NCAAF: Can anyone catch Clemson in the ACC?

The Clemson Tigers will seek their sixth straight ACC championship in the 2020 college football season. Based on the odds, it should be a cakewalk to another title for Dabo Swinney’s dynasty.

Last season, the Tigers went 12-0 in the regular season and won by an average margin of 29.4 points (second most in the FBS). Clemson annihilated No. 22 Virginia, 62-17, in the ACC Championship Game and earned its fifth consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff, where the Tigers lost to LSU, 42-25, in the national title game.

The year before, Clemson embarrassed Alabama, 44-16, as true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence guided the school to its second CFP trophy. With Lawrence, a Heisman contender, entering his junior year, and star running back Travis Etienne back as a senior, Clemson is the frontrunner (+250) to win it all in 2020.

It’s difficult to see anyone standing in the Tigers’ way, especially in the ACC. However, Clemson could be exposed on the offensive line, after it lost left guard John Simpson and right tackle Tremayne Anchrum (both first-team All-ACC), plus right guard Gage Cervenka and center Sean Pollard. Left tackle Jackson Carman is the only returning starter.

The Tigers also suffered a huge blow, when they learned receiver Justyn Ross (865 yards, eight touchdowns) would miss the 2020 season because of a neck and spinal issue that requires surgery.

Amari Rodgers (426 yards, 14.2 yards per catch) is now Clemson's leading returning receiver. The Tigers also brought in the No. 3 recruiting class in the nation.

Who is Clemson’s competition in the ACC?

Since Swinney became Clemson’s head coach in 2009, the Tigers won the ACC in 2011, then began their current reign in 2015.

In the last decade, Florida State is the only other school to claim the ACC title, and did so from 2012-2014. Head coach Jimbo Fisher led the team during that time, and it featured a handful of future NFL players, such as EJ Manuel, Jameis Winston, Devonta Freeman, and Dalvin Cook.  

In 2020, the Seminoles are hardly a threat in the ACC. Fisher departed for Texas A&M’s head coaching job in 2018, and Florida State has become a punching bag in the conference. New head coach Mike Norvell — the former coach of Memphis — will attempt to bring the Seminoles back to prominence this season, following Willie Taggart’s brief tenure.  

In Clemson’s Atlantic Division of the ACC, Louisville is on the rise, with second-year coach Scott Satterfield, but the team has a long way to go to catch the Tigers.

The defending champ’s main competition for the title will come from the Coastal Division, where Miami, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech all reside.

The Hokies finished 8-5 last season, while the Hurricanes showed flashes of excellence in Manny Diaz’s first year as coach. Clemson didn’t play either team in 2019, but it did battle North Carolina, which gave the Tigers a scare during a 21-20 decision in Chapel Hill.  

Brown's Tar Heels primed for breakthrough in 2020

In Mack Brown’s second year of his second stint as coach of North Carolina, his squad is set for a surge in the ACC. The Tar Heels had a 7-6 record in 2019, with all six losses by seven points or fewer. Freshman quarterback Sam Howell ranked second in passing yards (3,641) in the ACC, behind Lawrence (3,665), and threw for the most touchdown passes (38) in the conference.

Howell will get both of his thousand-yard receivers, Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome, back in 2020, plus thousand-yard rusher Michael Carter and running back Javonte Williams (933 yards, five rushing scores). Most of the offensive line will return, as well.

The UNC defense allowed 24.6 points per contest, a major improvement from the 34.5 it surrendered the year before. If the unit can take another leap forward, the Tar Heels could find themselves in the conference title game with a chance to pay back Clemson for that one-point defeat last season.

The Tar Heels will be tested in Week 2 against Auburn in Atlanta and on the road in Miami, which picked up Houston graduate transfer D’Eriq King at quarterback.

The Hurricanes own the easier schedule between the two, but North Carolina is the team most capable of upending Clemson’s dominion over the ACC, should the Heels meet the Tigers in the ACC Championship Game.

Nevertheless, it'll require quite a bit of luck to conquer Clemson, which should coast through the regular-season schedule on the way to ACC title No. 7 under Swinney.

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