ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit says Clemson isn't done yet

ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit points to the Florida State game in Death Valley on September 23 as a way things can turn around in a hurry for Clemson.

by TigerNet Staff - Thu Sep 07 09:05:38 GMT-04:00 2023

ESPN lead college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit says the Tigers aren't dead yet.

The shocking 28-7 defeat at Duke has stoked plenty of conversation over the state of Dabo Swinney's Clemson football program, and even Herbstreit is wondering what's happening.

"I don't think it's a new Clemson. When you look at last season and what happened in this game, there's reason to question what the heck is going on with them," Herbstreit told the Pat MacAfee show this week. "I think we all thought the change at offensive coordinator and at quarterback with (Cade) Klubnik coming in was going to get them going in a good direction. There were kind of high expectations.

"I just want to let everyone know that the team that won the game won (nine) games last year. Mike Elko is a great coach. You can see the difference in attitude and the way they've done the job in recruiting and the way they've brought in some portal guys. They're flying on defense. So I think Duke will end up being a good team...So, they played a good team on the road. This isn’t 'Cash all your chips, that's it -- that stock’s dead at Clemson.'

"They got a lot of work to do. Garrett Riley is the guy that led TCU and Max Duggan all the way to the national championship a year ago; the guy knows what he’s doing. But that didn’t look like his offense (Monday). So there’s a few things there."

Herbstreit pointed to Clemson's receiver group most.

“They had a run of some receivers, going back to Tee Higgins, going way back to DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams -- man, they had some great guys. Hunter Renfrow. It seems like every receiver that went to Clemson went to the NFL and then they've recruited incredibly well at that position the last five years," Herbstreit said, "but if you watch them, you haven't seen that. You know that you haven’t seen NFL difference-makers at receiver. So while we all want to look at quarterback, I’m kind of looking at what’s around that quarterback.

"They’ve never been a dominant offensive line. They’ve had really good backs in the past with Travis Etienne-type guys. Shipley’s good. I don’t know if he’s like, hold your breath, game-changer good. The receivers are solid, but not NFL guys that strike fear in your heart. So they gotta come up with a plan that’s going to open up this offense a bit and give Cade Klunik a chance, a guy who can run it and throw it."

In summary, Herbstreit says the September 23 game versus Florida State in Death Valley can be a season-defining moment.

“I don't think it's done. I don’t think Clemson is screwed -- (or) the season’s over," he said. "They got a couple of games to be able to win in Charleston Southern and FAU. So, they’re going to win two games. And then they got Florida State, and the Florida State team we saw the other night against that team (Clemson) we saw last night, you like Florida State’s chances, right? So they've got to right the ship in these next two games and they get ready for a very talented Florida State team that comes to Death Valley...

"By then they should be 2-1 and playing with more confidence and at night, and if you can win that game, then everyone is talking differently about you."

That different talk will center on Clemson getting its offense going.

"It was already getting loud last year," Herbstreit said of criticism of the Clemson program, "and everybody put it on DJ (Uiagalelei). Everybody talked about DJ Uiagalelei and it was like, 'Man, remember the good ole days with Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson -- when we had a quarterback that could win?' And it all fell on him. And Cade Klubnik, I think, has a ton of talent. I think that will eventually play itself out. This kid won three state championships in the great state of Texas with great high school football, which is a tough thing to do. You win three at the big level...He's a talented kid, but they've got to get him going and he needs help around him. Let's also remember this, they fumbled twice inside the 10 yard-line.

"I'm not making excuses for him and the score ended up being 28-7, but if any of those scores go in, it's a game that goes down to the wire at the very least and ended up being a game that got away from them because of those turnovers...They'd be the first ones to tell you. They need to get things going. They need to get way more explosive as an offense if they do want they want to do."