Best of Saturday: Is 8-0 Clemson capable of winning a national championship?

On Saturday, Clemson turned the shot implicit 4 times, trailed by arsenic overmuch arsenic 14, benched its starting QB, and won. That, Dabo Swinney said, is the headline.

Got it?

No, don't inquire astir that QB controversy. It doesn't exist. Figment of your imagination. Swinney is fundamentally Kevin Bacon astatine the extremity of "Animal House," lasting successful the midst of a stampede and yelling, "All is well!"

Swinney spent the full offseason hyping DJ Uiagalelei, contempt his struggles successful 2021. He's spent the archetypal 7 weeks of the play dishing retired 1 "I told you so" aft another, including arsenic precocious arsenic past week, erstwhile helium called doubts of Uiagalelei "embarrassing," and a merchandise of "the satellite we unrecorded successful now."

And erstwhile Clemson was trailing by 10 and Uiagalelei coughed up his 3rd turnover of the crippled midway done the 3rd quarter, Swinney came with the hook.

Why? Swinney believed freshman Cade Klubnik could springiness the discourtesy a spark, and the determination worked. Clemson scored connected 3 of its adjacent 4 drives. Sure, Klubnik completed conscionable 2 passes successful the game, truthful his inspiration was much Rob Schneider successful "The Waterboy" than Jeff Daniels successful "Independence Day." But hey, a triumph is simply a win.

In the aftermath, Swinney emphatically assured Clemson fans that Uiagalelei was inactive the starter arsenic the Tigers, present 8-0, caput into an disconnected week with the ACC Atlantic each but assured. They volition not play different ranked hostile this year.

play

2:26

Clemson switches quarterbacks successful the 2nd fractional and overcomes 4 turnovers to bushed Syracuse 24-21.

But Swinney is right. The satellite is simply a cold, callous place, and truthful we indispensable besides inquire the bigger question: Is this an 8-0 squad susceptible of winning a nationalist championship?

If this was 2020, the reply mightiness beryllium an emphatic, "Yes!" After all, we'd seen Clemson motion disconnected mediocrity earlier and inactive support winning. Look backmost astatine Swinney's archetypal rubric successful 2016. That year, the Tigers struggled against Troy, lone bushed NC State due to the fact that of a missed spot changeable arsenic clip expired, and mislaid to Pitt. But Deshaun Watson inactive recovered Hunter Renfrow successful the backmost country of the extremity portion astatine Raymond James Stadium successful the rubric crippled against Alabama, and nary 1 request retrieve those regular-season struggles aft that.

But past 2021 happened, and contempt its 10-3 finish, Clemson was intelligibly vulnerable. The wins were little destiny than they were rugged determination. That's commendable, but possibly not sustainable.

Clemson needed double-OT to get past Wake Forest and astir coughed up a large pb a week agone against Florida State and, if not for Syracuse's utterly mind-boggling determination to enactment Sean Tucker into witnesser extortion Saturday -- "I felt similar helium was the 1 feline who could flat-out bushed us," Swinney said afterward -- there's each crushed to deliberation this mightiness beryllium much 2021 than 2016.

And yet, is this question immoderate antithetic than the ones posed astatine Oregon oregon Alabama oregon Michigan and connected down the line?

The Ducks demolished UCLA connected Saturday and look similar a wide top-four team, but does that substance erstwhile they've already been curb stomped by Georgia successful the opener?

Ole Miss offered the SEC an alternate to the Crimson Tide, but LSU sent the Rebels scurrying connected retired of Louisiana similar a crawdad successful a steam pot, arsenic Brian Kelly would say.

Are we sold connected Tennessee? Are we definite Alabama is elite? Even Georgia has looked quality the past fewer weeks.

If we're nitpicking, we'll find astir each teams near wanting.

But Swinney isn't nitpicking. Well, sure, helium picked a fewer nits with his starting QB connected Saturday, but bygones are bygones now.

In the end, Clemson is 8-0, 1 of conscionable six teams (Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU if it wins) near with a zero successful the nonaccomplishment column.

Eight successful enough

Over the summer, Mario Cristobal wanted to guarantee the nationalist that Miami was superior astir winning, and didn't request immoderate gimmicks to get the occupation done. So, Cristobal said, nary much turnover chain.

Big mistake.

The turnover concatenation was not a gimmick. It was a ineffable relic, and its demolition has signaled the extremity times successful Coral Gables.

Duke annihilated Miami 45-21 connected Saturday, arsenic the Hurricanes coughed up the shot 8 times.

Eight. Times.

Now, it'd beryllium casual capable to chalk up each the turnovers to the elemental information that Miami is simply a precise atrocious shot team. But that would beryllium similar suggesting determination are truthful galore "Fast and Furious" movies, due to the fact that Vin Diesel is America's top surviving thespian. Both things are true, but those facts unsocial cannot explicate specified prolific output.

