On the subject of the Clemson Tigers, pursuing perfection and a College Football Playoff spot:
*
Dear America,
Can we, as a collective, bring an end to the word “Clemsoning?” Can we realize that since the start of 2011, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have amassed a 50-11 record and finished in the AP top 15 three years in a row? How in the hell is this, in any possible way, an underachieving team?
R.C. Slocum’s Texas A&M teams punted away many a big season, as have Mark Richt’s Georgia teams, but Clemson is the only school that gets the ironic ire of the nation. The Tigers shouldn’t, and their win over North Carolina State in Raleigh is a perfect reason why.
Great teams must win in a variety of situations. The Hollywood Trojans under Pete Carroll had to win games with grit just as they won games with ease and style. A great team must adapt or perish. In Raleigh, Clemson adapted.
*
The Wolfpack wouldn’t go away. Four times the lead traded hands, and just when Clemson thought it had put away N.C. State, the Wolfpack would respond. A paper team would have folded, buckled, and been the foil for a legendary comeback. A true contender would have locked it down and kept responding until the underdog had nothing left, and Clemson did just that.
The teams traded touchdowns three times over a two-minute stretch in the fourth, but the Tigers kept finding ways to respond and assert their dominance, and a late field goal put a bow on a 56-41 win. Clemson racked up 623 yards and converted over half its third downs. Deshaun Watson, playing the best ball of the season after allowing his defense to do most of the work in most of the preceding weeks, threw for 383 yards and five touchdowns. Wayne Gallman ran for 172 yards and a score.
Five times the Tigers have scored 40 or more points this season. Twice they have won games by three points or fewer. Last weekend they shut out Miami. Clemson is winning games in different ways and is in playoff contention as a result.
While the country has been busy watching the SEC West, the Big Ten East, and the wild Pac-12, the Tigers have been winning in ways that should, firmly, shut up the naysayers. But it doesn’t. Clemson has to live in its past and be judged by the losses from the Tommy Bowden era, and by players whose numbers have been worn by new players three times over.
This Clemson team is for real, and it’ll get the chance to quiet the country next weekend when Florida State comes to town. The Seminoles have lost this year, but no one will be talking about Seminoling. Clemson is one of the most complete teams in the country. This is the year the Tigers put it all together.
Signed,
Mike Abelson
