Is Clemson any good?

And I mean that as a serious question. Before the season started, I would have bet even money that the Tigers would walk away with the ACC crown. Now, I’m not sure that they can even win their own division. True enough, they have won two in a row after Alabama made them look like a JV team. But, after three games, it is clear to see that this team has some problems.

Clemson’s mere 27 points against N.C. State is like a neon sign that this offense isn’t quite the sleek scoring machine that everyone thought it would be. Three games have revealed their biggest weakness on offense – up front. Most Tiger fans have complained that Thunder and Lightening don’t get the ball enough. After watching them Saturday, I’m not sure that is the solution. These guys are not exactly stellar blockers at the moment. Against a good defense, just handing the ball off to the backs may not provide enough offense.

On the other side of the ball, Clemson is struggling to stop people. Even if you throw out the Alabama game as a fluke, Clemson gave up 400 yards of offense to the Citadel, and almost 300 to the worst offense in Division I football (the Gamecocks being number 2). And before Tiger fans point out that Citadel was throwing the ball because they were playing from behind, note that the Cadets had 200 yards of passing at halftime.

Meanwhile, Wake has looked pretty good in its two games. Riley Skinner is the best quarterback in the conference. The Wake defense, however, has not shown itself deserving of some of its preseason hype.

Quietly lurking in the weeds are the Florida State Seminoles. You probably have written off their two lopsided wins over Western Carolina and Chattanooga. You shouldn’t. The Noles held both teams to around 150 yards of offense while scoring points by the bucket load. The low profile Noles get their chance to make a statement against the Deacs this Saturday. Perhaps the elder Bowden has gotten his team back on track. From the looks of it, this division is now a three horse race.

Oh, and with the Terps win against Cal, how interesting is Clemson’s game with the Terrapins? This cake walk schedule Clemson had is now starting to reveal some booby traps.