Desmond Howard ‘Not About to Jump on the Bandwagon’ of Clemson
By: Robert MacRae September 25, 2024

Despite Clemson’s back-to-back, dominant wins after the season-opening loss to Georgia, ESPN analyst Desmond Howard says he isn’t ready to jump on the bandwagon of Dabo Swinney’s team.

During a segment on College Football Live, Howard weighed in on the topic of whether Clemson is a College Football Playoff contender, and if people were wrong for writing the Tigers off following their lopsided loss to the Bulldogs.

“I’m not about to jump on the bandwagon, talking about ‘that’s right! Clemson’s back now, they’re ready to take on these top teams!’ Not so fast,” Howard said.

Since the 34-3 loss to Georgia, Clemson (2-1, 1-0 ACC; No. 17 AP Poll) has bounced back with consecutive blowout victories over App State (66-20) and NC State (59-35).

After the UGA game — when Clemson was limited to a field goal, 188 total yards and 46 rushing yards — the Tigers averaged 62.5 points, 618 total yards and more than 260 rushing yards against App State and NC State. Clemson’s 125 points in the last two games are the second-most in a two-game span since 1936.

Since the Georgia game, junior quarterback Cade Klubnik has completed 80 percent of his passes for 587 yards and has accounted for 11 total touchdowns.

Klubnik and the Tigers have certainly been impressive over the past two games, but while Howard said he doesn’t think Clemson is as bad as it looked against the Bulldogs, he also “definitely” doesn’t believe Clemson is as great as it looked against App State and NC State.

“When you talk about this team coming together and playing like a championship team, like, they had that opportunity against Georgia,” Howard said. “They’re playing better now because the competition is not as high as it was in Week 1 against Georgia. That’s what’s going on. Now, I don’t think they’re as bad as they looked against Georgia. But I definitely don’t think they’re as great as they’re looking against App State and North Carolina State. They’re somewhere in the middle.”

Up next for Clemson is Saturday’s game vs. Stanford, followed by road games at Florida State (Oct. 5) and Wake Forest (Oct. 12). The Tigers will then return home to play Virginia on Oct. 19, and after an open date, Clemson will host Louisville (3-0, 1-0 ACC; No. 15 in the AP Poll) for what is shaping up to be a huge ACC showdown on Nov. 2.

Howard weighed in on Clemson’s schedule and circled the Louisville matchup as a measuring-stick test type of game for the Tigers.

“Most of these teams, I can point to three games on their schedule – about any of these top teams, I’ll let you know that they have a three-game schedule,” Howard said. “For Clemson, it was Georgia, I thought it was going to be Florida State, and Louisville. Now, I’m not sure if Florida State’s still in the mix, but probably the Louisville game – that’s where you find out where you are.

“Everybody else, your roster is better than the other team’s roster, so at that point you’re going to be favored in those games. So, I love the fact that of course they’re playing with a lot of confidence now, Cade Klubnik is playing well. But they’re going to have to up their game when they play against a team like a Louisville. I’m not sure about Florida State yet because, you know, they’ve been struggling so far this season.”

 

A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!