IS THIS THE NO. 2 TEAM IN AMERICA?
If Clemson University’s season-opening win over Auburn last weekend was cause for concern … then the second-ranked Tiger football team’s performance at home against Troy on Saturday was nothing short of a cry for help.
Seriously … should somebody say something?
Is head coach Dabo Swinney‘s team in need of an intervention?
Clemson’s vaunted offense – led by Heisman Trophy candidate (notice we didn’t say frontrunner) Deshaun Watson – struggled for most of the afternoon against the outmatched Trojans of the Sun Belt conference.
The Tigers (2-0, 0-0 ACC) finally got it going on offense with a pair of long touchdown drives in the fourth quarter – but Troy hung around and forced Clemson to recover an onside kick on the game’s next-to-last play to secure an uninspiring 30-24 victory.
Make no mistake about it: If Clemson stays No. 2 in next week’s Top 25 polls, it will be on the strength of what the team accomplished last season – because this season’s effort through two games has been nothing short of head-scratching.
Watson completed 27 of 53 passes for 292 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He also ran for 55 yards on ten carries – doing most of his damage in the second half.
Watson was Clemson’s leading rusher. All-ACC tailback Wayne Gallman – who ran for 1,527 yards a year ago – picked up just 34 yards on nine carries. That’s the fewest times he’s toted the rock in eighteen games – dating back to Clemson’s 28-0 win over Georgia State in November 2014.
TROY-CLEMSON GAME BOOK (.pdf)
(Banner image via Travis Bell Photography)