Rallying Clemson clears its playoff path
Clemson entered the season as maybe the most fascinating team in the country, a program out to prove it could still contend for national championships after taking a step back in 2021.
The Tigers (8-0) will head into the last month of the season unbeaten and a virtual lock to get to another Atlantic Coast Conference title game after missing out on that last season for the first time since 2014.
After rallying for a sloppy 27-21 victory against No. 14 Syracuse, Clemson looks like both the best bet to reach the College Football Playoff in the country, but not a serious threat to win it.
The Orange were one of three unbeaten teams to fall Saturday afternoon, along with No. 9 UCLA falling 45-30 at No. 10 Oregon and No. 8 Mississippi losing 45-20 at LSU.
The Ducks have put that openingweekend humiliation against No. 1 Georgia in the rearview mirror and played like the Pac-12’s best team since.
Ole Miss rose to top-10 status with little stress from their schedule and some good fortune in a win against Kentucky. But Brian Kelly’s Tigers closed the game on a 42-6 run and now head into an off week atop the SEC West, and preparing for a visit from No. 6 Alabama on Nov. 5.
As for those other Tigers, the ones who play in South Carolina’s Death Valley, they survived four turnovers and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei being benched against Syracuse.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney shut down talk of a quarterback controversy.
“As far as DJ, DJ’s our starter. DJ’s our leader. Ain’t nothing changed there,” Swinney told reporters.
The Tigers have knocked off their four toughest division foes (No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 23 North Carolina State, Florida State and Syracuse) in the last five weeks.
Clemson’s highly touted defensive line feasted on Syracuse in the second half and freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik came off the bench to guide the Tigers to a 17-point fourth quarter, mostly by handing off to Will Shipley (career-high 172 yards rushing) and Phil Mafah (94).
There is no doubt Clemson is really good, but this is the time of the year we have grown accustomed to the Tigers going into Death Star-mode and tearing through the ACC.
Aside from one blowout against a tattered Boston College team, Clemson’s victories against Wake, N.C. State, FSU and Syracuse have come by a combined 28 points.
In November, Clemson plays at Notre Dame before a three-game homestand against Louisville, Miami and South Carolina. No other playoff contender has a path quite so accommodating the rest of the way.
The Tigers might look vulnerable, but they will be healthy favorites in all those games, and will likely be the same in the ACC title game.
An undefeated season will get Clemson back to the playoff for the seventh time, but compared to the top teams in the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten, the Tigers seem less than.
MARIO’S MESS: Mario Cristobal’s first season at Miami is officially a mess after the Hurricanes lost 45-21 to Duke. At 3-5, Miami is going to have a hard time reaching a bowl game. This rebuild wasn’t supposed to be this hard.
AROUND THE COUNTRY: The Texas message boards will have a field day with this: The 20th-ranked Longhorns were flagged 14 times in the 41-34 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were not penalized once in beating Texas for the sixth time in eight meetings. … Liberty thumped BYU 41-14 at home to move to 7-1. Coach Hugh Freeze’s Flames haven’t played the toughest schedule, but their only loss was by one point at Wake Forest. Next up, Liberty visits Arkansas on Nov. 5. The Flames host New Mexico State Nov. 26 in the Aggies’ scheduled home finale. It’s been an impressive job by Freeze after having to replace QB Malik Willis. When that Auburn job opens up, it will be fascinating to see how much interest Freeze, who was 39-25 with two victories against Alabama while at Ole Miss, gets from the decision-makers on The Plains. … Former Hobbs standout Gavin Hardison threw for a touchdown and ran for another TD and Gavin Baechle kicked a 27-yard field goal — his program-record 51st career made field goal — as time expired and UTEP beat Florida Atlantic 24-21.