Clemson’s path back to the top starts with the same place plenty of Tigers fans have been pointing all offseason: quarterback play.
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said as much on “Get Up,” making the position the centerpiece of his breakdown of what Clemson needs if it’s going to rebound after a season that fell well short of the program’s standard under Dabo Swinney.
“First of all, they need good quarterback play,” McElroy said. “Is it gonna be Chris Vizzina?
Sounds like he's stepping in. Look, Cade Klubnik, when things were going good, he was great.
When things weren't going good, it was a rollercoaster. So they need stable quarterback play.”
Vizzina appears to be the favorite to start when Clemson opens at LSU on September 5, with freshman Tait Reynolds also pushing for playing time. Vizzina has only one college start on his résumé, a 35-24 loss to SMU last October.
McElroy didn’t stop there. He said Clemson also has to fix a rushing attack that never found its footing last season. The Tigers finished 11th in the ACC and 105th nationally with 1,618 rushing yards across 13 games, and at times leaned on a converted wide receiver at running back.
“They've got to be able to run the football,” McElroy said. “Last year, their top running back at one point was a converted wide receiver that was in his fifth year (Adam Randall).
It's not like they had a dude at running back, and they haven't had one since Will Shipley. Phil Mafah was a good one, but they need more consistent play at running back and need to be more balanced.”
Clemson tried to address that issue this offseason by adding SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. and five-star freshman Gideon Davidson.
McElroy also said the Tigers need better health and more production from their pass catchers, while the defensive front has to take a step forward after an uneven year.
“They need their receivers to stay healthy, which hasn't happened the last few years,” McElroy added. “And last year, with two bonafide dudes along the defensive line, that group was really underwhelming. Now they're gonna need those guys to take a step collectively in the front seven because I just think they were too inconsistent last year.”
He closed by turning to the part of Clemson’s identity that has long defined the program: culture. McElroy said that trait has been the Tigers’ “secret sauce,” but last season raised a real question about whether it still works the same way.
“Here's the thing about Clemson: Clemson's secret sauce is culture. That is what they are.
That is what Dabo believes in. Last year, in a year that was supposed to be their breakthrough… they get punched in the mouth Week 1, and they don't recover and stumble out of the gates and look awful in the first 6-7 games of the season.
“Well, culture is supposed to be able to absorb that punch and start punching back. They didn't. So now, I think making sure that culture is not a liability moving forward, making sure that culture is still their secret sauce and allowing them to weather the storm, which they couldn't do last year, led to a very disappointing start to the season.”
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