Dabo Swinney breaks down what it will take for Clemson to get back to CFP

It seemed almost a given not too long ago that Clemson was going to reach the College Football Playoff every year.

The Tigers were in the CFP for six straight seasons from 2015-20, winning a pair of national titles and playing for two more. However, the past two seasons haven’t gone as planned.

The offense took a step back, due in part to inconsistent quarterback play, as Clemson suffered three losses in 2021 and 2022. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spoke at the ACC Football Kickoff event last month about what it will take for the Tigers to get back in the College Football Playoff.

“A couple of plays, you know. If we’re a better pass defense and a better pass offense then we’ll have a chance,” Swinney said. “We’ve gotta do a little better job of taking care of the ball. We turned it over too many times. And we’ve gotta do a little better job of taking it away. But at the end of the day, we’ve gotta be better with our pass offense and better with our pass defense.”

The Tigers weren’t awful passing the ball or in pass defense last year, but they also weren’t at their elite standard.

Clemson ranked No. 66 in passing yards per game at 232.4 and No. 76 in pass defense at 231.7 in 2022. For comparison, when Clemson won the national title in 2018, it ranked No. 23 in passing offense and No. 24 in passing defense.

If Clemson can improve in those areas, it should be right there at the end of the year competing for a playoff spot. After all, the Tigers would have reached the playoff last year if not for a one-point loss to South Carolina to end the regular season.

“If we keep everything else the same… I mean we were one point away last year. One point. From being in the playoff. And if you get in the playoff anything can happen,” Swinney said. “So just gotta improve in some of the areas that we weren’t quite as good as we needed to be last year.”

ESPN analysts debate if Clemson or FSU is more likely to reach College Football Playoff

Speaking of Clemson and the College Football Playoff, that was a topic for the ESPN First Take crew on Thursday.

The ACC preseason poll was released last week and Clemson is once again viewed as the favorite to win the league. However, ESPN insider Heather Dinich and ESPN reporter Courtney Cronin both believe it’s Florida State that will finish as the top team in the ACC.

“I’m totally on the FSU bandwagon,” Dinich said.

Added Cronin: “My money is on Florida State in all of this. I would like to see Clemson get back to the level of where we were talking about them in that same category as the Georgias and Alabamas. But they’ve been on a downward slide now for the last three years and in the ACC, Florida State has taken advantage of that.”