Greg McElroy – Page 9 – Syndication Server

ESPN analyst: Clemson ‘the team that should be most frustrated right now’

Clemson moved up one spot in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night but is still currently on the outside looking in at the playoff, coming in at No. 8 in the rankings with one week left in the regular season before …

The team that Clemson (10-1, 8-0 ACC) will play in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 3, North Carolina (9-2, 6-1), fell four spots to No. 17 in the latest CFP rankings after losing to an unranked team in Georgia Tech last Saturday.

While the Tigers have taken care of business in the ACC throughout a perfect regular season of conference play, they haven’t gotten a whole lot of help from the rest of the league as far as the playoff is concerned.

And ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy thinks Dabo Swinney’s team should be disgruntled by that.

“The team that should be most frustrated right now is Clemson, because ultimately it’s not their fault that North Carolina lost,” McElroy said Tuesday night on ESPN’s College Football Playoff: Top 25 show.

Clemson owns wins over the other two ACC teams that appeared in the latest CFP rankings — Florida State (No. 16) and Louisville (No. 25) — though since the initial CFP rankings were unveiled on Nov. 1, three other teams in the conference that the Tigers have beaten (Syracuse, Wake Forest and NC State) have all fallen out of the rankings.

Clemson’s lone loss came to a non-ACC foe in Notre Dame, 35-14, on Nov. 5 in South Bend. The Irish now occupy the No. 15 spot in the latest CFP rankings.

“If you look at the rest of the ACC, Clemson has done what they needed to do,” McElroy said. “They sit there with one loss — that one loss is hideous, don’t get me wrong, but (No. 9) Oregon also has a hideous loss as well (49-3 to Georgia on Sept. 3) — and I think Clemson right now, to be in the position that they’re in, they just haven’t been benefitted by the rest of the ACC to help prop them up in an effort to kind of get back within striking distance of those top four.”

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ESPN analyst wonders if there’s ‘enough meat on the bone’ for Clemson

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy chimed in on Clemson’s College Football Playoff chances after the Tigers’ latest CFP ranking was unveiled during ESPN’s College Football Playoff: Top 25 show. Clemson (8-1, 6-0 ACC), which checked in at No. …

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy chimed in on Clemson’s College Football Playoff chances after the Tigers’ latest CFP ranking was unveiled during ESPN’s College Football Playoff: Top 25 show.

Clemson (8-1, 6-0 ACC), which checked in at No. 4 in the initial CFP rankings last week, tumbled to No. 10 in the second rankings after its 35-14 loss at Notre Dame last Saturday night.

The Tigers will conclude the regular season with a three-game homestand against Louisville, Miami and South Carolina, none of which are currently ranked by the CFP committee. After those three games at Death Valley, Dabo Swinney’s team will play in the ACC Championship Game, presumably against North Carolina (No. 15 in the latest CFP rankings).

“I just wonder if there’s enough meat on the bone on Clemson’s remaining schedule to get back into the mix,” McElroy said. “Because even in a loss with Michigan to Ohio State, Michigan likely would still be ahead of Clemson. Where does LSU fall in the mix, where does Alabama fall in the mix? There’s still so many teams that we’ve yet to rank, that even if they were to lose, they’d still probably still be in front of the Tigers knowing the strength of schedule that remains in other places.

“So the ACC right now, this is a reflection on just the quality at the top. It’s a little bit more bunched up than we’re accustomed to.”

After McElroy made his comments, the SEC teams he mentioned — LSU and Alabama — came in at No. 7 and No. 9 in the rankings, respectively.

The new top four features Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU, in that order.

Besides Clemson and North Carolina, the other two ACC teams that are ranked in the new CFP rankings are NC State (No. 16) and Florida State (No. 23), both of which the Tigers own wins over this season.

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Greg McElroy discusses how Alabama should strongly consider bringing back Jeremy Pruitt

Greg McElroy discusses how Alabama should strongly consider bringing back Jeremy Pruitt.

Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy joined “The Paul Finebaum Show” and discussed the Crimson Tide’s 2022 season.

Alabama lost to Tennessee and LSU, but won one-possession games against Texas and Texas A&M.

McElroy mentioned he would consider having former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt rejoining Alabama’s coaching staff under Nick Saban. Pruitt served as Alabama’s defensive coordinator (2016-17), defensive backs coach (2010-12) and director of player development (2007-09) under Saban.

“I think the issue is more with the coaching staff as much as it is with the players,” McElroy told Finebaum of Alabama. “The players, look you shoulder some of the blame for sure, but I do get the sense, a little bit that, and I’ve talked to coaches throughout college football that have either been in Tuscaloosa or have a good understanding of what goes on in Tuscaloosa, or you know, are close personal friends of the program or whatever. I’ve talked to people all over the place and there is a lot of people that feel like Nick Saban and the staff right there, and currently in Tuscaloosa, the staff that’s currently there, doesn’t really understand necessarily the principles and the foundation, the bedrocks of the foundation from which the program was built.

“I think it’d be really beneficial to evaluate at the end of the season your coaching staff, and then evaluate who are some guys that helped build this thing from the beginning back in 2007? Joe Pendry is retired, OK, but you know, there’s a handful of other guys that are still out there coaching. Whether it be Bo Davis, who’s currently serving as a defensive line coach in Texas, whether it be Jeremy Pruitt, who, of course, was the head coach — and as far as I know, I don’t believe he has a show cause — the head coach of Tennessee. I don’t know, you would know that circumstance better than me, but if he’s available, he would be someone I would strongly consider bringing in.”

Jeremy Pruitt’s World Series of Poker Circuit Event No. 9 No-Limit Hold’em results, earnings

Below is Pruitt’s coaching timeline in the Power Five as a coordinator or head coach.

McElroy gets Clemson’s ranking, but would pick this team ‘all day long’ over the Tigers

Greg McElroy understands why Clemson came in at No. 4 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday night, given the fact the Tigers have wins over three teams in the CFP Top 25 – Syracuse (No. 20), Wake Forest (No. 21) …

However, when it comes to the resume Clemson (8-0, 6-0 ACC) has built, McElroy would argue that the aforementioned three ACC teams shouldn’t be ranked where they are.

And when it comes to the eye test with the Tigers, the ESPN college football analyst doesn’t seem impressed.

“Just saying, have you watched Clemson? Like, just watch them,” McElroy said. “A couple good wins. I was a little bit surprised, frankly, with where some of these teams ranked. How on God’s green earth you can rank NC State in the top 25 is beyond me, but they’re in there. Even though last week’s game (against Virginia Tech) on Thursday night made me want to, literally, it made me want to turn off the television. You know how hard that is for me to do as like a college football diehard? Last Thursday’s game was painful to watch. So, you’ve got a win there. Got a win against Syracuse. Syracuse sits at No. 20. So, Clemson, they have a couple good wins in there. Also got a win against Wake Forest. So, you have a win against team 20, 21 and 22.

“Alright, should any of those three teams be ranked where they’re at? I would argue no, but they’re sitting there with three wins against teams that are currently ranked in the top 25. So, I can understand why they’re where they’re at.”

While McElroy said he doesn’t “have a terrible issue” with where Clemson is ranked, he left no doubt about who he thinks would win if the Tigers played the team ranked right behind them in the CFP rankings – No. 5 Michigan.

“If Clemson played Michigan, I would pick Michigan every day and twice on Saturday. All day long. All day long,” he said. “But look at the resume — wins against 20, 21 and 22 – so, I understand why they sit where they sit.”

