Rivals national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman has thoughts on where some of the best games of the 2023 season can be found, Clemson finding its mojo again and a fertile recruiting territory in the 2025 class.
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1. WHAT CHANNEL WAS THAT GAME ON?
The CW Network carrying ACC games this year took some getting used to, but the results have earned the network a spot on the quad-box this season. The network has shown 12 games so far this year and exactly half of those games have had a margin of victory of one score or less. Seven of the 12 games were one possession games in the fourth quarter.
The games shown on the CW were supposed to be clunkers, but the opposite has been true. The ripple effects of games on the CW have been felt across the college football world.
The horrific injury to Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis this past weekend in the game against North Alabama will have a major impact on the ACC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. Louisville's only loss of the season came at the hands of Pittsburgh on the CW. The Cardinals are now ranked No. 10 in the College Football Playoff Rankings but would probably be higher if it weren't for the Panthers. Virginia crushed North Carolina's playoff hopes on the CW. The Tar Heels were undefeated and ranked No. 10 at the time. Speaking of Virginia, Tony Elliott and the Cavaliers have picked up two of their three wins in games airing on the CW. Clemson's loss to NC State on the CW led to the now infamous "Tyler from Spartanburg" rant from Dabo Swinney. Clemson hasn't lost since that epic phone call. More on the Tigers below.
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2. THE CLEMSON TYLERS
Clemson was reeling at the end of October. The Tigers had a 4-4 record and disgruntled fans were coming out of the woodwork. In steps "Tyler from Spartanburg" and straightens things out. The Tigers haven't lost since, with wins over Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and North Carolina.
Dabo Swinney's rant was fantastic and will be replayed thousands of times but, at the time, it seemed like everything he built in the South Carolina Upstate was coming undone. He had already called out fair-weather fans, saying that they need to lighten up the bandwagon by losing a few games - essentially calling some Clemson fans spoiled.
After the loss to NC State, Clemson was 7-7 going back to the Notre Dame in November 2022. Like it or not, Tyler helped Dabo right the ship and now the Clemson "Tylers" have a chance to extend their current winning streak to four and avenge last years loss to rival South Carolina.
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3. NEW JERSEY ON THE RISE IN 2025
There haven’t been a lot of Rivals250 prospects from New Jersey the last few years but the 2025 class is looking to change that trend. Pittsburgh running back commit Yasin Willis is currently the only prospect from the Garden State in the Rivals250. There are already six New Jersey natives in the 2025 Rivals250. To put that in perspective, there haven't been that many players from New Jersey in the Rivals250 since the 2020 class.
There will be less than 35 Power Five signees from New Jersey this year and the 2025 class will surely beat that total because, with a month until the Early Signing Period, there are 60 prospects in New Jersey with a Power Five offer. The 2025 class already features 57 of them with more than a year still to go in the recruiting cycle.
New Jersey may not have a no-brainer five-star prospect in the 2025 class but the state looks to be bouncing back after three consecutive down years.
