Clemson was ranked 9 in the country heading into week 1 against Duke. They will almost certainly be unranked going forward. While other victories including FSU’s and Colorado’s were also called upsets (we do not think they were), Clemson’s loss was the biggest one of the week.

Since Trevor Lawrence got selected 1 overall, Clemson has really struggled to maintain success. This happens with schools, the ebbs and flows of talent, but this is not necessarily the case with Clemson. After Lawrence, 5-star recruit DJ Uigalelei was set to take over. He was less than ideal and never truly developed, so Clemson brought in another 5-star in Cade Klubnik. Klubnik’s play at the end of last year and in week 1 of 2023 has been uninspiring which begs the question, what is going wrong.

When you look at Clemson in recent memory, they have had some of the best recruiting classes yet rarely has their players reached their full potential. With Myles Murphy’s athleticism and skill, he should have been a star on par with Will Anderson. You may blame this on Murphy himself, but then you see Bryan Bresee, KJ Henry, Trenton Simpson, and other high profile recruits not reaching their potential, a pattern forms. This is not a hit piece on Dabo, but one starts to wonder the longer this school under his leadership fails to produce results without all world QB prospects.