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ESPN analysts on if close win changes way playoff committee views Clemson

Fifth-ranked Clemson staved off an upset bid from then-No. 14 Syracuse last Saturday at Death Valley, erasing a double-digit deficit to beat the Orange, 27-21, after trailing at halftime. On ESPN’s College Football Live this week, one of the …

Fifth-ranked Clemson staved off an upset bid from then-No. 14 Syracuse last Saturday at Death Valley, erasing a double-digit deficit to beat the Orange, 27-21, after trailing at halftime.

On ESPN’s College Football Live this week, one of the network’s college football analysts, Greg McElroy, was asked if the win changes the way the Tigers are viewed by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, given that it was closer than some people would’ve liked.

McElroy certainly doesn’t think it should and doesn’t believe style points should matter for Clemson’s resume when the Tigers are a perfect 8-0 on the season and the heavy favorite to win the ACC.

“Well it shouldn’t. I don’t understand when it all became about style points,” he said. “Last I checked, the goal is to ultimately win the football game. And Clemson, albeit imperfect, yeah they won the football game and did so, I might say, against a team that was previously undefeated and also they did so with a minus-three turnover margin – and by the way might as well have been minus-four turnover margin because Syracuse’s turnover was late in the game.

“So, I guess I’m just trying to figure out does close now, I thought it only counted in horseshoes and hand grenades, but now it counts in college football, too? Like, do we need style points if you’re undefeated and win your conference, like yeah, you also gotta do more now? What are we doing?”

The first set of College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled next Tuesday, Nov. 1, and ESPN’s Sam Acho doesn’t think the Tigers’ ranking should be impacted negatively by the narrow win over Syracuse.

“People talk about man, Clemson won but it was close, and should they now be lower in the College Football Playoff ranking? No,” he said on College Football Live. “I got a chance to meet last year with the selection committee, actually was a part of a mock selection group. So, we brought some people together and we actually sat through the entire process of how they select teams for the College Football Playoff. And one of the biggest criteria is winning your conference, a conference champion.

“So yes, Clemson didn’t win in the fashion that people expected against Syracuse, but they won. And then now you have a chance to go and win your conference. So, the selection committee, even though you talk about the four best teams, they’re going to pick an undefeated conference champion – i.e., let’s say that’s Clemson – over a one-loss team in the SEC or in the Big Ten that does not win their conference.”

For what it’s worth, Clemson has an 82.3 percent chance to win the ACC, per ESPN FPI. North Carolina has the next-best chance to win the conference at 15.9 percent.

The Tigers have a 62.1 percent chance to reach the CFP, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor – the third-highest chance to reach the playoff behind Ohio State (81 percent) and Georgia (69 percent).

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Greg McElroy ‘not that impressed’ with Clemson, ranks Tigers last among unbeatens

Only six unbeaten teams are left in the FBS, and ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy has Clemson ranked last among the bunch. During ESPN’s College Football Live show Tuesday, McElroy gave his ranking of the remaining undefeated teams in …

Only six unbeaten teams are left in the FBS, and ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy has Clemson ranked last among the bunch.

During ESPN’s College Football Live show Tuesday, McElroy gave his ranking of the remaining undefeated teams in college football and put the Tigers at No. 6 behind TCU at No. 5, Ohio State at No. 4, Tennessee at No. 3, Georgia at No. 2 and Michigan at No. 1.

You can read below McElroy’s explanation for how he ranked those teams and why he has each team where he does, with McElroy saying he’s “just not that impressed” with Clemson.

TCU at No. 5/Clemson at No. 6: “TCU’s got a much better resume than Clemson, and then Clemson, I would have at No. 6, who I’m just not that impressed with. But ultimately they’re undefeated, and you have to give them credit for being undefeated.”