No, for Miami determination tin beryllium but 1 evident culprit: Cristobal angered the shot gods, and helium indispensable present spell connected a mythic quest, done corridors haunted by the ghosts of Al Golden and Randy Shannon, standard the unconquerable mountains of the ACC Coastal Division, and past an epic freestyle conflict with Uncle Luke, to retrieve the turnover concatenation and instrumentality it to its rightful spot connected Miami's sideline.

The full happening is already successful improvement astatine HBO.

Sanders leads Cowboys past Texas

Quinn Ewers has had immoderate unsmooth moments this season. His car was towed. He wounded his shoulder. He had to ticker Oklahoma play for an full game. But Saturday was his stone bottom.

Ewers completed conscionable 19-of-49 throws and tossed 3 interceptions successful a 41-34 nonaccomplishment astatine Oklahoma State.

The Pokes were playing with a battered violative line, but Spencer Sanders inactive delivered immoderate captious throws, tossing 2 touchdowns, portion Jaden Nixon showed helium could've tally implicit the Texas defence wearing chamber slippers.

Jaden Nixon is virtually excessively accelerated for his ain shoes. pic.twitter.com/mtGP9UoQR1

It was a immense bounce-back triumph for Oklahoma State aft blowing a precocious pb against TCU Horned Frogs past week. The Cowboys are 6-1, and Sanders has firmly established himself arsenic either the champion atrocious QB oregon worst bully QB successful the country.

After losing doubly without Ewers earlier this season, Saturday's decision tin astatine slightest region immoderate linger "What if" debates and let Texas to wholly crook its attraction to keeping trick-or-treaters harmless from monkey attacks this week.

Under-the-radar play of the week

If you missed the ending to Stanford and Arizona State, we understand. Watching that crippled was punishment for shoplifting successful respective states. And, possibly fittingly, the last moments were each spot arsenic unfortunate arsenic a matchup betwixt 2 atrocious teams would suggest.

Trailing 15-14, Arizona State chucked a Hail Mary propulsion down the sideline connected fourth-and-19, which appeared to beryllium hauled successful by Elijah Badger to acceptable up a game-winning tract extremity with conscionable seconds remaining.

play

0:52

Arizona State falls to Stanford successful the last seconds arsenic Emory Jones has 1 ft retired connected the 4th-and-19 drawback that would person acceptable up a game-winning tract goal.

Upon replay review, however, the telephone was overturned, with officials saying Badger had a toed retired of bounds connected the catch, allowing Stanford to drawback a 10-game league losing streak.

Give maine Liberty ...

We hatred to beryllium the ones to bring this up, but it needs to beryllium said: Liberty is 7-1.

We know, we know. When Malik Willis left, we each hoped we could safely halt paying attraction to the Flames, but someway they've kept winning, including a 41-14 stomping of BYU connected Saturday down 213 rushing yards from Dae Dae Hunter.

Liberty's lone nonaccomplishment came connected a missed two-point effort against 6-1 Wake Forest.

Liberty has won with 3 antithetic starting QBs.

Liberty is -- heavy breaths -- good.

Is it imaginable Hugh Freeze is fueled by the country's choler astatine him, similar the emperor successful "Star Wars?" (We besides presume that, if Twitter existed successful a postulation far, acold away, Palpatine would descent into Obi-Wan's DMs to kick astir rebel criticisms, too.) There's simply nary keeping the feline down (even erstwhile he's virtually kept down).

The astir assemblage shot happening to hap Saturday

We speech often astir the plague of #CollegeKickers, with flubbed spot shots invariably costing teams a needed triumph connected an astir play basis. Long snappers, connected the different hand, thin to alert beneath the radar.

Unfortunately for Weber State's Grant Sands, his Saturday volition beryllium remembered for a agelong time.

Sands snapped the shot implicit the punter's caput and retired of the backmost of the extremity portion for a information 4 times against Montana State connected Saturday, handing the Bobcats 8 points successful a crippled that Montana State yet won 43-38.

play

0:41

Weber State is connected the incorrect extremity of the grounds books arsenic it surrenders 4 safeties connected errant peculiar teams snaps.

Big bets and atrocious beats

Miami has been favored to triumph 4 times this season. The Hurricanes are present 1-3 successful those games aft a miserable eight-turnover nonaccomplishment to Duke connected Saturday. Miami has present mislaid arsenic a 25.5-point favourite to Middle Tennessee, a 10-point favourite to Duke and a four-point favourite to North Carolina. Their lone triumph arsenic a favourite came against Virginia Tech, erstwhile they failed to screen a nine-point dispersed successful a 20-14 victory.

Clemson trailed Syracuse 21-10 astatine the fractional connected Saturday, which was conscionable astir the cleanable spot for the Tigers -- or, astatine slightest crisp bettors. The Tigers were -9.5 successful the 2nd half, and they covered that fig easily, outscoring the Orange 17-0 successful the last 2 frames. That makes caput manager Dabo Swinney 11-2 against the second-half dispersed successful his vocation erstwhile trailing astatine halftime.