CLEMSON | The season's first two weeks have provided a refreshing counter to the belief that college football has deteriorated into the same old procession of the same old teams who end up playing for it all at the end.
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Let's take the six programs that have populated the playoff over the last three playoffs:
Ohio State, which missed out on the playoff in 2015, 2017 and 2018, was seemingly up, up and away after finally sticking it to Clemson in last year's semifinal. Now there's rampant speculation that second-year defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs is going to be pushed out after epic struggles in the first two games.
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Notre Dame is extremely fortunate to not be staring at an 0-2 record after a narrow escape at Florida State and a skin-of-the-teeth home win over Toledo.
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Oklahoma, whose defense has been a playoff laughingstock, was supposed to be much better on that side of the ball. And then the Sooners looked as pillow-soft as ever in allowing 35 points to Tulane right out of the gates.
LSU was a freaking mess last year and still looks to be a freaking mess this year. The Bayou Bengals were physically mauled by UCLA and then last week their supposedly modernized offense had 17 points at halftime against McNeese State.
Clemson's offense laid a king-sized egg in the Queen City, though Georgia's offense didn't fare a whole lot better in a game dominated by two elite defenses.
Alabama looked terrifying in the opener against Miami, but then the Hurricanes went home and were lucky to beat Appalachian State. We'll know more about the Tide after their visit to Gainesville this weekend.
So that's where we are just two weeks in. Five of the six CFP representatives over the last three years have looked wobbly in one way or another. And the team that's looked the best has been -- surprise -- the greatest dynasty in the history of the college game, one that is pursuing its seventh national title in 13 seasons.
Two other one-time playoff participants, Georgia and Oregon, look like legitimate threats to rejoin the party. And a recent fringe playoff team, Florida, possesses a future superstar at quarterback and might be capable of spoiling the party for Alabama or Georgia.
This seems to undercut the premise behind the move to a 12-team playoff, that being that the same old teams doing the same old things are making the sport boring. But that's a topic for another day.
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Today's objective is arriving at a fair assessment of a Clemson team after two games, and one that is unquestionably a work in progress on the offensive side of the ball.
To arrive at a fair assessment, it feels almost imperative to include what's going on elsewhere instead of looking exclusively within.
After Alabama's scorched-earth 2020 season on offense, it was natural to look at Steve Sarkisian's mastery and ask why Clemson couldn't incorporate the creative wrinkles that isolated DeVonta Smith, Najee Harris and other weapons in a lavishly talented offense.
It's obviously premature to judge Sarkisian as a head coach just two games into his Texas tenure. But it's not too early to say his scheming looks a lot more ordinary with lesser talent, and much lesser blocking.
Let's get a snippet of the thoughts from Orangebloods.com publisher Geoff Ketchum after Arkansas completely owned the line of scrimmage in last week's 40-21 dismantling of the Longhorns:
"What exactly was Sarkisian's plan in this game? When you look at the early scripting of the offense, I can't tell who he thought needed to get the ball. Where were the screens and short throws that might have allowed his quarterback to get into some kind of groove? Why are they not finding a way to get the ball into Xavier Worthy's hands with end-arounds, screens and other plays that can get him in space? Why did it take nearly three quarters for Joshua Moore to get a target? I just don't have any idea what the plan was."
Ketchum probably answered a lot of his own questions in a separate thought on the offensive line, calling it a "borderline disaster" made worse by the staff's refusal to mine the transfer portal for help this past offseason.
Let's take a glimpse of things at LSU, which was supposed to be different on offense this year after Ed Orgeron hired Jake Peetz from the Panthers to bring back some of the Joe Brady magic from 2019.
The Bayou Bengals have some really nice pieces on offense, and you can see the Brady-like formations and route combinations.
But what was it that Paul Johnson used to say about the one thing that could bring his flexbone offense to its knees?
"Physical superiority cancels all theory."
LSU's offense is a mess right now largely because they can't block. You can say the same thing about what happened to Sarkisian's playbook in Arkansas. You could say the same thing about Clemson's offensive braintrust 11 days ago against Georgia (and yes, eight months ago against Ohio State as well).
Could this offense use some schematic freshening up? Sure it could; we've been on record as saying that since the Sugar Bowl.
But is it grossly premature to conclude that said freshening up will not occur in 2021, to write off this entire operation on Sept. 15 as a tired old dinosaur that's hopelessly behind the times?
Absolutely.
Dabo Swinney has always said championships are won from the inside out, and right now it's fair to say this offensive line is not of a championship quality as Matt Bockhorst adjusts to playing center, Marcus Tate adjusts to being a rare first-year line starter, and Will Putnam was not ready for primetime in Charlotte.
On top of that, depth has taken a hit with injuries to Dietrick Pennington, John Williams, Tayquon Johnson and Mason Trotter. The first three are out for the season. Trotter is supposed to return this week, but with a cast on his broken hand.
That attrition is a pretty big deal.
On top of that, the receiving corps and tight ends are still in a developmental stage as blockers (let alone as pass-catchers). When your offense is based in large part on attacking the outside with various screens, quick throws and jet sweeps, it tends to throw things off a bit when the perimeter blocking is not dependable.
On top of that, your senior running back can't be depended on to behave off the field.
On top of that, the next great thing at quarterback is having some issues with confidence and consistency.
To us, at least, it all goes back to the offensive line. Because if you're good at the line of scrimmage, you can lean on that to carry the various players who are growing up.
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Long-term, there is legitimate optimism about this line transforming and becoming more the type that can help deliver a championship.
Short-term, there are going to be growing pains.
Some of that pain can be alleviated by taking a look around and recognizing there are concerning issues just about everywhere else, too.
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