During ESPN’s College Football Live on Wednesday, a couple of analysts weighed in on what No. 5 Clemson (4-0, 2-0 ACC) needs to fix to be a serious contender.
Roddy Jones pointed to the Tigers’ secondary, which struggled mightily in their 51-45, double-overtime win at Wake Forest last Saturday.
“I am still confident about Clemson. But yes, there are things they need to fix, and I think it starts with that secondary,” Jones said. “Wake Forest was really able to take advantage of them down the field in one-on-one coverage, and the Clemson defensive backs committed so many pass interference penalties – ten penalties total, five of them pass interference, a couple more holdings.
“So, it’s a young group right now because they’re banged up on the back end. Guys like Nate Wiggins and Jeadyn Lukus and Toriano Pride, those guys have to show more composure at the top of routes, especially on those jump balls that Wake Forest threw down the field. So, they’ve got to really improve there.”
“Stanford” Steve Coughlin, meanwhile, went on the other side of the ball to highlight the area in which he thinks Clemson must improve.
“I look at the offensive side, and when you look at DJ (Uiagalelei) last week, best game of the year by far. But I also look at the balance of the offense,” he said. “To me, everybody’s going to talk about the quarterback, everybody’s going to talk about the receivers. I’m here to talk about the offensive line. They need to be more consistent, whether it’s run or pass. Only a little over 100 yards rushing against Georgia Tech, who’s not a good team, no offense. I’m not going to talk about my alma mater, either. But then I also look at last week, (Will) Shipley breaks off a big run, (53) yards to start it, and then it’s a little over a hundred yards after that against Wake Forest, who’s a defense that I think can get got.
“So, I look at Clemson’s offensive line as an area for sure that they need to improve on and they have to be better against that front seven against NC State this week if they want to win this game.”
Clemson’s matchup against 10th-ranked NC State (4-0, 0-0 ACC) on Saturday at Death Valley is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
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