Clemson football remained number 5 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll on Sunday.
The 2-0 Tigers had an uneven performance against FCS Furman on Saturday, coming out of the gate fast, but playing without fire and passion on defense and not doing much of anything offensively in the second half.
The Tigers were playing their second game in five days, which certainly could have had something to do with the effort, but much more will be expected next week against Louisiana Tech after a full six days of rest.
The top four were Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan.
Following Clemson were Oklahoma, USC, Oklahoma State, Kentucky and Michigan.
Notre Dame, with it’s second loss, dropped out of the top 25 and Texas A&M dropped to number 24 after being upset by Appalachian State.
The ACC is represented by 5 teams in the top 23 including Clemson (5), Miami (13), North Carolina State (16), Wake Forest (19) and Pittsburgh (23).
Texas played well against Alabama and was rewarded by being voted number 21 despite the loss.
Clemson opened as 31 point favorites against Louisiana Tech, the Tigers third consecutive game as huge favorites to open the season.
Clemson covered the spread against Georgia Tech, thanks to special teams play, didn’t come close to covering a whopping 44.5 point spread against Furman and now prepare for their final tune up before travelling to Wake Forest and then taking on North Carolina State on October 1.
After an uneven performance on Saturday Clemson football holds steady at number five in the AP Poll
Despite their fifth place rankings all the Tigers have to do is win and they’ll certainly be one of the top four at season’s end as Ohio State and Michigan will play each other in the regular season and Alabama and Georgia are prohibitive favorites to reach the SEC Championship game in early December which will leave one team with a loss, though that doesn’t necessarily mean the Tigers will jump either.
While the Bulldogs were dominant against a lesser opponent Saturday, Alabama struggled as a 20 point favorite in Texas, and there were obvious areas of concern with the team, including at wide receiver and in the defensive backfield.