It was only one game. However, it is not going to stop fans and members of the media from piling on the "it's over for Clemson" bandwagon. While Dabo Swinney did say this team still has 11 games left to play, last Saturday night's beatdown at LSU raised some eyebrows. It did not stop Roddy Jones from questioning, with his SiriusXM colleague Wes Durham, whether nine wins are even possible.
"I am concerned about Clemson. Very concerned about Clemson ... If Clemson is 4-8 this season, the sky is falling." Jones said. "I don't want to tell Clemson fans to have no hope. But for it to get close to nine wins -- even eight wins, to be honest with you. This has to be a massive, massive aberration. Massive. Because if they play as they did against LSU, they'll lose to Georgia Southern."
Suggesting that Clemson could go 4-8 this season is a bit rich. However, it was the lower end of the range Durham and Jones were discussing. Neither college football analyst believes this team is going to win nine games after what they saw happen in Week 1. Clemson does have the Miami buzzsaw coming up here in a few weeks. That being said, this is still a likely bowl team until proven otherwise.
"Very concerned about Clemson."@RoddyJones20 told @WesDurham that the Tigers have a lot of work to do after the big Week 1 loss.#ACCToday pic.twitter.com/NykICc9fPt
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) September 10, 2026
Clemson has a navigable ACC schedule to avoid finishing well below .500
What is important to understand here is that there are still plenty of winnable games on Clemson's schedule. Yes, the Miami date looms large, but that will also be at home for the Tigers. Clemson does not face three other high-quality ACC teams this year in Louisville, SMU, and Virginia. Outside of the Miami game, Clemson's hardest conference games are arguably at Cal, and then maybe at Duke later.
Simply put, we just saw Clemson get its barn doors blown off by what could be a serious national title contender in LSU. The Bayou Bengals may have only been a playoff-caliber team coming into this season, but their stock is rising as fast as Clemson's is falling. The gap between these two teams is widening, but we do not need to lose our minds like we hang out with Chicken Little on the regular.
Right now, it is all about handling business versus Georgia Southern on Saturday night. This is the epitome of a get-right game for Clemson. With a shot at win No. 100 in home openers on the horizon, look for Clemson to take advantage of an inferior opponent. It may not feel like much, but getting that first win of the season should do wonders for the vibes in and around this Clemson football program.
At this time, we do not have enough of a sample size to honestly suggest this year's Clemson team is going 4-8. However, if the team continues to stumble out of the gate with a 1-4 (0-3) mark, with losses to LSU, North Carolina, Cal, and Miami, then maybe Durham and Jones are onto something. The only thing we know for sure is Clemson's 41-point road loss to LSU has people doubting Swinney big time.
If Clemson wants to get the media off its back, it starts by winning all of the games it is supposed to.
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