Path to the College Football Playoff, Step 3
Get off to a hot start and avoid the lull game.
Alabama might have lost two games last season, but it’s been brilliant under Nick Saban at – for the most part – consistently rolling through game after game without any real problems against the mediocre teams.
Ohio State had that problem in key losses in 2017 and 2018, but stunning defeats to Iowa and Purdue, respectively, served as the fire needed to focus the 2019 team under Ryan Day. There was barely a blip.
Last year, it almost seemed like it just wanted to get to the College Football Playoff in September. It woke up and was breathtaking, but only after almost losing North Carolina in a 21-20 thriller.
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The 2018 team was special, but that came after surviving a scare against Syracuse. The 2017 team had a few early fights before losing at SU. Granted, the starting Tiger quarterbacks were hurt in both games, but they were still rough games against Orange teams that shouldn’t have been that hard to put away.
The ACC still isn’t going to be the SEC or the Big Ten, but it’ll be better. Beating a good Louisville team right away is a must, and dealing with Virginia in an ACC Championship rematch should be a thing – but both games are at home.
Under Dabo Swinney, Clemson has been fantastic at tweaking and improving as the seasons have gone on, but if there’s a whiff somewhere in the first half of the campaign – like on the road at Florida State – then there’s going to be reason for concern.
The ACC Coastal champion should be solid, South Carolina will be dangerous again – okay, maybe someday – and there’s what might be the non-conference game of the year in college football …