Ohio State at No. 4: “I base it more on what you’ve done to this point, and the big one that people will mostly disagree with as far as my rankings are concerned, I have Ohio State at 4. … What beats them? Well, I don’t know that just yet, but I know that last year they got beat badly by a team that can control the line of scrimmage, and I haven’t seen them address that just yet because no one that they’ve played has been able to potentially expose them in that regard. They haven’t played a soul. Yes, Notre Dame, they got a ‘good’ win against Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s not very good. Their next-best win against a team that’s above .500 is Toledo. So, if you look at their schedule and their strength of record, it’s not really all that impressive. So Ohio State to me is incomplete grade, but they can get a big boost this week with a win on the road against a team that I also really like in Penn State.”

Tennessee at No. 3: “Then I have Tennessee, who I would have 3. That win against Alabama. Alabama’s my No. 7 team. I love Alabama. I think they’re the best one-loss team in the country. But still, Tennessee took care of business. It just wasn’t super pretty or fulfilling to me, especially on the defensive side of the football.”

Georgia at No. 2: “No. 2 Georgia, I had them 3 last week. I have them up to 2 now because of how good Oregon looked. Remember, they dominated Oregon in Week No. 1.”

Michigan at No. 1: “Michigan has the most impressive win to me, as far as being able to dominate Penn State.”

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

ESPN analyst: Tigers ‘not on the same level’ right now as ’16, ’18 national title teams

On ESPN’s College Football Live this week, ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy weighed in on the question, is Clemson “back”? The Tigers have scored 30-plus points in every game this season and are coming off a 34-28 win at Florida State last …

On ESPN’s College Football Live this week, ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy weighed in on the question, is Clemson “back”?

The Tigers have scored 30-plus points in every game this season and are coming off a 34-28 win at Florida State last Saturday.

Clemson (7-0, 5-0 ACC) has won 13 straight games dating back to last season, the longest active streak in the FBS. The Tigers are ranked No. 5 in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll and have the third-best odds to make the College Football Playoff (-125) according to Caesars Sportsbook.

“I think they’re good, but are they back? That’s where I kind of draw a little bit of a line,” McElroy said. “Now at this point, this has always been the team that improves. They get through the first half, maybe play some average games at the midway point, and then they get better and better and better. And then come playoff time, that’s when they’re playing their best football, and I can see that becoming very realistic again this year.

“However, I’m not as convinced that their offensive firepower is as good as is once was. I think their defense is good, teetering on the edge of elite, but I’m not sure they’re as disruptive up front as they’ve been in the past as well.”

McElroy added that right now, he doesn’t believe this year’s Clemson team is as good as the Tigers’ 2016 and 2018 teams that won national championships.

“I think Clemson is really good, but they’re not on the same level as the ’18 or the ’16 team in my eyes just yet,” he said.

Clemson returns to action Saturday at Death Valley for an undefeated ACC showdown against No. 14 Syracuse (6-0, 3-0).

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

ESPN’s Greg McElroy ranks top 10 teams in 2022 — with a twist

Spot on. #GoBlue

Here’s a novel idea: ranking the 2022 college football teams based on what they’ve actually done rather than name recognition or recent glory.

Too often, every year, teams get the benefit of the doubt because of success in years past, sometimes even several years past. For instance, Clemson recently jumped Michigan football in the AP top 25 despite both teams having the same record and both having played basically the same game the Saturday before. Now, Clemson potentially could have been ranked higher than the Wolverines prior to that point thanks to two then-ranked wins, but it was only the week that it beat Boston College in the same fashion with a similar score to Michigan’s win over Indiana that the Tigers rose above the Wolverines.

Fast forward a week, and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy is taking a different approach. As he says, he’s ranking teams based off of their resume. Michigan’s started light, for instance, but has been solid since. Thus, he has the Wolverines as a top team.

Here are his current top 10.

Mid-term season grades for USC with college football TV analyst Greg McElroy

The ESPN college football analyst discussed #USC and Lincoln Riley while also looking at Brent Venables and Oklahoma plus Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame.

