Clemson Football: Looking Ahead to 2022 From a Fan’s Perspective

Editor’s Note: Nathan is a Clemson alum and huge fan that occasionally contributes to the site.

I’m sorry it has been a while, but I am back. Soon, so will Clemson football. So, here is a look back at the 2021 season and an opinion on some things and what we can expect in the fall.

First, the offense, and my opinion on what happened. Now clearly, the offense didn’t produce the stats we were all expecting. I admit, a lot of the games the team played had me as angry as the next fan, up to and including the game vs Florida State. Afterwards, once the team started beating teams by more than 10, I felt better.

What could have caused the offense to suddenly drop? I believe it was in part, the Georgia game. That and a lot of young and inexperienced players. The loss to Georgia definitely hurt the offense’s confidence. That said, the Georgia defense also needed to get a nasty taste out of their mouths. After barely beating the Cincinnati Bearcats in the 2020 Peach Bowl, the Bulldogs had just as much to prove as the Tigers.

Both defenses shined that night, the difference is, since Georgia won, the Dawgs offense had an easier time rebuilding their confidence. It’s always easier to rebuild your confidence after a big win. Since Clemson lost against a team equal to them, they had a harder time rebuilding their confidence.

Back to defense. It had a terrible game vs the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2021 Sugar Bowl. That game left a terrible taste in their mouths, a taste they had to get out. Clearly, they did all last season. Clemson football opponents scored only 193 points in 2021, as opposed to the 280 scored by Clemson. The defense’s first allowed touchdown came against NC State, and that game was also the one game with the most touchdowns allowed. The most points scored against Clemson was 27, by Wake Forrest, Pittsburg, and, you guessed it, NC State.

No touchdowns were scored against the defense at all in 5 games: Georgia, South Carolina State, Georgia Tech, UConn, and South Carolina. As mentioned before, I think the defense had a terrible taste in their mouths after the 2021 Sugar Bowl vs Ohio State, where the Buckeyes scored 49 points.

All the jabbing and fun making about the defense from many rivals created a fire in the bellies, and with that fire, they produced the incredible season they had in 2021. Brent Venables leaving before the Cheez-It Bowl proved to not even affect the defense at all, as the Cyclones scored only one touchdown. If they still played that well without Venables, I think we can expect another great season this season.

Now, the specialists. BT Potter scored a team high 101 points, went 38/38 on extra points and 21/26 on field goals. His worst game came against the Florida State Seminoles, on a day with less than desirable weather.

Aidan Swanson had an excellent spring game, with 6 punts for 273 yards. 55 yards was his longest, four landed inside the 20 and one was a touchback. As for kickoffs, again, Potter is back. Enough said.