COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S MOST COMPLETE TEAM
There’s only one team in college football that ranks in the top 11 nationally in total offense, scoring offense, total defense and scoring defense, and that team is Clemson.
Clemson has scored 44.9 points per game (fourth-most in the Football Bowl Subdivision) on 507.6 yards per game (11th) while allowing just 17.5 points per game (11th) on 298.5 yards per game (sixth). The Tigers also rank fifth nationally in yards allowed per play (4.63), though they drop to 16th (6.72) in yards gained per play.
The Tigers have scored at least 34 points in every game they’ve played this season while holding their opponents to 28 points or fewer in all but one game this season, with the lone exception coming in their 47-40 regular-season loss to Notre Dame.
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME?
When this year’s first batch of College Football Playoff rankings were released and Clemson checked in at No. 3, one spot ahead of then-No. 4 Ohio State, there was reason for Buckeye fans to question whether the Tigers really deserved to be ahead of the Buckeyes. At the time, Clemson had not played for two weeks after suffering its loss to Notre Dame; before that, Clemson had to grind out a 34-28 victory over Boston College, and before that, the Tigers were in a one-score game in the third quarter with Syracuse (who went 1-10 this season) before pulling away late in a 47-21 win.
Since then, though, Clemson has been completely dominant. Upon Lawrence’s return from a two-game absence due to a positive COVID-19 test, the Tigers defeated Pittsburgh 52-17, Virginia Tech 45-10 and then Notre Dame 34-10 in their rematch with the Fighting Irish in this past weekend’s ACC Championship Game.
Perhaps most notably, Clemson’s biggest weakness earlier in this season – its rushing offense – has hit its stride in the last couple of weeks, as the Tigers averaged 7.9 yards per carry against Virginia Tech and 8.1 yards per carry in the ACC title game after averaging less than four yards per carry in each of their previous four games.
“We're at our best right now,” Swinney said during a teleconference on Sunday. “This is the healthiest we've been by far.”