No. 4 Clemson brings wealth of experience, national title aspirations

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — The Clemson Tigers have a Hall of Fame level coach in Dabo Swinney, a Heisman Trophy hopeful in quarterback Cade Klubnik and one of the most experienced teams in the country.

So it’s little wonder the fourth-ranked Tigers are overwhelming favorites to repeat as Atlantic Coast Conference champions. At the league media days in Charlotte, 167 of the 183 media members pegged Clemson to win its ninth ACC title in the last 11 years.

Of course, the Tigers have their eye on a bigger prize — a third national title in 10 years after losing to Texas in the College Football Playoff last season.

“The guys have put the work in,” Swinney said. “We’ve been around a lot of good teams, and this team has the ingredients to be a really good team, but we’ve got to go do the work. We can’t talk about it or predict our way into it.”

The Tigers return eight starters on both sides of the ball, including Klubnik, who threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns and ran for 463 yards and seven scores as a junior. He is 19-9 overall at Clemson’s starting quarterback, leading the school to conference titles in 2022 and 2024.

High retention rate

ESPN puts Clemson’s return production rate at 80%, the highest in Division I football.

The only starters they lost from last season were running back Phil Mafah, tight end Jake Briningstool and offensive lineman Marcus Tate on offense, and defensive tackle Payton Page, linebacker Barrett Carter and safety R.J. Mickens on defense.

Swinney likes to reminds his players that “experience doesn’t come at a discount.”

In other words, they have to earn it on the field.

Receiver room

Clemson has produced high-level receivers like DeAndre Hopkins, Tee Higgins, Mike Williams, Sammy Watkins and Hunter Renfrow. After some recent down years at the position, the Tigers look loaded at the position this year.

Clemson’s top returning target is Antonio Williams, who bounced back from an injury-riddled second season with a career-high 75 receptions for 904 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. He also ran and threw for a touchdown.

The Tigers return Bryant Welch and T.J. Moore, who became the first freshman duo in a Power Four conference since 2000 to each record at least 650 yards receiving and five TDs. Tyler Brown, the school’s leading receiver in 2023 as a freshman, is back too after receiving a medical redshirt.

Junior Cole Turner and FCS transfer Tristan Smith are viewed as capable starters by Swinney, too.

Klubnik looks for encore season

Klubnik decided to return to college for his senior season rather than enter the NFL draft, giving the Tigers a smart, reliable signal caller.

While some fans wanted to run Klubnik out of town following the 2023 season during which the Tigers had their streak of 10-win seasons snapped at 12, Swinney threw his support behind him. Then came a huge junior season for Klubnik, now considered one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.

Klubnik said some of his focus this offseason has been spent improving his ability to make plays on the move.

‘“I was good on the run last year in terms of throwing the football, but just trying to become elite and not scared to make any throw,” Klubnik said. “I want to be more explosive downfield, too.”

Bringing the heat

The Tigers should have one of the nation’s best defensive lines, led by T.J. Parker.

Parker had 11 sacks and 28 quarterback hurries in 2024, numbers that ranked him among the most disruptive edge defenders in the nation.

Peter Woods will move back into his more natural position as a defensive tackle this season. Purdue transfer Will Heldt gives the Tigers another proven pass rusher coming off the edge, and Stephiylan Green and veteran DeMonte Capehart will bolster the run game inside.

Playoff ready

Playoff experience could pay dividends for the Tigers. Between conference championship games, bowl games and the college football playoff, Clemson has won at least one postseason game in 14 straight seasons, the longest active stretch in the nation.

The schedule

The Tigers open the season with perhaps their toughest game, hosting No. 9 LSU on Aug. 30. Clemson hosts SMU on Oct. 18 in a rematch of last year’s ACC championship game,. On Oct. 4, Swinney faces off against North Carolina’s Bill Belichick and North Carolina but the ACC schedule does not include Miami and Florida State is a home game. The Tigers close the season at rival South Carolina on Nov. 29.

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25