In a recent episode of ESPN’s College Football Live, Harry Lyles Jr. gave his take on the Clemson football team ahead of the upcoming campaign.
The ESPN college football writer/reporter and analyst believes the Tigers will be just fine on the defensive side of the ball, despite the departure of Brent Venables to Oklahoma as its new head coach, with Wes Goodwin taking over for Venables as Clemson’s defensive coordinator and having an elite unit up front to work with.
“To me, look, I want to specifically highlight this defensive line,” Lyles said. “That is a talented, talented defensive line. Obviously they’re losing Brent Venables, but with Wes Goodwin coming in and inheriting this defense that is going to be great, that’s going to be hard for them to mess up.”
While Clemson’s defense figures to be deep and stellar, questions remain about the Tigers on offense entering the season, especially at the quarterback position where D.J. Uiagalelei struggled in his first full season as a starter last year.
Uiagalelei completed only 55.6 percent of his passes while throwing more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (nine) as a sophomore in 2021, while Clemson ranked second-to-last in the ACC last season in total offense (359.2 yards per game) and 82nd nationally in scoring offense (26.3 points per game).
However, the Tigers’ attack picked up its production and put more points on the board down the stretch, averaging nearly 34 points per game over Clemson’s six-game winning streak to end the season.
If the Tigers can carry that level of offensive output over to this season, Lyles believes “you have to feel good about Clemson this year.”
“The key, again, is this offense, it is the quarterback play, it is D.J. U,” Lyles said. “We sat there and watched them play against Georgia and we kind of chalked that game up to OK, well maybe it’s just because they were playing a historically great defense, and that wasn’t necessarily the case. That was a genuinely tough offense to watch at times last year, but they were able to pick it up in those last six games. They averaged about 34 points per game on the tail end of that season. So, if they’re able to get to that point again, I think that you have to feel good about Clemson this year.”
Lyles added that he thinks it will be especially important for Dabo Swinney to maximize the potential of the players on his roster this season.
“To me, the most impressive feather in Dabo Swinney’s cap is that he’s always able to get the most out of his players,” Lyles said. “They might not get the best recruits year in and year out, but he’s always going to get the most out of his players. This is going to be a big year to see if he’s able to do that.”
Dear Old Clemson’s first event is July 24. Now there is a new way to support Clemson student-athletes. Come out and meet the freshmen football players at this meet and greet autograph session. If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events. Purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.
