Desmond Howard places the Clemson Tigers on upset alert
Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard placed the reigning ACC champs on upset alert this week. Howard has seen enough of the Tigers this year to believe that the big cats are vulnerable.
“Who’s on upset alert? I actually look at Clemson,” he said. “I think Clemson vs. North Carolina State. I think that’s going to be a really, really interesting game. Because you look at Clemson, and guys, they started the season against Georgia. And we’re looking at Georgia’s front-seven against Clemson’s offensive line — and they just dominated them. We think, well that’s Georgia. They’ve got one of the best defenses in the country. But then, you look at Clemson against Georgia Tech, they look the same way like they looked against Georgia.”
“You look, and this is a bigger issue than we anticipated going into the season. We knew Trevor Lawrence moved on and they’ve got DJ Uiagalelei and he’s going to be a great quarterback. He hasn’t played up to his standards. The standards set up by the quarterbacks before him.”
Clemson’s offensive struggles
The days of Clemson’s high-powered offense seems to be a thing of the past so far this season. The Tigers have yet to find an offensive identity and have struggled to start the season. Against Power 5 conference schools this year Clemson has put up an underwhelming 17 total points in two games. And as Howard pointed out Uiagalelei has been underwhelming early. On the season he is currently 51 of 86 for 475 yards one touchdown and has thrown two interceptions. His performance is a far cry from what Clemson fans grew accustomed to with their last three signal-callers: Trevor Lawrence, Kelly Bryant, and Deshaun Watson.
Howard likes the Wolfpack defense
“So I think when you look at North Carolina State, this defense has already registered six takeaways and they brought 10 starters back from a year ago,” Howard said. “Keep your eyes on Clemson versus North Carolina State.”
Desmond Howard believes in the Wolfpack defense against the Tigers this week. On the year the most points North Carolina State has allowed in a game is 24. That came in a Week 2 loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. You could argue that the Wolfpack gave that game away turning the ball over three times.
If North Carolina State can successfully knock off the Tigers that will leave the door wide open for someone else to take the crown of ACC king. And that kind of parody who would be welcomed with open arms in this already wild college football season.