Clemson Football: 5 reasons the Tigers should be nation’s No. 1 team
By Dana Becker
2. Taking on all challengers
To be honest, the first six weeks of the college football season have left much to be desired in terms of top matchups between teams.
Unless you are Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers.
Granted, schedules are made so many years in advance it can be hard to give praise for facing certain teams when they are highly ranked, but these Tigers have stepped up to the challenge.
After the typical “cupcake” opener vs. Kent State, Clemson welcomed fellow Tiger Auburn to Death Valley in Week 2 and promptly put on one of the most impressive defensive efforts seen this year.
Auburn scored just six points vs. Clemson a week after posting 41 on the scoreboard. Since that defeat, Gus Malzahn and his offense have been clicking, besting Mercer, Missouri, Mississippi State and Mississippi, scoring at least 44 in the last three.
The following week, the Tigers headed to Louisville and returning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson and once again put on a display of defensive intensity. They held the Cardinals to a season-low 21 points, which included 14 in the fourth when the game was well over.
All Louisville did after that loss was score 97 points in wins over Kent State and Murray State before falling last week to NC State on the road.
Clemson added a third top-15 win to its resume through five weeks when they bested Virginia Tech in another Saturday night prime-time contest – the third this year for the Tigers already.
The game was billed as a possible ACC championship game preview after the two met last year in that same contest. Clemson held on for a 42-35 victory last December, but this one was never in doubt, earning a 31-17 victory.
Between all that, the Tigers have taken care of business vs. Boston College and Wake Forest, posting double-digit victories in both games.
There might be teams that can boast a better single-game win this year, but nobody can compare to the overall schedule Clemson has already faced.