The Clemson Tigers entered this season with the ninth-overall ranking, looking to head back to national championship contention. Last year, they won the ACC Championship Game over North Carolina but failed to make it into the College Football Playoff. Not to mention, they lost to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. But Clemson had the chance to put last season behind them with a victory over the unranked Duke Blue Devils. Surely, a win was in order for Clemson.
Nope, not at all.
Clemson failed to make a good impression throughout Monday night, as they made countless mistakes, including three turnovers in the second half. With that, and the offense clicking led by quarterback Riley Leonard, Duke pulled off the 28-7 upset victory. This is Duke's first win over a top-10 team since they beat No. 7 Clemson in 1989.
With this, Clemson lost three of their last four games. That is the first time that has happened since 2011, when head coach Dabo Swinney was in his third season as the program's head coach, per the ESPN broadcast.
So, how far down does Clemson drop down in the Top 25? Let's take a crack at it with some projected rankings.
Projected college football rankings after Duke upsets Clemson
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Florida State Seminoles
- USC Trojans
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- LSU Tigers
- Washington Huskies
- Texas Longhorns
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Utah Utes
- Oregon Ducks
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Oregon State Beavers
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Clemson Tigers
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Tulane Green Wave
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Colorado Buffaloes
The top eight remain intact, as they were in our rankings after Florida State's win over LSU on Sunday night. But where does Clemson fall? After all, they were 12-point favorites entering the game. How about the No. 18 spot? It seems only fair that they fall behind the North Carolina Tar Heels, who picked up a 31-17 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday.
Perhaps the most ironic thing is that Clemson falls behind Oregon State, who defeated San Jose State 42-17 on Sunday. Their quarterback was none other than D.J. Uiagalelei, who previously spent the past two seasons as Clemson's starter. Uiagalelei completed 20-of-25 pass attempts for 239 yards and three touchdowns while running for two touchdowns against San Jose State.
It will be interesting to see how voters in the Associated Press poll will rank Clemson for Week 2. The team turned the ball over three times, including two times in the red zone. Oh, and the team was one-for-four in the red zone. Not only was it a bad loss for Clemson, but there are serious questions about the team for the rest of the season.
