Clemson looked very good against UNC, but who hasn’t this season. Hopefully, this game allows Clemson to get back on track for the season. We still have an outside chance at making it to the ACC Championship.
Admittedly, we need a lot of teams to lose a lot of games before the end of the season, but there is a chance. While the scoreboard may not have been as eye-popping as one would like to see given how dismal UNC is right now. It is clear, that this loss sent ripples through the UNC program because it has been reported this week that UNC and Belichick have discussed his buyout. If nothing else, Clemson may be able to brag that it was responsible for arguably the accomplished football coach of this generation retiring.
Pittsburgh v. Florida State: Florida State may not be as good as initially anticipated. It would be very good for my mental health as we get closer to Clemson playing Florida State for FSU to struggle or even better lose to Pitt. I will be watching this very closely because Florida State appears to be the best of the remaining ACC opponents and one more ACC loss would essentially eliminate any chance for Clemson ACC championship hopes.
Stanford v. SMU: Clemson plays SMU next week. I have a hard time gauging how good SMU is. They lost a close one to Baylor. They lost by two scores to TCU, but they sure-handedly beat Syracuse (although with the backup QB). Some people who know ball better than me have said that Stanford may be the worst power conference team in college football this year so I am not sure if this game will help determine how good SMU is, but it will be another data point at the very least.
Virginia Tech v. Georgia Tech: There are a lot of teams that are head of Clemson in the ACC standings. GT is one them. As a result, I will be rooting for GT to lose to help increase our odds at getting back to the ACC Championship game. Also, because they beat Clemson earlier in the year on a ridiculous field goal and I am still sour about it. Based on how they played against Wake Forest, GT has a loss to a bad team in them. If it was not for Haynes King putting on his cape and winning the game for GT, they very, very likely lose that game.
USC v. LSU: I do not believe that I addressed this earlier, but USC is University of South Carolina. The other University that some mistakenly refer to as USC is Southern Cal. Back to the game this weekend, I am torn about who to root for here. I think it will be a good game which I will enjoy as a fan of college football. As a Clemson fan, I am torn about whether to root for the misery of our hated rival or LSU (and Brian Kelley) who beat us earlier this year. I am leaning towards rooting for USC to lose because it would make the close LSU loss look much better.
