Clemson football has bigger problems than playing without Trevor Lawrence

Trevor Lawrence masks a lot of the issues that could come back to haunt Clemson.

Clemson football had to sweat out the win vs. upset-minded Boston College without quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The No. 1 Tigers trailed by as much as 18 in the first half and trailed entering the fourth quarter before Travis Etienne saved the day to survive with the 34-28 win.

It’ll be easy to write off the absence of Lawrence who was sidelined with a positive COVID-19 case but that masks the other issues that have hampered Clemson to varying degrees this season. Clemson will once again be without Lawrence next week and he won’t be there to be the hero to cover up the few weaknesses the Tigers have.

I may get Dabo Swinney upset considering Clemson still won, but with Notre Dame on the schedule next week, the Tigers have to shore up these issues if they want to leave South Bend with a perfect record.

Trevor Lawrence masks Clemson football’s issues

First, the defense isn’t where it needs to be and Brent Venables hasn’t been able to field the players he wants with injuries, health and otherwise limiting the availability of key performers.

James Skalski has been the heart and soul of the defense but the starting middle linebacker underwent surgery on his groin and will be out for a few weeks. Plus, Mike Jones and Tyler Davis have been out. Xavier Thomas was limited for much of the season as he recovered from a COVID-19 case in the offseason, but now he’ll be out for the first half vs. Notre Dame after an egregious targeting ejection in the fourth quarter vs. Boston College.

The personnel losses are going to catch up with Clemson no matter how many four and five-stars are on the bench ready for their chance. Yes, Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy and Andrew Booth are rising superstars, if they aren’t already, but depth will be tested.

Secondly, the offensive line has to a better job in the run game. Etienne is the ACC’s all-time leading rusher but he was only able to average 4.2 yards per carry against Boston College on 20 carries for 84 yards. That was the same average by 250-pound quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei who was as good as advertised subbing for Lawrence. The run game has to do a better job to lessen the pressure on the passing game to be perfect. If the offensive line can’t open holes, it sets up the offense to be met with too many third and long situations. That’s not a recipe to win many games or a national championship.

Finally, Clemson has to be a more disciplined team. The Tigers committed nine penalties for 92 yards against Boston College. Some of them were mind-numbingly bad, such as giving them a fresh set of downs on 2nd and long to bail out the B.C. offense and another being the targeting on Thomas to keep their hopes alive. Etienne fumbled an exchange with Uiagalaleli that led to a 97-yard scoop-and-score that was a 14-point swing in the first half. Typically, Clemson wins the turnover battle, but if they can’t run efficiently, have costly penalties and game-changing turnovers, that’s going to cost them.

Expect Swinney to hammer home those points this week in practice so it doesn’t vs. Notre Dame.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.