Clemson Tigers
Last year: 14-1 (8-0 ACC), beat Virginia, 62-17, in ACC championship; beat Ohio State, 29-23, in national semifinal; lost to LSU, 42-25, in national championship
Best win: national semifinal Worst loss: national championship
Coach: Dabo Swinney (13th year, 12th full, 130-30)
Starters returning: 13 (5 offense, 6 defense, 2 specialists)
Offensive player to watch: RB Travis Etienne. Everyone knows about QB Trevor Lawrence, so I'm going to show Etienne some love. He is a two-time ACC player of the year, after all. As a junior, Etienne rushed 207 times for 1,614 yards (7.8 ypc) and 19 TDs. He added 37 catches for 432 yards and four scores. Both he and Lawrence have shown a great deal of dedication in coming back when they could have easily opted out and focused on the NFL. One other ACC player -- North Carolina RB Mike Voight from 1975-76 -- has won the conference's top award two years in a row, and if Etienne takes home the honor again, he'd be only the second player in major college football to win a conference's top award three times -- with the other being Georgia RB Herschel Walker from 1980-82.
Defensive player to watch: DT Tyler Davis. As just a true freshman, Davis tallied 51 tackles, nine for losses, 5.5 sacks, two breakups, and six QB pressures on his way to being named second-team all-ACC.
Special teams player to watch: KRs Etienne and Joseph Ngata. Neither guy is listed on the ACC's list of 2019 kick returners, possibly because neither had enough returns to qualify for inclusion. Ngata had 14, and Etienne had five. That's probably because teams rarely scored on the Tigers. But both guys are capable, with Ngata averaging 23.2 yards per return (would've been fifth in ACC, based on players on the list), and Etienne at 25.6 yards per return (would've ranked fourth). If either are back there again, they could bring one back all the way.
Schedule: at Wake Forest, vs. The Citadel, bye, vs. Virginia, vs. Miami, at Georgia Tech, vs. Syracuse, vs. Boston College, at Notre Dame, bye, at Florida State, vs. Pittsburgh, at Virginia Tech.
Win-loss prediction: 10-1 or 11-0. Pretty much no one has been as good as Clemson has been over the past half decade in college football. The Tigers have won five straight ACC championships, earned five consecutive College Football Playoff berths, been to four national title games, and won two of them. It would seem a little silly to think the Tigers would lose more than a game, but there have been trip-ups over the years. In 2016, Pittsburgh won at Clemson. In 2017, Syracuse beat Clemson at home. In 2018, Syracuse almost won at Death Valley. Last season, UNC took Clemson right to the wire at Chapel Hill. Potential trip-ups this year include road games at FSU and Virginia Tech, but crowds won't be able to pump up the home teams, and truly, I give both teams a pretty low chance of springing an upset. I'm just telling you who I think has a better than 2 percent to 3 percent chance. That does not mean the Seminoles and Hokies have even a 10 percent chance, though. And then, there's the Notre Dame game, which was already scheduled for this year. It loses some luster without a huge atmosphere, but it will still be hyped as one of the best games of the season. But Clemson will be favored, as it should be. The Tigers clobbered the Fighting Irish in the 2018 CFP, and the Irish dropped games to Michigan and Georgia last season, and they just always seem to come up a bit short under the bright lights, and I have no reason to think that won't happen again, though I'll give them more like a 20 percent chance to pull out the victory.
Clemson may get off to a slow start offensively -- relatively speaking -- because it will be breaking in four new starting offensive linemen. The Tigers also need a couple of guys to step up at WR. Amari Rodgers returns after recording 30 receptions and four TDs, but Tee Higgins left for the NFL, and Justyn Ross is out with a spinal issue. But the offense will still be very good just because of a talent like Lawrence, who is 25-1 as a starter. In 2019, he completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 3,665 yards (first in ACC), 36 scores (second in ACC), and eight INTs. Lawrence also showcased a new side of his game, rushing for 563 yards and nine scores, a huge leap from 2018 when those totals were just 177 yards and one TD. Over his final eight contests, Lawrence tossed 22 TDs and zero picks. And Clemson is always just loading up on five-star players these days. This is a team that features a backup running back in Lyn-J Dixon that rushed for 635 yards and six TDs last year. He's the backup, and his 635 yards ranked 14th in the ACC! On defense, in addition to Davis, Clemson gets back LB James Skalski, a senior, who finished second on the team with 105 tackles, 7.5 for losses, 4.5 sacks, four breakups, 10 QB pressures, and a forced fumble. And sophomore CB Derion Kendrick was named all-ACC as a true freshman after posting 51 tackles, three for losses, two INTs, six breakups, and two QB pressures. Brent Venables is in his ninth year as defensive coordinator, and Clemson has finished in the top 10 nationally in defense each of the past six years.
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