Fact or Fiction: Clemson is far and away No. 1
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. Clemson is far and away the best team in the country.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. Let’s not go crazy over an embarrassing 73-7 win over Georgia Tech. This Clemson team is beyond impressive on offense and defense, but teams like Alabama and Ohio State can hang with them because of their explosive offenses. Trevor Lawrence is still the man to beat for the Heisman if you ask me and he’s going to be hard to beat in the playoff, but this win isn’t anything to overreact to.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I do believe Clemson is the best team in the country and the Tigers have a unique way of quickly dominating and making it clear the opponent has no chance of staying with them through games. It’s not like Clemson is going through an incredibly difficult schedule in the ACC, but with those players on both sides of the field, Clemson is going to be tough to beat.
Far and away the best team though? I’d say Alabama and Ohio State and maybe Georgia are in the ballpark, so the Tigers are not so obviously better than everybody but they’re going to be very tough to beat.
2. The Georgia QB situation destroyed them.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Imagine Jake Fromm in this offense with such a great defense. Or better yet, Justin Fields. Or Jamie Newman. I’m sorry, you just can’t go from an afterthought to starting for a national title contender and it showed in the mistakes Stetson Bennett made against Alabama. Alabama’s offense came alive but they were certainly helped by some poor QB play and bad decisions.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Can Bennett alone lead Georgia to a national title? Probably not. But he’s far from the only reason why Georgia lost to Alabama in convincing fashion on Saturday night.
The stark reality of college football once again came alive and that’s Alabama is the best-coached team in the country and it has a roster filled with five- and four-star players who completely buy in. I still think Georgia might be a top-four team and coach Kirby Smart has made that program a contender, but giving up 417 passing yards and four passing touchdowns hurt Georgia more than Bennett’s mistakes alone.
3. North Carolina has been exposed.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. I still believe in the Heels and their offense despite the awful performance against a poor Florida State team. They fought back, they stuck together and they made a furious comeback but many will now say that UNC is way overrated. Perhaps No. 5 overall is a tad high, but this is still the second best team in the ACC after watching Notre Dame and Miami play the last couple of weeks.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Farrell will go to the ends of the Earth to defend this North Carolina team, but please let’s be realistic and stop all the ridiculous hype. If the Tar Heels deserved their ranking or to be considered the second-best team in the ACC, they would have waltzed into Tallahassee and won 42-14 or 42-21 and it would have been a convincing dismantling of a Florida State team that can’t seem to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Instead, with an average - at best - offensive line, not one but two FSU players ran for more than 100 yards and FSU beat North Carolina without its best receiver, Tamorrion Terry. Let’s be honest: North Carolina has one 10-plus win season in more than 20 years. Let’s stop acting like the Tar Heels are about to give Clemson a run for its money. They can’t even go into Florida State, when the Seminoles are woefully inadequate, especially on offense, and enforce their will. North Carolina has definitely been exposed for what it is: A program on the rise that still has a long way to go.