Admitted Clemson fan and grad so I am biased, but I disagree with "overrated." May be semantics but I think proper term is "underachieving," not overrated. Maybe not that huge a difference. But with 50+ players in the nfl in the last 10 years, top 3-12 recruiting classess the last 5+ years, huge wins vs Oklahoma (twice), fsu, lsu, auburn, georgia, ohio st, etc., multiple conference championships, playoff berths, hanging in with bama and leading in the 4th quarter before succumbing to two special teams plays, establishing a very balanced offense/defensive team, etc., I think overrated is a term we can reserve for an unproven Michigan team (playing mostly home games with very few big wins), the big 12 in general, the whole SEC with the exception of bama, etc. Did Clemson get lucky this year vs Nc st? hell yes! Just like bama did vs ole miss last year. Luck is part of a winning season. Have we underachieved this year? Hell yes. Suspect play calling, deshaun crumbling under the pressure of being a number one draft pick and turning it over like crazy at the worst possible times multiple times this year, etc. Definitely been disappointing. But we have good wins this year. Auburn (road) , troy, louisville, fsu (road), etc. Great wins? No. But as good as about anyone else. Do we deserve to be considered great, no. But we belong in the playoffs. We turned the ball over like 5 times vs louisville and still beat them. Frankly, this is probably a season for a bama coronation. But in my opinion, after the national championships the last few years and the simple eye test if you actually watch games (plus recruiting and draft), ohio st and clemson (and maybe louisville and michigan a step below) are the only teams that IF they play their A+ game could give Bama a game in the final. Remember, Clemson put up 500+ yards and 30+ first downs last year vs bama and held their own on the lines. Just don't think they are "overrated." Just have underacheived as they have not responded well to their success the last 4-5 years (especially last year). Too much playing to level of comp and not learning that Saban/Bama "step on the throat" mentality. Can't have that 8 point lead late in 4th quarter and throw that stupid pick yesterday. Did it twice yesterday. Deshaun has just not responded well this year. Maybe the loss will wake them up. But make no mistake, Clemson is loaded with nfl talent. Williams, scott, leggett, watson, hyatt, guilllermo, etc on offense alone. And the defense...40-50% of their defense will have a shot to play on sundays. We'll see. Either way, they blew it yesterday, and that ref that called the unnec rough on Boulware and the phantom holding on the last 3rd down stop probably needs to leave the state! Never heard the crowd boo more loudly and more consistenty than yesterday! Everyone enjoy their Sunday. Should be an interseting last 3 weeks of cfb!
Not overrated at all, at least not in the trenches. We have a quarterback who was the best in the country last year, and now he's throwing tons of picks in the red zone. That's the difference between this year and last. And don't give us this carp about FSU and the refs. The officials favored FSU in that game (see the FSU TD before halftime), and the penalty that brought back the long Cook run was unquestionably deserved, even if the ref may have named the wrong foul. It was an illegal block (a hold/tackle) that sprang the runner. You want to talk about officiating talk about Pitt's TDs after the bogus call on Boulware and the phantom defensive holding call. And I'm not being a homer here, I'm just stating a fact, just like it's a fact that one of the teams Clemson is competing with (Ohio State) got screwed by the officials in the closing minutes of its only loss.
