Clemson season preview: Best and worst-case scenario

After another College Football Playoff appearance, the Clemson Tigers once again have their sights set on a title entering the 2018 season.

A third-straight date with Alabama in the College Football Playoff was in order for the Clemson Tigers last season. Unfortunately for head coach Dabo Swinney and company, this time around wasn’t a battle for the National Championship. Instead, it was the Tigers and Tide vying for a shot to play for the title, the former as the No. 1 seed, the latter sitting at No. 4. Seeding didn’t matter, however, as Nick Saban’s group prevailed in relatively dominant fashion.

Despite entering the CFP as the top-ranked team in the country, Clemson wasn’t the same group last year as in previous seasons and it was evident. They were again led by a defense that boasted one of the most impressive front-fours in the in country. However, the offense was venturing into the great unknown — a life without Deshaun Watson. With Kelly Bryant taking the helm, that unit wasn’t nearly as potent as they had been, which showed against Alabama and in their lone regular season loss to Syracuse.

Entering the 2018 campaign though, the Tigers are in a position that, in truth, many didn’t expect them to be. That formidable defensive line returns everyone from last season as Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant all elected to return for another season at Clemson. So too did linebacker Kendall Joseph, making this defense incredibly potent and perhaps the best group in college football once again.

As for the offense, Bryant too returns, but this time with plenty of competition. Freshman five-star quarterback Trevor Lawrence put on a show at the spring game. Subsequently, there is a viable chance that he could usurp Bryant as the starter at the helm of the offense. Given the shortcomings that Bryant showed last year, especially in regards to making big plays down the field, he’ll have to really prove himself leading up to the season-opener to hold off the highly touted newcomer.

In truth, the strengths of the Clemson offense could well depend on who plays quarterback. With offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt also returning, there is stability up front, which should help either Bryant or Lawrence in addition to the 1-2 punch at running back in Tavien Feaster and Travis Etienne. The questions come at wide receiver though with Deon Cain and Ray-Ray McCloud now gone. Diondre Overton could truly shine as a downfield threat if Lawrence is at the helm, but it could again be the Hunter Renfrow show as well if Bryant is left as the starter.

Looking back to the defense, they are the unit that will carry this team. The one major loss they have to address is Dorian O’Daniel, who played a crucial hybrid safety/linebacker role for the Tigers a season ago. However, Isaiah Simmons offers the same type of versatility necessary to fill that void. What’s more, the ability to rely on the defensive line and Joseph at linebacker will make things easier for the rest of the unit.

But how could things play out for this team that’s likely to be in the top five of the initial AP Poll when it’s released? Let’s look at the best- and worst-case scenarios for Clemson in 2018.

Best-case scenario

• Sept. 1 – vs. Furman – W
• Sept. 8 – @ Texas A&M – W
• Sept. 15 – vs. Georgia Southern – W
• Sept. 22 – @ Georgia Tech – W
• Sept. 29 – vs. Syracuse – W
• Oct. 6 – @ Wake Forest – W
• Oct. 20 – vs. NC State – W
• Oct. 27 – @ Florida State – W
• Nov. 3 – vs. Louisville – W
• Nov. 10 – @ Boston College – W
• Nov. 17 – vs. Duke – W
• Nov. 24 – vs. South Carolina – W

As we’ve become accustomed to in the Dabo era for Clemson, their best-case scenario involves them almost surely heading into the College Football Playoff for a fourth-straight season. At the very least, they would be going into the ACC Championship Game with an unbeaten record to their credit.

This is likely the best defense in the country as they were in that conversation last season and return the key pieces from that group. The questions about this team revolve around the offense. However, if they find a definitive answer at quarterback and avoid making mistakes, they won’t have to do all that much to ride the defense to a perfect regular season.

Worse-case scenario

• Sept. 1 – vs. Furman – W
• Sept. 8 – @ Texas A&M – L
• Sept. 15 – vs. Georgia Southern – W
• Sept. 22 – @ Georgia Tech – W
• Sept. 29 – vs. Syracuse – W
• Oct. 6 – @ Wake Forest – W
• Oct. 20 – vs. NC State – W
• Oct. 27 – @ Florida State – L
• Nov. 3 – vs. Louisville – W
• Nov. 10 – @ Boston College – L
• Nov. 17 – vs. Duke – W
• Nov. 24 – vs. South Carolina – W

While the worst-case scenario for the Tigers seems less likely than the best-case (take that for what you will), there is still a chance that things go awry for Clemson this season. Yes, the defense is going to be an elite unit that can shut anyone down on a given Saturday. However, this offense, particularly at quarterback, could present some problems for Swinney’s team.

Put simply, Bryant was inconsistent at best last season, which showed when he went up against Alabama in the CFP Semifinal. On the flip side though, Trevor Lawrence is unproven. And that doesn’t even factor in the potential negative impact of a midseason quarterback switch should Swinney think that he needs to make that move. With tough road games in the ACC and early in the season against a hungry Jimbo Fisher led A&M team, the run of playoff appearances for Clemson could theoretically come to a close this year.