The Really Big Week 4 Thing Was …
The ACC is effectively knocked out of the College Football Playoff chase.
No one wanted to come right out and say it, but yeah, that’s it. Clemson is out of the national title hunt even if everything turns around right away.
There rest of the slate isn’t good enough to make up for the 2-2 start.
Now, it’s not finished in the fight for yet another ACC Championship – this is still the league’s most talented team, However, the Clemson Tigers are dead last in the ACC in passing. They’re dead last in yards per completion, passing efficiency, time of possession, scoring offense, total offense, and first downs.
The offensive line isn’t able to pave the way for much – the Tigers are second-to-last in the ACC on the ground – DJ Uiagalelei isn’t getting a whole lot of help, and he’s struggling when the throws are there. And on the other side, the injures are mounting – superstar DT Bryan Bresee is done for the year with a torn ACL.
Still, even with all the problems, the Tigers still battled for a full 60 minutes with what’s becoming a dominant force of a Georgia team, and it took overtime and everything to work right for NC State to slay the dragon on Saturday.
Clemson can certainly flip a switch, and it’s probably going to bounce back over the last two months – at least, it should. But the CFP? Yeah, that’s over because that’s it for the big chances. The playoff has never taken a two-loss team, and there just isn’t anything left on the Tiger slate to make a splash.
Boston College this week and Wake Forest in late November. With no Notre Dame to face, the Eagles and Demon Deacons are as big as it gets the rest of the way.
Combine that with North Carolina losing to Wake Forest, Miami getting kicked out of the CFP hunt almost instantly, and no one likely to get through the rest of the schedule unscathed – Boston College and Wake Forest play each other in the regular season finale – that’s it.
The ACC conference chase is going to be a blast, but it’s not even October and Clemson is out.
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