Clemson Tigers

Clemson Football: Close Call vs NC State Should be Wake-Up Call for Tigers

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Clemson football team was pushed to the limit by the NC State Wolfpack, and that should be the big wake-up call for a team who wants to get back to a championship game.

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Clemson won the game in overtime against NC State. Clemson is still undefeated. Clemson still controls their own way to the ACC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.

But Clemson (7-0, 4-0 ACC) can’t get there if they don’t snap out of the funk they’ve been in for much of the first half of this season.

The No. 3 Tigers are not going to be able to turn the ball over four times (three in the red zone) against teams like Florida State or whoever they may end up playing in an ACC title game and expect to squeak by with an overtime win.

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Saturday Blitz 7hClemson needs overtime to get past NC State

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Losing Wayne Gallman early in the game against the Wolfpack did change the Clemson gameplan to a degree, but sloppy play and sluggish performance had a lot more to do with a near loss to a team the Tigers were favored to beat by 17.5 points.

Wake up, Tigers! The home stretch is here, and it’s time to start playing your best football instead of sleepwalking through games.

Credit has to be given to an underrated Wolfpack defense for holding the Clemson offense in check (although Deshaun Watson did have another big game, with 378 yards, two touchdowns and an interception).

And certainly the Clemson defense rose to the challenge in overtime, but they were lucky…darn lucky…that it went to overtime at all. The NC State kicking struggles ended up being Clemson’s savior in this one.

The Tigers are still one of the most talented teams in the nation, but with the exception of the exciting win over Louisville, we haven’t seen all that talent work as a team for much of the season.

A win is a win, and 7-0 is 7-0, but for the remainder of the season it would be great to see the Tigers just put some opponents away early and show they are muscling up for another playoff run.