College Football Rankings: Is Clemson a Contender or Pretender?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't we seen this before from the Clemson Tigers?

Clemson capped off a big weekend with a 35-30 win over then No. 11 Florida State; improving the Tigers to 4-0 in the young season.

That comes a week after the Tigers took out then No. 21 Auburn. Back to back wins over ranked teams have vaulted Clemson all the way up to No. 13 in the AP Poll.

The Tigers are a team that has teased us plenty in the past, but never quite lived up to expectations.

That begs us to ask the question: Is this Clemson team a pretender or contender?

Clemson has gotten off to impressive starts before, only to not be able to close the deal.

This year could be different for Clemson fans, though.

For one, the offense is explosive.

Quarterback Tajh Boyd is averaging over 300 yards in the air per game and more importantly, he's taking excellent care of the football. Through four weeks, Boyd has thrown 13 touchdowns to only a pair of interceptions.

Not only that but Boyd has some weapons at his disposal. Most notably wide receivers Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins to go along with running back Andre Ellington.

The firepower alone should keep the Tigers in most games, but what should win them is that Clemson defense.

The talent is certainly there on the defensive side of the ball. There could be as many as five guys selected in the first couple months of next season's NFL Draft.

Yet, they haven't put together a dominating performance as of yet.

To date the Tigers have allowed an average of 25 points per game. That number is kind of high. As Clemson prepares to get into the conference schedule, you would hope the defensive unit starts to tighten things up.

Head coach Dabo Swinney certainly brings some energy and has Clemson believing, but they still have a couple of hurdles to clear in order to be considered contenders.

One of those is proving they can win away from home.

The Tigers haven't left Death Valley, yet and still have to play three ranked teams on the road; including No. 10 Virginia Tech next week.

Winning on the road is much different than the friendly confines of Death Valley.

The Tigers certainly have the talent to win the ACC. They just have to avoid the letdowns that have plagued them in past years.

Until they prove that, there will still be some doubts.

I'm not ready to call them contenders just yet, but they are close. Talk to me after next week. If they come back from Virginia Tech with a win, I will certainly change my mind.