All signs point to Clemson’s title woes continuing in 2020.
Clemson has dominated the NCAA Football landscape for the latter part of the last decade, with five Playoff appearances and a pair of national titles. After numerous battles with Alabama, last season saw a trip to the National Championship end in defeat to LSU. Despite all the success and a perfect regular season, Clemson failed to lift the Playoff trophy.
Now, with Trevor Lawrence making a return for one more year and another top recruiting class, the hopes of a title persist for the Tigers but are certainly far from a guarantee. Here’s why.
3 flaws that could keep Clemson from the National Championship
3. Fatigue
It is not easy to deliver a perfect season. It is even harder to do it twice. Three times? Near impossible. Clemson finds themselves in exactly that position, a bad omen for 2020. Throughout history, only 11 teams have managed to win at least 30 games in a row, and while Clemson is no longer on a streak due to the Playoff loss, they have won 29 consecutively in the regular season. History tells us that Clemson is bound to lose a game in the regular season in 2020.
There were some scares in 2019, notably a thriller at the University of North Carolina, who may be a threat once again. Clemson has overcome some underwhelming performances, but it would not be surprising if a bad day boiled over into a loss. Considering the weakness of their schedule and the ACC, a single loss may boot them out of the Playoff picture entirely.