Tide turners
Clemson is replicating ’Bama’s success, appears poised for rematch
T HE DROP-OFF was supposed to be severe. The “R” word — rebuilding — was being tossed around about the offense. Last year’s national championship was going to heal this year’s wounds.
That was the talk everywhere but in Death Valley, where winning has become expected.
We’ve seen programs reload like this before, especially a few hundred miles southwest of Clemson, S.C. where Nick Saban and top-ranked Alabama reside, the program that somehow gets better the more NFL prospects leave.
It’s happening at Clemson now, too. Dabo Swinney is building a mini Alabama.
He lost six key starters from his offense, including the player — quarterback Deshaun Watson — who led the stunning victory over Alabama in last year’s title game. Half of the secondary also was gone.
All the preseason talk centered on loaded Florida State. And yet, three weeks into the season, the secondranked Tigers have emerged as a playoff favorite, albeit due in part to the season-ending knee injury to FSU quarterback Deondre Francois.
Watson’s backup last year, Kelly Bryant, has actually gotten off to a better start than Watson did in his first season as a starter, producing seven touchdowns, five on the ground, and completing 66 percent of his passes. He outplayed defending Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson on Saturday, albeit while facing an inferior defense. Bryant has shown toughness, poise and plenty of talent, too. Most of all, the pressure of replacing Watson has seemed to hardly faze him. He’s played better each week, capped by his stellar effort at No. 19 Louisville on Saturday, when he threw for 316 yards and ran for two scores.
But this Clemson team is really built — like so many of Saban’s recent Alabama teams — to rely upon a dominant front seven that alleviates pressure from an offense searching for its identity. It produced 11 sacks in a Week 2 smothering of Auburn, and completely bottled up Jackson on Saturday night, rendering the sport’s premier playmaker powerless until the result was all but decided. The front four is flooded with pros, led by defensive tackle Dexter Law- rence, an athletic freak, and linebacker Dorian O’Daniel who, with a pick-six on Saturday, looks like a potential star.
It’s the result of elite recruiting — Clemson’s classes before this past year have perennially been in the top 15 since 2011 — strong talent development and the expectation of excellence. There are sky-high demands, 17 wins in the last 18 contests and 31-2 dating back to 2015. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Tigers keep underwhelming
It’s as much a fall ritual as the Jets disappointing their fans, the leaves changing color and Alabama annihilating everyone in its wake. LSU is over-ranked and proved it.
The talent is obvious, but so is the lack of coaching expertise, execution and quarterback competency. Saturday night, those trends continued. The Tigers, ranked 12th entering the contest, face-planted in Starkville on Saturday night, overwhelmed in every facet possible in a gruesome 37-7 loss to Mississippi State.
At least coach Ed Orgeron bit the bullet, telling reporters, “put it on me.” The LSU fan base will certainly oblige if this performance isn’t an anomaly.
Battles sneak up on Trojans
Everyone will remember the jump-pass, and the incredible poise under pressure. Sam Darnold shook off a few bad throws to lead USC to a dramatic 27-24, doubleovertime win over Texas on Saturday night, reminding us why some view him as a can’t-miss prospect.
But the overall body of work of the No. 5 Trojans remains flawed. They were shaky in a season-opening win over Western Michigan, and nearly fell to rebuilding Texas. Yet Darnold and Co. did manhandle rival Stanford in Week 2, 42-24. For all the obvious talent, something seems to be missing in Southern California. USC, yet to go on the road, hasn’t looked playoff-worthy quite yet.