Can Clemson Challenge for the National Championship?

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00:00When you look at Clemson overall, though, we talk about the measuring stick, right?

00:03We talk about the conference, knowing what they did last year and losing to Texas.

00:08SMU got pushed around by Penn State.

00:11As a whole, do you still feel the conference, the ACC, can potentially challenge if Clemson does make a run

00:18where they can make a national championship run against the likes of maybe Ohio State and Georgia, respectively?

00:25I mean, no, I still see them fighting Miami and Clemson.

00:29I still see them fighting for a conference championship, but I don't see them going that far right now in the college football playoffs.

00:37I still see the strength of college football being in the SEC and the Big Ten.

00:43If you look at Ohio State and the top teams are in the SEC, it's still too early to call.

00:48But I still, even before last weekend, I felt like ACC, I could tell who might be playing for the championship,

00:54but I did not have a strong feeling that these teams, Clemson, Miami, at this point, would go far in the college football playoffs.

01:01It's way too early to tell with how much they're going to improve,

01:06but that's still the way I feel right now, that we've still got a little bit of a ways to go from the ACC

01:11to the top three teams in the SEC, the top two or three teams in the Big Ten.

01:17As a coach, would you prefer coming right out of the gate the way Clemson and Miami came out with top ten opponents

01:24to play and engage how your team is, or would you like that week one matchup to potentially be

01:31against a Troy or a San Jose State or an FCS opponent where you can maybe, you know,

01:37see where that talent is in week one and then coach it up from week two and beyond?

01:42Yeah, that's an easy one to answer in retrospect.

01:45But let me say this, and I've had 28 seasons as a head football coach in college where I've gone in,

01:52and I don't think I ever wanted the tougher game to start with.

01:55If I got it, I sold it as what I wanted.

01:57I sold it to my players as a better opportunity, sold it to my fans and to the press and the media.

02:03But as a coach, you want one more week to prepare.

02:07You want a team that you're going to show up, play your guys, try to get a little bit better,

02:11see where you stand, and then get into the tougher teams.

02:15And to be honest with you, I don't know how many coaches will tell you the truth,

02:19but I think that's almost a consensus of coaches.

02:22If they had to tell the truth, they would want one.

02:24It's like an exhibition.

02:25You would like one just to see where you stand, maybe to hide what you're really going to do

02:30when you get into the conference schedule, but to give you a chance.

02:34If you don't play good, you're still going to win.

02:37We've talked from the coaching perspective as it relates to week one to week two.

02:42We have talked at length throughout the offseason that the biggest progression happens from week one,

02:48whether win or lose, to week number two because you have a body of work.

02:51You see what your quarterback could do.

02:53You see how the defense responds to certain situations.

02:57So do you expect Clemson now playing Troy, which is no easy opponent,

03:02even though they're at home in this matchup, to potentially mix it up and get back to basics

03:07and potentially cover this number on Saturday afternoon?

03:11Yeah.

03:12I mean, obviously, you get better from week one to week two,

03:15and I do believe there's some truth in that.

03:18Now, if you're playing a fairly equal team in week two, they got better from week one to week two, too,

03:24so it might not show up on the scoreboard as a win,

03:26but this is a great opportunity for Clemson, I think, to get better.

03:30And remember, I mean, if you believe Dabo Sweeney's press conference postgame,

03:36his best player did not play a great football game.

03:40And when your quarterback is your best player, he needs to play a good football game.

03:45So in his mind, if they can just get that quarterback to settle down and play his game,

03:49they'll be a lot better.

03:51Personally, I don't think Clemson goes to the run well enough.

03:54They don't run the ball well enough.

03:56You know, when Tony Elliott was the offensive coordinator

03:58and they won two national championships, he was the running back coach.

04:03He called plays.

04:04And I promise you, the running game was involved.

04:06I'm not sure that's what goes through the mindset at Clemson right now

04:10that we get into a tough ball game.

04:12We're going to run and pass, pass and run.

04:14Don't worry about it being close.

04:16I think there's that mentality.

04:18We've got to score, score, score and get ahead.

04:20Then you find yourself passing the ball too much.

04:22So hopefully they'll get back and establish that running game,

04:25and that'll make the quarterback even better.

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