who already was struggling with confidence issues, has a sprained PCL. Justyn Ross has been battling a stress fracture in his foot all season. EJ Williams has been injured. Will Putnam, Matt Bockhorst (out for season), Mason Trotter and Hunter Rayburn have all missed time due to injuries.
On defense, James Skalski, Andrew Booth Jr., Tyler Davis, Bryan Bresee (out for season), Nolan Turner, Fred Davis and others have missed time due to injuries.
You simply can’t play at the highest level possible when you’re dealing with a new injury basically every single week. The depth has been tested and while no one is saying that injuries are the primary cause for the product we’re currently seeing, they certainly aren’t helping matters either.