Phil Steele has made his projections for the 2024 college football season and where the Clemson Tigers will finish in the ACC.
Steele has the Tigers edging out Florida State to finish atop the ACC. Doing so would ensure Clemson of reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020. The Playoff is expanding to 12 teams this season with automatic bids for the four Power Four conference champions and the highest-ranked Group of Five team.
Clemson finished 9-4 last season after a 4-4 start. They rallied to win their final five games and will return starters Barrett Carter (linebacker), defensive linemen T.J. Parker, Peter Woods and DeMonte Capehart, as well as defensive backs R.J. Mickens and Khalil Barnes.
On offense, quarterback Cade Klubik is a returning starter. Running back Phil Mafah, receiver Tyler Brown and tight end Jake Briningstool return on offense, as well.
On3 Sports wrote about Steele’s projections and where Clemson ranks:
“Clemson returns starting quarterback Cade Klubnik who could be poised to take a jump entering his second full season as a starter. But with head coach Dabo Swinney‘s lack of transfer portal use this offseason, all eyes will be on the Tigers to see how they perform.”
For their part, Florida State went 12-0 in the regular season last year and defeated Louisville in the ACC Championship Game but were left out of the final four-team College Football Playoff in favor of one-loss SEC Champion Alabama.
The Seminoles will have a different look this season due to roster turnover. They lost 10 players to the 2024 NFL Draft, and 17 players left via the transfer portal; FSU also added 17 players, including former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, former Georgia EDGE Marvin Jones Jr. and Alabama transfers Roydell Williams and Malik Benson, among others.
Also per On3:
Uiagalelei headlines the Seminoles’ transfer portal additions this offseason. A dual-threat weapon coming off of his best season to date (Uiagalelei) will represent the first quarterback not named Jordan Travis of the Mike Norvell era.
Clemson and Florida State will play October 5 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Before that, the Seminoles will kick off the 2024 college football season in “Week 0” against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland, on August 24.
The Tigers will open their season against Georgia in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 31.
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