ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill recently appeared on ACC Network’s ACC PM show with Mark Packer, Tre Boston and Taylor Tannebaum.
Packer asked Luginbill if he’s surprised by how many in the national media are still trying to find holes in Clemson’s game and that some talking heads – like Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt – are still taking cheap shots at the Tigers despite their perfect 8-0 record to this point.
“Yeah, I am a little bit,” Luginbill said. “In regards to Joel, I’m not so sure that happens with Joel if Michigan isn’t in that bundle of 3, 4, 5, 6, and who could be one of those four teams. If they’re not in that, then I don’t know if he makes that tweet. He broadcasts a lot of Big Ten games. And listen, if you’ve been watching Clemson – and I had them obviously to open the season, then I had to watch an awful lot of them as I was getting ready for Wake Forest – you have to give that team a lot of credit.”
Luginbill, who served as the sideline reporter for Clemson’s season opener against Georgia Tech, lauded Dabo Swinney’s football team, running back Will Shipley and especially the Tigers’ defense.
“They’re resilient. They’ve improved in certain areas,” Luginbill said. “The running back has really matured and become a dude. Defensively, I don’t care what anybody says – we can criticize and we can nitpick – but there are very few teams, maybe if any in college football right now, that are playing with the players that they’re playing with in their defensive front seven. First-rounders, second-rounders, two-deep draftable guys. Wiggins is a high-profile guy. This is a really good defensive football team, and it’s easy to nitpick.”
Luginbill added that the common theme of past College Football Playoff teams has been dominant play up front on the defensive line/in the front seven like Clemson features again this season.
“I know this. The one staple when it comes to College Football Playoff inclusion is defensive front-seven play, defensive front-four dominance, and that’s the re-occurring theme, whether it’s been Ohio State, whether it’s been Georgia, whether it’s been Alabama, whether it’s been Clemson in the past,” he said. “You notice the common denominator there? Yeah, you have to be a good offensive football team and you’ve got to have some quarterback play, but that’s the difference. That’s why Oklahoma hasn’t been able to win a College Football Playoff game.”
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