From Unranked To BCS Contender
At the beginning of the season the Clemson Tigers were picked by many experts and college football pundits to finish in the middle of the pack in the ACC and to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Division.
But to nearly everyone’s surprise, 8 weeks later they sit at 8-0 overall, 5-0 in the ACC and #5 in the BCS standings. Talk about sneaking up on people.
At the beginning of the season I predicted that the University of South Carolina would be a BCS surprise, but it’s the other Palmetto state school that is getting it done on the field.
They’ve beaten 3 top-25 teams this year: #21 Auburn, #11 Florida State and at #11 Virginia Tech. The most impressive out of the three was the Va. Tech game since it was on the road and the Hokies had won 12 straight games against ACC opponents. They beat VT with their defense, but that hasn’t been the case in their other 7 victories.
The Tigers offense is 12th in the country averaging 40.6 points per game and the boat the 15th best passing attack in the nation averaging just over 300 yards a game. The reason for the offensive explosion has been mainly due to the emergence of Sophomore Quarterback Tajh Boyd. Coming into the season Boyd was seen as a question mark and an unproven passer. But Boyd has put all of that to rest now as he is near the top in almost every offensive passing category. He has thrown for 24 TD’s (t-1st), has 2,379 passing yards (7th) only thrown 3 interceptions and has completed just over 60% of his passes on the season. If Boyd keeps up the stellar passing numbers he might be a darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate by years end.
The only thing that worries me about this Clemson team is their inconsistent defense. They give up an average of 25 points a game and, if not for their offensive firepower, they might be 1-7. They gave up 27 point to a lowly Wofford team and 45 points to a sub-.500 Maryland team. In that Maryland game the Tigers fell behind 35-17 before storming back to win 56-45. They can’t spot opposing teams that many points and expect their offense to bail them out if they want to play for a national championship.
Is a national championship appearance in the near future for these Tigers? Maybe, but their defense has to be more consistent and they have to get through the rest of their schedule which includes games at Georgia Tech and at rival #13 South Carolina. If they can finish out the season unblemished and go on to win the ACC Championship, they would have a good argument to play for the crystal ball. Clemson would have to get some help from the other schools in front of them in the BCS rankings but as long as the Tigers continue to win they have a shot.
Head coach Dabo Swinney calls this the, “Shock the World Tour”.
Well Dabo, you’ve shocked most everyone up to this point and people have started to take notice.
(Props to Streeter Lecka and Zimbio for the picture)
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My latest contribution to @fanatticnetwork featuring the surprising, BCS contending Clemson Tigers @CU_athletics
http://t.co/lx2idON3
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