David Pollack on Clemson: "They're not good enough to win the ACC"

During today’s ESPN GameDay there was some sharp criticism of Clemson’s 2021 football team after the Tigers survived another ACC foe after escaping 17-14 last night in Syracuse.

Rece Davis started by saying:

"I'm not sure Clemson's offense is going to get fixed because the offensive line doesn't look like it can dominate. They just haven't been accurate in the passing."

David Pollack followed up by pointing out that he didn’t think the Tigers could win the ACC.

"I mean, the quarterbacks not playing great either, I think, I think we got to put that on him. Here's the thing. We keep saying, and I hear y'all keep saying, 'Clemson is the most talented team they're gonna win the ACC'. They're not gonna win the ACC. They're not good enough to win the ACC-- they're not. I've seen enough now. I said to myself, bye week, everybody doubting me, they're gonna be pissed off, they're gonna come out, they're gonna play. They're just not very good. They're not offensively going to scare anybody. I don't see them beating Pitt. I think Pitt can score. I know Pitt is going to give up points but I don't think Clemson can score enough."

Kirk Herbstreit noted that without Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, Clemson’s offense is still a ‘work in progress.’

"This was an issue last year, but you had Etienne, and you had Trevor Lawrence and you're able to kind of still move the ball because you had two phenomenal players. Now I think with the offensive line issues-- you don't have an elite back-- you have good backs-- but you don't have a difference-maker in the backfield. Then the inconsistency at quarterback-- you wonder where they go from here because the defense is playing at a championship-caliber, which is amazing considering they've got two of their best players in the interior out for the year. But they're still playing good defense but the offense is still a work in progress."