Clemson football: 3 biggest 2021 offseason questions for Tigers

Clemson football fell short against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the national semifinal. These are some offseason questions the Tigers must answer.

The Clemson Tigers are fresh off their sixth consecutive College Football Playoff, losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

This offseason will be the first in three years when Trevor Lawrence does not suit up as quarterback for the Tigers. He helped the Tigers win a second national title in the Dabo Swinney era and continue the separation between Clemson and the rest of the ACC.

How the Tigers lost to Ohio State does leave them with some issues that must be addressed. As the elite of the elite in college football, the issue is not about what happens in the conference; it happens in the College Football Playoff. Clemson is all about the “national title or bust” status now.

Clemson’s last two appearances leave lots of questions about the talent level on the defense.

It’s concerning that Joe Burrow outplayed Lawrence in 2019 and Justin Fields did the same in 2020. Were those performances on Lawrence or an indicator of Clemson’s need to improve their overall talent? For all of the issues Ohio State had in coverage, the Buckeyes covered Clemson’s wide receivers pretty well.

Those are two of the more pressing questions the Tigers have this offseason.