ESPN Senior Writer Heather Dinich wrote an article that was published this week on what she sees as the four biggest College Football Playoff questions entering the 2022 season (subscription required).
The No. 3 question that Dinich weighed in on is, “Is Clemson’s reign in the ACC over?”
Dinich began pondering that question by pointing out that Clemson has captured the ACC Championship in seven of the past 11 years and has been an almost-annual participant in the CFP semifinals, with last season being an exception as the Tigers’ streak of six straight conference titles and six straight CFP appearances was snapped.
Dinich wonders if last season was an anomaly for Clemson or whether it was the beginning of a trend.
“On paper, Clemson doesn’t resemble anything from its past CFP-era dominance,” Dinich wrote. “Former defensive coordinator Brent Venables is now the head coach at Oklahoma, and former offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is the head coach at Virginia. Coach Dabo Swinney built his program into a national title contender by surrounding himself with elite assistants. Whether he did it again remains to be seen, as he promoted relatively unknown names from within, elevating Wes Goodwin to defensive coordinator and Brandon Streeter to offensive playcaller.”
Dinich also mentioned D.J. Uiagalelei’s struggles last season in his first full campaign as the Tigers’ starting signal-caller, when he completed only 55.6 percent of his passes while throwing more picks than touchdown passes.
“In addition to the unprecedented staff turnover, Clemson experienced a noticeable drop-off at the quarterback position, as D.J. Uiagalelei threw more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (nine) in his first full season as starter,” she wrote. “If Clemson is going to regain its grip on the ACC title, it needs better, more consistent quarterback play, improvement on the offensive line, and some playmakers to emerge at wide receiver. Clemson’s inability to produce explosive passing plays was evident last fall.”
Dinich concluded by saying that NC State, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and now Miami are “no longer gimme games for the Tigers,” and that with nonconference games against Furman, Louisiana Tech and South Carolina on its 2022 schedule, Clemson’s matchup at Notre Dame on Nov. 5 will be important for the Tigers to impress the CFP selection committee with a win over what figures to be the highest-ranked and perhaps the only ranked nonconference opponent they will face this season.
“Before Clemson returns to the playoff conversation, though, it has to reassert itself in its own conference,” Dinich wrote.
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