Clemson will open up fall camp on Aug. 4 with several questions that need to be addressed if it is going to win its first ACC Championship since 2011.

To me there are five keys that will be vital to the Tigers’ success in 2015. In this series I will provide a general rundown of each, identify its strength and weaknesses and pick the one player who is ready to have a breakout season.

Today we will look at the fifth and final key, special teams.

RUNDOWN

On June 6, Clemson kicker Ammon Lakip was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and misdemeanor drug possession of cocaine. He was suspended indefinitely from the team by head coach Dabo Swinney, who said at his media golf outing earlier this week that the Lou Groza Award candidate will have an opportunity to return to the team once classes begin. That of course is based on how he does what is asked of him. At that time, Swinney will indicate how many games Lakip will miss this season.

Until then, the Tigers will try to prep scholarship kicker Alex Spence for the job. The redshirt freshman has not kicked in a game after being redshirted last season. Former Daniel High School (Central, SC) kicker Christian Groomes will also get a look in the first two weeks of camp. Groomes will also be in line to be the Tigers kickoff man after having a surprising deep kick in the Orange & White game this past spring.

Clemson must also replace three-year starter Bradley Pinion at punter, who left school a year early for the NFL and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round. Walk-on Andy Teasdall won the job over Lakip. Teasdall has just two career punts, with both coming in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

Punt returns will be handled by Gerome Hopper and Artavis Scott. Both give the Tigers big-play potential in the punt return game. Swinney raved about Hopper’s ability to return punts in the spring and thought he would be a big asset for the Tigers in the return game. Scott had a 16-yard punt return in the spring game.

Hopper, Scott, Wayne Gallman and T.J. Green will all handle kick return duties. Scott had a 33-yard return in the spring game, while Hopper took a kickoff 30 yards. Freshman Mark Fields might also be in the mix with punt and kickoff returns as well.

STRENGTHS: The return game. Clemson has not truly been dangerous in the return game since Andre Ellington’s senior year in 2012. Hopper and Scott give the Tigers big-play potential in the return game and instantly make Clemson a team to reckon with.

WEAKNESSES: The kicking game. The Tigers were already down in terms of a losing Pinion’s experience at punter, and now Lakip is likely to miss the first three or four games due to his off the field incident. Clemson has to play at Louisville and hosts Notre Dame is games three and four.

BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Germone Hopper. The redshirt junior might have found his niche. From every indication we have received from Swinney and the coaching staff, Hopper had a good spring in the return game and they seem to think he can be a guy that can flip field position for the Tigers when they need a big play from the special teams.