Clemson football: Some injury luck would help Tigers regain form

Coming off an injury plagued season Clemson looks to regain national prominence.

Clemson football has lofty expectations given the recent success the team has achieved on the field in the Dabo Swinney era.

Those expectations can be a burden in times like these, when 10-3 isn’t close to good enough for a fanbase used to playoff trips.

I’m not one to use injuries as an excuse and you’ll rarely hear me do so during a season, but looking back and understanding that the Tigers were down to 28 scholarship players in the bowl game against Iowa State due to injuries and transfers, it really hits home just how depleted the team was by years end.

Yet, they still went 10-3.

We’ve joked around on the podcast about Will Swinney starting at wide receiver, but it’s simply the truth – the Tigers were depleted to unprecedented levels, but yet have the longest P5 winning streak in the nation.

Perhaps it’s selective listening – I’m a Clemson fan – but I don’t recall the Clemson injury situation being a big talking point on a national level, at least not to the level as if another top tier team had suffered a similar number of injuries.

Afterall, when this team was at its healthiest they held the eventual National Champion to 3 offensive points.

That performance was forgotten as the season wore on and the losses and injuries piled up.

Injuries are a given, but who, when and how bad is it are the unknown variables

Injuries are going to happen in 2022, too.  I can guarantee you offensive and defensive linemen are going to be injured.  It’s not a question of if, but when and how bad is it?

That said, with Clemson’s roster you’re going to need some injury luck at certain positions in order to compete for championships.

So, with all the improvements needed, from quarterback to offensive line to the defensive backfield, you still need some luck that wasn’t on the Tigers side last season.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s remarkable the 2021 team ended up 10-3.  That’s not excusing the shortcomings of which there were many.  They need to be fixed, posthaste.

Rather it’s a reflection months after the season ended that it could have been much worse and  it would have been so easy to give up and give in when they were 4-3.

They didn’t and they’ll be better for it in the coming seasons, whether that’s this year or next.