Clemson has built a reputation for refusing to stay down, and the numbers back it up. In CBS Sports’ Cody Nagel’s look at the toughest Power Four teams to finish off, the Tigers showed up as one of the best comeback teams in college football.
Since 2021, Clemson is one of only four Power Four teams with a winning percentage of .250 or better when it trails by seven or more points entering the fourth quarter. Georgia leads that group at .444, while Clemson sits right behind Oregon, with Iowa close enough to keep the Tigers honest. That’s not a small thing in a sport where a deficit that late usually feels like a death sentence.
The flip side is where Clemson’s profile gets a little messier. When the Tigers take a lead of seven or more points into the fourth quarter, they win about .950 percent of the time.
That’s a strong number, but Nagel’s research shows several teams are even better in that category. And in the broader clutch picture, Clemson falls short of the standard, winning less than half of those games.
That split tells the story pretty clearly: Clemson is dangerous when it has to chase, but less reliable when it has to finish. The Tigers seem to thrive when the game speeds up and the answer is simple - go make a play. Down a score, teams usually strip things down and lean on talent, and Clemson has had enough difference-makers to punish mistakes and turn a game around.
Holding a lead late has been a different story. Clemson has looked tighter in those moments, and the source of that issue could be execution, coaching, or both. However it’s framed, the Tigers have work to do when it comes to closing the door with a big advantage.
The bigger takeaway is that the talent and coaching are still there. What’s been missing is the consistent down-to-down execution that separates a good Clemson team from the dominant version people remember.
The Tigers will keep coming back. The question is whether they can stop letting teams back in.
In Other News...
Clemson Might Finally Have The NFL Talent Wave Fans Expected
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What makes the picture even more interesting is the balance of it. The Tigers are not leaning on one obvious star to carry the draft hype, but on a cluster of players at premium positions who could push the teams profile higher if the season unfolds the way evaluators think it can. TJ Moore is also in the mix, giving Clemson another name to watch as the NFL attention builds around a roster that may finally match the recruiting reputation fans have been waiting to see turn into real draft capital. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Is Hearing More Doubt Than Ever Entering 2026
Clemsons preseason buzz for 2026 has a different tone than the one that usually surrounds Dabo Swinneys program. National outlets have the Tigers slotted fourth in the ACC, and ESPNs projections put them in the middle of the league pack in a way that suggests there is less separation between Clemson and the teams chasing it than fans are used to seeing. The bright spot remains on defense, where linebacker Sammy Brown is drawing major recognition as one of the conferences best returning players.
The bigger concern is the way the questions are stacking up around the programs direction, especially on offense. Clemson still has not settled its Week 1 quarterback, with Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds competing for the job, and the lack of a clear answer only adds to the skepticism from outside the building. Even the national conversation around Swinney has turned sharper, with critics openly wondering whether the Tigers are still operating at the level that once made them a weekly national fixture. [Read more 🡒]