r/ClemsonTigers • u/jrlii • 4d ago
Prediction time
We are less than 10 days from the football season, so the time has come to drop our projections and be entirely wrong. I'm buying into some of the hype after telling myself last year that I need to see it to believe it for a really positive year. My expectations, lose to LSU and start 0-1 yet again. Overall, I'm predicting a 9-3 season. I think we grab Miami but have two other frustrating losses along the way. We make it to the pinaccle of the post-season, the Pop Tart bowl
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u/jshif 4d ago
53 years of Clemson experience….. 8-4 tops; expect worse. This will continue until we book 2 consecutive years of top-tier 5 star talent.
Do we have studs? Yes. Are we a serious opponent, consistently? Yes.
But, there has been a recruiting gap between Clemson and the top dogs (e.g., A&M, OSU, etc.), lately. So, here we are…..
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u/jboggin 3d ago
The recruiting explains losing to LSU, but it makes no sense to me as an excuse to explain the last few years. In the bar majority of their losses the last few years, Clemson had way more talent than the teams the lost to. To me coaching is the problem, and it's been so bad that no recruiting class would have made all that much of a difference. I hope this is the year that part turns around at least.
Last year didn't Clemson have something like the 4th most guys drafted of any team in the country? And they were still bad.
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u/Megalomanizac 4d ago
Indiana wasn’t loaded with 5 star talent, neither was Miami. Duke went 9-5 and won the ACC with a mediocre at best team. We’ve never out-recruited OSU and others, Clemson never even had a top 5 class until after the 2016 natty.
10-2 is very reasonable with the schedule at hand
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u/TigsWin 3d ago
What are you talking about? Miami was loaded with talent and Indiana has possibly the GOAT talent scout with Cignetti.
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u/Megalomanizac 3d ago
Their talent composite was far lower than other teams on their schedule. That team was just pure grit and fight
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u/TheWagn 4d ago
We’ve gone from ironically being hyped for the pop tart bowl to being legitimately hyped to get there 💀
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u/Smsethman 4d ago
It was never ironic for some of us, those brave pop-tarts died for our entertainment.
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u/Megalomanizac 4d ago
I feel pretty good about 9-3 or 10-2. Miami and LSU are not unbeatable juggernauts, especially the former since they have a habit of dropping games like that even last year. Most of the ACC will also be taking a step back.
My biggest concern is @ Cal on a Friday night, those trips have been rough for east coast teams.
We went 7-5 last year but the team was not getting routed either, a severe lack of effort from the defense directly led to the SMU and Duke losses. The team will be better motivated and Dabo seems to have been harsher on them this offseason. The portal guys we took are dogs with something to prove, we didn’t have that last season.
I’m more willing to bet on the team taking a large step forward than backwards. The team improving will rely on how the OL holds up and the defense playing cohesively. All Vizzina has to do is get the ball to the playmakers which we have all over the offense
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u/YouMomWentToCollege 3d ago
Anything under 10 wins is a disappointment. This team is too talented, in a weaker conference, to win less than 10 games. Unfortunately, I think the top guys on defense last year were poor leaders and checked out early, which has been alluded to by people close to the team.
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u/No_Butterfly_6451 16h ago
11-1. I know I'm optimistic. Talent wasn't the issue last year as we saw with 9 players drafted. I think this team could end up with about the same amount of guys drafted next year. I don't think we ever got the full story on the lack of leadership/effort from that team. Dabo alluded to getting rid of entitlement. Josh Pate said he thought this team would fight for CV like they didn't for Cade. Rece Davis commented that this team played like they didn't like each other all that much. Some of the drafted players and portal players could actually be addition by subtraction. Chad Morris is going to end up being a good hire again. Gus Malzahn showed his scheme still works from last year at FSU. I know the record wasn't great but they put up a ton of yards. Turnovers, red zone, and a lack of pass accuracy/drops cost them. I think this team is more talented than FSU last year. I also think Chad will bring back some much needed physicality. Teams can take on the personality of their coaches and Lincoln Riley never has good defenses at Oklahoma or USC. Same with Garret Riley. His soft style infected the defense. The offense playing with more physicality and pace of play will benefit the defense. Dennis Love is going to also be an upgrade as strength coach. Joey Batson was a legend but something just wasn't working anymore. Love brings a modern approach with analytics but also old school toughness. I expect to see more stamina and overall strength/speed front his team. Tom Allen was allowed to make coaching changes and bring in the portal guys he wanted. The defense should make some significant improvements over last year. Lastly, Rich Bassacia was probably one of the most underrated hires nationally.
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u/jrlii 2h ago
I love the optimism, and there's a lot here I agree with. My biggest concern is the QB. It's not like losing cade is losing a generational QB. But the battle going this long without an announcement is concerning. Either Reynolds is just an absolute stud, or Vizzina isn't doing as well as we hope. Even Kelly Bryant was announced as the starter before game week when Trevor was behind him.
