Kirk Herbstreit: "How can you not put Clemson among the elite?"

ESPN’s College GameDay is in Charlotte for the ACC Championship on Saturday night between No. 1 Clemson and No. 7 Miami. 

College football analyst Kirk Herbstreit took some time out of his Friday afternoon to preview the game of the weekend and talk about Clemson’s program as a whole.

Much like many college football fans, Herbstreit would have been surprised if you had told him in August that Clemson would be back in the position it is in.

“Think about when we walked out of that National Championship in Tampa, and we are looking at that team and that celebration, and you think about some of those players that walked off that field never seeing them in a Clemson uniform again, led by Deshaun (Watson),” Herbstreit said.

The analyst then made a similar remark to what Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said after Wednesday’ practice. Herbstreit has been impressed by how Clemson has responded after winning it all almost one year ago.

“To their credit, the thing that is remarkable is that they didn’t lose their edge. Sometimes when you climb the mountain, and you finally get there, it’s human nature, and you lose a little bit. They didn’t at all.”

Clemson finds itself back at number one in the rankings and Herbstreit gave a lot of credit to quarterback Kelly Bryant for handling the pressure and stepping into the big shoes that Watson left behind.

Now to the game.

Herbstreit assured us that we won’t see the same Miami team that lost to a 5-7 Pittsburgh the day after Thanksgiving. 

“They seem to play up and down to the opponent that they are playing,” Herbstreit said. “So I’ll be shocked if they don’t come out playing the way they played in Hard Rock… I think they are going to come out and play, especially defensively, as if they are ready to shock the world.”

He said that the key for Miami to win on Saturday night will be to get off to a quick start against Clemson’s defense. The first 8-10 minutes of the game will be “crucial” for the Hurricane’s success.

“Clemson is a team, because of their style, they are on top of you right now. If they gain momentum early, and now you got to play catch up, you got to kind of play into the hands of what they want from you because of their tempo.”

Herbstreit then went into what would happen if Clemson were to lose the championship game. He, like our own Lawton Swann, believes that Clemson should still make the College Football Playoff if the Tigers lose a close contest to the Hurricanes.

“If you look at what they have done, their resume, beating Auburn, they are willing to play a huge heavyweight in the non-conference, that should favor them,” Herbstreit said. “If it is a close game, I personally would be saying that Clemson should be in so it’ll give the ACC two teams in the playoff.”

With Clemson’s success in recent years, Herbstreit was asked where he would put the Tigers in college football’s hierarchy. 

His response was that Clemson is among the elite.

““I kind of had a front row seat to watch this and be behind the scenes with Dabo and his team to watch them go from the outside to being now in that upper tier,” Herbstreit said. “Just go back and look at the names of the schools that they have beaten in the conference that they play in.

“How can you not put Clemson among the elite? I still think they are gaining momentum. I still don’t think people don’t get how long they have been around. Whether they win or lose this game, for me, they are already at that top tier in the country.”

You can watch Herbstreit, and the rest of the College GameDay crew live from Charlotte at 9:00 AM E.T. Saturday morning.