ESPN college football television analyst Greg McElroy handed out “mid-term grades” for USC’s 2022 season. We give out a report card here at Trojans Wire after every USC football game, and you will want to see what we said after the Washington State game. McElroy offered his own grade for USC for the first six games of this season. He had plenty to say about Lincoln Riley, Alex Grinch, and the whole operation at Heritage Hall.

One of McElroy’s foremost insights is how Alex Grinch has been able to steer this defense from collecting takeaways in the first few weeks to an aggressive style which attacks the quarterback in more recent weeks, particularly against Washington State. Tuli Tuipulotu got three sacks versus the Cougars in Week 6.

McElroy also noted how cleanly USC is playing, having committed just one turnover and having lost zero fumbles in six games.

Does McElroy think USC is the best team in the Pac-12 right now? Find out in the video below, which also includes his mid-term grades for other teams led by first-year coaches: Brent Venables and Oklahoma, Brian Kelly and LSU, Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame, plus Sonny Dykes and unbeaten TCU:

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ESPN analysts discuss what they’ve seen from Uiagalelei

Watching DJ Uiagalelei in Clemson’s season opener against Georgia Tech on Sept. 5, Greg McElroy thought the Tigers’ quarterback “was a little bit of a liability.” Fast forward to the present, and the ESPN college football analyst no longer feels …

Watching DJ Uiagalelei in Clemson’s season opener against Georgia Tech on Sept. 5, Greg McElroy thought the Tigers’ quarterback “was a little bit of a liability.”

Fast forward to the present, and the ESPN college football analyst no longer feels that way after seeing how Uiagalelei has performed in Clemson’s three games since then, especially the win at Wake Forest last Saturday.

“DJ U was a little bit of a liability three weeks ago against Georgia Tech,” McElroy, the former Alabama quarterback, said on ESPN’s College Football Live this week. “That has completely flipped. I am no longer at all concerned about that position. If he continues to play like that, they’ll be a very difficult out for everyone they face this year.”

It’s certainly been a bounce-back season for Uiagalelei, who struggled during his first full season as a starter a year ago after bursting onto the scene as a freshman while filling in for Trevor Lawrence across two starts against Boston College and Notre Dame.

After throwing more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (nine) last season, Uiagalelei has already thrown 10 touchdown passes with just one interception through four games this season.

The junior signal-caller has completed 64.3 percent of his passes so far this season, as opposed to only 55.6 percent last season. He has already thrown for 1,033 yards in four games this year after passing for 2,246 yards in 13 games a year ago.

Uiagalelei also has 169 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on 41 carries (4.1 yards per carry).

“I think DJ has really come into his own,” McElroy said. “He’s much more athletic, it appears, this year. He’s willing to run, he’s capable of running, and I love how he’s driving the ball down the field. I mean, he’s pulling off throws that he didn’t even think to attempt last year, and his accuracy … his accuracy has been next-level good.

“Yeah, college accuracy is a completion. But when he’s locating the ball and negotiating defenders well, making those completions, that’s a whole other level. He’s throwing it high to his receivers in the back of the end zone, he’s throwing it with great touch down the field on deep balls. He did it time and time again and went throw-for-throw with Sam Hartman, who I thought had a phenomenal game there for Wake Forest on the other side.”

In the 51-45, double-overtime win at Wake Forest, Uiagalelei completed 26-of-41 passes for a season-high 371 passing yards and a career-high five touchdown passes while racking up 423 yards of total offense (371 passing, 52 rushing).

Against the Demon Deacons, Uiagalelei became the first Clemson player to throw for 300 or more yards, rush for 50 or more yards and throw at least three touchdowns in a game since Deshaun Watson accomplished the feat against Louisville on Oct. 1, 2016.

“Definitely the best game we’ve seen him play this year, and probably did the things that we expected him to do,” ESPN’s Joey Galloway said on College Football Live. “Now, he still has those moments where he’ll throw a ball that everyone’s wondering, where did that come from, and then two throws later he throws a ball on the money, 40 yards down the field, an amazing throw.”

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.