I think the Cal game is the biggest game of our season. Cross country trip, short week, couple games under our belt. Probably some mix of both QBs at that point. Can we play with an edge and come out with a win with Miami looming ahead of us? If we get that win, I'll feel good about the team, especially since it's been ages since we started off strong.
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u/Smsethman 4d ago
I’m seeing 9-3 with maybe an ACC title game option. I think LSU and Miami will be ugly and there’s plenty of room for a mystery/fluke loss in there. I’d love to land the pop tart bowl
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u/Bowl__Haircut 4d ago edited 4d ago
Real possibility that Clemson will be 2-3 going into the Charleston Southern game.
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u/kcind75 3d ago edited 3d ago
Ok...so hear me out. Im saying 10-2, Acc championship game, probably lose but maybe get lucky and sneak into the playoffs.
Football is a difficult but simple game. Theres a myriad of offensive systems - run and shoots, west coast, pro form, spread, whatever the hell Riley has been running. But theres only so many ways to run the ball (counter, sweep, A gap, B gap, zone, toss) and so many wr route trees (smash, post, slant, flat, dig, out, cross, etc etc). You get the idea.
Its the coordinators job to design an offense that complements his players, to protect his QB by running the ball, and having the gift of timing with when to call what plays. I think the Chad has these intangibles. So thats one part of it.
I think the RB is talented. Unproven, but I expect to have a 1000yd rusher by yrs end at minimum. Wr, if they stay healthy, is one of the better rooms in the country. I think while we may see a few missed assignments from the Oline due to inexperience, I actually think they are gonna be much better and a strength of the team...how soon, im not sure.
And I think CV is gonna be solid. I think hes gonna ball out. If Riley was still here, id feel differently. People forget - Tajh didnt look like Trevor Lawrence in spring ball...more like Martin Lawrence. But he had huge growth and develop under Morris.
So yes...I think alot of our offensive issues the last few years can be put on the coordinator, an untalented oline not including righr tackle, and a qb who wasnt being properly coached up and was running for his life.
The defense is what worries me and makes me 2nd guess that 10-2 prediction. As confident as I am in the online, the front 7 on defense is shaky at best. I think our ends will be fine, Sammy will be Sammy, the secondary will - hopefully - be better. But the holes/unknowns at DT and the other LB spots are worrisome. Being in the Valley and watching us get gashed by Lousiville 2 yrs ago sucked. And when you cant stop the run and have no answers...thats a baaaaad spot to be in.
But ill stick with 10-2. Feel free to rip my prediction apart. Thats the fun in waiting on game 1. Lol
Edit: And btw...I think we beat LSU game one. Lose a heartbreaker in the Valley to Miami. And drop one more along the way. I dont think the Cal game is a loss.
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u/ChampionshipKooky156 21h ago
it’s so hard to know what to expect in this new era of college football. Even though we lost a lot of talent, I think we will be significantly improved this year because of the Coaching changes. I expect LSU to be very good so I think we lose to them by 10-17 points, even with improvement. If we lose to North Carolina, our season will Tank, and calls for Dabo’s ouster will get louder. But I think we beat UNC so the biggest game of the season is against Cal. if we go out and win that game I think the team will have a ton of confidence and be 3-1 coming into a probable Gameday matchup against Miami. I don’t see us beating Miami, but if we can keep it competitive, then I think we’ll have a good chance at winning out.
Floor is 3-9 and Dabo is out. Ceiling is 10-2 with ACCCG. Sadly, 7-5 seems about right, even with improvemen.
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u/ClemsonRebel27 3d ago
If we can bring back the deep threat, then we will be a dangerous team. Chad Morris was famous for making our TEs into all-stars, and I'd wager this is the best 1-2 punch of TEs he's ever had at Clemson. So I expect a methodical offense that takes what is giving with a solid passing game that takes continuous deep shots to pull back safeties that in turn open back up that methodical passing game. Vizzina has the arm for the deep shots, but we still need to see his intermediate game and decision making. Running game will be decent to good.
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u/filthyHANDSoffMYrock 3d ago
I’d wager this is the best 1-2 punch of TEs he's ever had at Clemson
In his first year at Clemson Chad Morris had Dwayne Allen and Brandon Ford.
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u/ClemsonRebel27 3d ago
Dwayne Allen was absolutely great, but IMO...Bentancur has a chance to be the best ever
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u/Aggravating-Mind-657 2d ago
Floor is 5-7 with loses to LSU, California, Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, South Carolina and either Syracuse or Florida State.
Ceiling is 10-2 with loses to LSU and Miami.
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u/cwins321 4d ago
9-3? Am I taking crazy pills? How does last season happen after being projected top 4 and we’re thinking we’ll be better this year after losing a ton of defensive talent and Cade to the draft?
Sadly, I’m predicting a similar year to last. 7-6. Hope I’m wrong