College Football Playoff: 5 dark horse contenders

Clemson

Clemson might finally be seeing the light—for Florida State could finally be vulnerable. Truly, with the departure of Jameis Winston and 10 other players, they are vulnerable and the Tigers can have their revenge.

That isn’t to say FSU won’t have talent—of course they’ll have talent—but they may not be quite as dominating in the ACC as they have been the past few years. The meeting between these two teams on November 7 is a key game for both teams. Clemson gets to play it at home and while they have dropped the last three meetings, it should be close enough to where the home field is a true advantage.

If they can come away with a win against Florida State, they could run the table to close the season. Syracuse is a mess, Wake Forest should be beatable and while South Carolina could be a challenge (especially on the road), they struggled a ton last season (7-6, 3-5 SEC).

There are two player-related keys to Clemson making a run at a playoff spot.

First, they have to hold serve on defense, despite losing quite a few players this offseason—six seniors will be gone, including No. 8 overall draft pick Vic Beasley.

You don’t just throw players into the defense and hope for the best, though the Tigers have talent enough to reload. Those players have to perform though.

Another key is keeping Deshaun Watson healthy. The sophomore quarterback looked great when he made it onto the field last season, but was hurt far too often to be relied upon. He broke his hand, then sprained his knee and then tore his ACL in practice. SI.com’s Zac Ellis interviewed him in April about his rehab, but while it sounds like Watson is healthy and confident, he has to prove it on the field.

If he can do that and if the defense plays like it did last season, this is a team which could end up in the playoffs.

Next: Oklahoma State