Clemson Tigers Football: NC State Fights to Live, Clemson Forgets How to Fight

There you are, Clemson.

Fans have been waiting all year for this Clemson team. NC State needed to win out to become bowl eligible. The Tigers needed to win to prove to their fanbase that they were for real.

They blew it.

All of the platitudes, the promises that their torrid history of losing games they should win, bringing their B-game when playing as a favorite...wasted.

NC State was incredible on both sides of the ball. Mike Glennon took the hapless Clemson defense apart and the NC State secondary swallowed up Clemson's receivers as NCST destroyed Clemson 37-13. The Wolfpack defensive line got their hands all over Boyd as the Clemson offensive line tripped all over themselves.

We knew that Sammy Watkins was an integral part of this team. What we didn't know was that Clemson would be stagnant without him.

Watkins dressed out the in the first half, after hurting his arm last week against Wake Forest, and the hope rose in Clemson faithful. When he came out in street clothes in the second half, that hope faded fast.

When Tahj Boyd later threw two interceptions in a span of several nanoseconds it faded further.

The high-flying Clemson offense was picked out of the sky with turnovers and bad decisions. The defense...well, it did the same stuff it's done all year. Missed tackles, poor coverage and lack of passion has sent the Clemson perception right back to the Tommy Bowden years.

On the plus side, when the scrubs came in Clemson actually looked pretty good. Maybe the back-ups had something to play for.

Now for some predictions.

Clemson loses to South Carolina, 52-24

Clemson loses to Virginia Tech, 48-24

Clemson loses their bowl game to whoever, 54-14

There is no such thing as a game where there is nothing to play for. For this ephemeral Clemson team, their quest to put the underachieving stigma behind them has started all over.