Clemson's Defense, Not Offense, Holds the Key to Potential Playoff Run
The hype surrounding Clemson during the preseason seemed to be fully concentrated on the arm of sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson.
But as the Tigers go into Week 6 with a No. 6 ranking and a 4-0 record, the growing playoff buzz is more focused on the headset of coordinator Brent Venables and the massive orange wave of Clemson's stingy defense.
As Brandon Rink of the Independent Mail notes, Clemson is now projected to make the College Football Playoff by media members at ESPN.com, CBSSports.com and SB Nation.
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Bleacher Report's Ed Feng put Clemson in the final four in his playoff predictions this week. The analyst trio of Barrett Sallee, Adam Kramer and Michael Felder did as well.
This surge in playoff predictions for the Tigers comes after their 24-22 victory over what was then a higher-ranked Notre Dame team in Death Valley.
Watson and the offense weren't the stars of that victory by any stretch. The Notre Dame game was won by the Clemson defense.
Clemson held Notre Dame to its worst offensive performance of 2015 in the rain-soaked contest. Star players such as Irish running back C.J. Prosise and wide receiver Will Fuller were completely neutralized by the Tigers.
| Points | 41 | 22 |
| Total Yards | 531 | 432 |
| Completion Percentage | 66.73% | 54.3% |
| Prosise's Rushing Yards | 150 | 50 |
| Fuller's Receiving Yards | 114 | 37 |
Fuller's quiet night against Clemson was a major point of emphasis against Notre Dame, as cornerback Mackensie Alexander dominated his matchup with one of the nation's best wide receivers.
"I felt like my D-coordinator was going to sleep at night worried about [Fuller's] speed," Alexander said, per David M. Hale of ESPN.com. "I was like, 'You recruited one of the best.' I said, 'Coach, let me handle my business.' I proved it. And I'm going to keep proving it."
Another player who took over his one-on-one battle with a Notre Dame star was defensive end Shaq Lawson, who was lined up against potential NFL first-round offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley.
Lawson recorded 3.5 tackles for loss against the Irish, and Stanley was forced to use some blatant holding just to slow the rush end down.
So when Notre Dame tried a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter, the Irish ran away from Lawson.
He noticed.
"Oh yeah," Lawson said, per Hale. "In the first half, I was dominating, so I feel like they did that."
Lawson's performance was just a part of what Clemson's front seven did for the majority of the game against a Notre Dame offense that was one of the best in the country.
The Tigers had nine tackles for loss against Notre Dame, giving them 37 through four games and the third-best average in all of college football.
It's quite a remarkable stat for a front seven that lost almost all of its starters from last year, including All-ACC talents Vic Beasley and Grady Jarrett.
"Everyone swore we were going to have a huge drop-off (on defense) and that we were going to suck," linebacker Ben Boulware said, per Gene Sapakoff of the Post and Courier.
The Tigers defense is faring much better than that right now—and staying that way is going to keep Clemson in the thick of the playoff race.
In the last two games, Clemson allowed a paltry 19 yards on 28 carries against Louisville and 111 yards on 32 carries against Notre Dame. Each program has rushed for more than 200 yards in three separate games this season.
That dominance against the run will be key this weekend against Georgia Tech, a potential trap game for Clemson.
The Yellow Jackets have lost three straight games and haven't been able to find their usual efficiency in Paul Johnson's tricky triple-option offense.
Georgia Tech will want to make a statement and hand Clemson a letdown loss, especially after it ran for 251 yards in a 28-6 victory last season over the Tigers in Atlanta.
Safety Jayron Kearse spoke about the challenge ahead, per Brad Senkiw of the Independent Mail:
"Anybody running that offense it’s always difficult because everybody has got to play assignment football ... you can think somebody has the ball and the quarterback can be turning up the field, running for 40 yards. It’s always difficult playing against those guys because we have to be disciplined on the front end and the back end.
"
The Yellow Jackets will be the first in a string of opponents that will test the strength of this Clemson defense on the ground.
| Georgia Tech | 311.80 | 6th |
| Boston College | 217.60 | 23rd |
| Miami (Florida) | 174.75 | 63rd |
| North Carolina State | 216.20 | 25th |
| Florida State | 192.25 | 45th |
After Georgia Tech, the Tigers face another run-heavy test at home against Boston College. The week after that, Clemson travels to a Miami team that has one of the nation's best big-play backs in Joseph Yearby.
Then it's off to NC State, which has the second-most rushing touchdowns in the FBS this season. Florida State, Clemson's biggest competition in the Atlantic Division, is most efficient on the ground with star running back Dalvin Cook.
Clemson may have passed its toughest test of the season by holding on to a win against Notre Dame, but the Tigers know improvement is needed heading into a stretch of ACC challenges.
They know they can't always survive fourth quarters like they had against Notre Dame, when the offense fizzled and the defense surrendered 225 yards and 19 points. If it hadn't been for the stop on the two-point conversion, the matchup was destined for overtime.
"Just some disappointing things that allowed them to creep back into the game," Venables said, per the Greenville News. "But [it's] an awesome opportunity to teach our guys and coach them up after a win ... There's plenty to correct in the first three quarters as well.
"[The Irish] are a good football team and showed us some things we have to get better at."
If Venables can do just that with his impressive group of new starters as the offense continues to find its rhythm, then the Tigers will continue to surprise the country all the way to the College Football Playoff.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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