Clemson football entered its Week 7 bye with mixed results in the first half of their 2023 season.
We’ve seen the good and the bad, but when a team with the expectations of one such as this has two losses at the halfway point of the season, the bad always sticks out more than the good. This Clemson team has a lot of talent but has failed to put it all together in 2023.
Grading Clemson football can go a few different ways at the halfway point of this season. You can either be incredibly critical or fair… but still critical. CBS Sports recently released ACC football grades for each team as the 2023 season nears halfway point, with Clemson graded with a C+ after starting 4-2 with a 2-2 ACC record.
Graded against the rest of the ACC, Clemson is firmly in the top half among its peers and boasts one of the best defenses in the country alongside an offense that seemed to find a groove by the end of September. Grading Clemson by its own standard and the preseason expectations of ACC championship contention is a different story. The offense that seemed to be surging hit a bit of a rut against Wake Forest last week with its worst yards-per-play performance of the season. Another 10-win season is an attainable goal, but with a 2-2 ACC record to this point, another conference crown seems like a long shot. Grade: C+
This is a fair assessment of Clemson’s season so far, as it is not near living up to the standard this program has set during the Dabo Swinney era. The Tigers had a real chance at a college football playoff heading into this season, and the talent on this roster is there; they just haven’t executed.
The Wake Forest performance was incredibly underwhelming, but it may be the slap in the face this team needs. A bye week came at the perfect time as this team looks to put the pieces together and take on their second half of the season playing at a high level.