Win was not in Clemson's best interests

The worst thing that could have happened to Clemson this past Saturday night ultimately came to fruition.

It won.

Against Troy, 27-16.

If anything became crystal clear as Week 2 of the 2025 college football season unveiled itself, it was this: Clemson is done, finished a fait accompli as far as a national contender goes.

This year for sure. Perhaps for good if bedrock, principle changes are not made by HC Dabo Sweeney and Co.

No, we're not talking changes with how the Tigers handle the portal or NIL.

We're talking basic, essential, core things that actually -- not superficially -- affect a program.

First and foremost: Enough with making the QB, whomever he may be, the end-all and be-all of everything orange and white, with a sprinkle of purple, in helmet and pads.

Once Dabo bought into the concept that his QB had to have the first, last and every call in between once kickoff commenced, and infused his OC to promote that and enforce that, the entire program lost its way ... and has kept peddling the same nonsense even as it supposedly tries to find that way again.

Call it the Trevor Lawrence Effect.

Laughably, most bought into it. Geniuses right and left were picking the Tigers to revert to their late 2010s form and not only contend for a title, but win one. This season, in fact.

Clemson's impending success received more unwarranted hype heading into this season than Phillies Karen's bitchiness has the last few days.

Cade Klubnik was the second coming of Lawrence. He was gonna do this. He was gonna do that. He was gonna win the Heisman. He was gonna bring another trophy back to li'l ole Clemson, S.C.

Not for nothing, but have these people actually seen Cade Klubnik play the last 3 seasons? Beyond uber-edited highlights?

Yours truly has, and, admittedly as a longtime fan of the program, it has been painful to watch.

Often.

It's not that the kid stinks. He can actually play. He's a good athlete. A competent thrower. A nimble runner.

But he's not a great QB, and he has no biz being entrusted -- without fail -- the keys to the offense at every juncture since he's not a good decision-maker. Mostly, because when push comes to shove, he calls his own number at every crucial juncture. Always.

He had two NFL RBs lined up behind him over the previous 3 years, but you'd never know it. With how Klubnik underutilized Will Shipley and Phil Mafah, you'd have no way of knowing they were quality backs, never mind the Tigers' best options on offense from 2022 through 2024.

OC Garrett Riley hasn't helped. He has jumped with both feet in making Clemson "All About Cade" and any deviation from that be damned.

Ironically, with the sole focus on making the QB shine come hell or high water, Clemson has faded in doing things to help Klubnik or any other QB actually shine.

The Tigers haven't had a good offensive line since the 2017-18 season, which ended with their second national title in two years. Their defense has grown soft and smaller, despite the misguided NFL draft projections for guys like Peter Woods and T.J. Parker. Their receivers are a far cry from the glory days of Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams, Tee Higgins and Hunter Renfrow.

Oddly, the one position they still kill on the recruiting trail is RB. Only they don't give those guys the ball enough to help a QB anyway, so what's the point ...

The Tigers were ranked No. 4 to start the season, then only fell to 8th after getting handled pretty easily by LSU in Week 1.

Troy offered an out, a chance for Clemson to move on from Klubnik and Riley, or at least the philosophy that has deflated Clemson's program like the second half of the MLB season has deflated Cubs CF Pete Crow-Armstrong's power.

Up 16-3 at halftime, the Trojans were providing the long overdue wake-up call by a supposedly inferior opponent to the Tigers.

Then they collapsed in the second half and Swinney soon expressed his relief and intentions for his team to play better.

In other words, no changes.

Good thing. Wouldn't want to confuse Georgia Tech what's coming this week.

REAL DEAL ... OR NOT

Toughest team -- for me, at least -- to gauge right now is Illinois, one of my alma maters. The Fighting Illini, coming off a 10-3 season filled with several wins by the hair of their chinny chin chins, received a lot of positive pub heading into this 2025 campaign.

So much so that they entered Week 1 ranked 12th, moved up to 11th heading into Week 2, and now stand at 9th with a home game against one of the directional MAC Michigan schools set for this coming Saturday evening.

Their current ranking is the first time they've cracked the top 10 in the polls since 2001 -- which is the last year they won (OK, shared) the Big 10 title.

But are they really that good?

Honestly, it is hard to tell. They smoked a directional FCS Illinois school in their opener and then beat a good Duke team this past Saturday.

Yeah, they won 45-19 in Durham, N.C. Yeah, they dominated on the scoreboard in the second half, turning a 14-13 advantage at intermission into what looks like a blowout.

But it really wasn't. Illinois benefited greatly from 5 turnovers by the Blue Devils -- most of them of the unforced, or stupid, kind. It also had fewer yards than Duke until the waning minutes, and struggled against the Devils' defensive front all afternoon.

Here is what is clear: The Illini know how to win. They figured that out last season, and with the most returning starters in the country this season, they figured to continue with displaying that. If anything, though, the way they beat Duke showed that they actually not only know how to win, but how to put a team away -- when opportunity presents itself.

It doesn't hurt that they have the best QB in the conference, too, in senior Luke Altmyer.

Sorry, Drew Allar propagandists.

VANDY IS DANDY

For all those who snickered at sixth-year QB Diego Pavia popping off about how Vanderbilt is going to beat Alabama again, win the SEC and take the national title ... well, go ahead and chuckle freely because all three of those things happening remain insanely improbable.

But the 2024 national "underdog" sensation and his fellow Commanders look like they're up for doing some serious damage in 2025. They're now 2-0 after running roughshod over Virginia Tech in the second half at Blacksburg, Va., winning 44-20 thanks to a 34-0 blitz through quarters 3 and 4.

The Hokies played No. 13 South Carolina tough the week before in the Aflac Kickoff in Atlanta, but they were no match for Pavia and Co. once the visitors got rolling. The beating was so bad, and convincing, that Tech HC Brent Pry must've updated his resume once he got home after the game.

GAME OF WEEK 2

Tough to beat Boston College at Michigan State. Right around the time Pry started typing away, these two squared off in a battle that would've made the script writers at WWE proud. Playing before 70,000-plus at Spartan Stadium, MSU prevailed 42-40 in double overtime by surviving a Herculean 390-yard, 4-TD passing effort by Eagles QB Dylan Lonergan, an Alabama transfer.

Back-and-forth all night long, the game was decided when much-maligned MSU QB Aidan Chiles completed a 2-point conversion pass to cap the scoring. Chiles was spectacular throughout, accounting for 5 TDs -- 4 through the air and 1 on the ground, that one immediately preceding the game-winning play noted above.

Runner-up: Mississippi State's 24-20 upset of No. 12 Arizona State as gleeful fans of the Bulldogs serenaded all of Starkville, Miss., with a cacophony of glorious, rejoiceful cowbell rings. South Florida's 18-16 upset of No. 13 Florida before a sold-out Swamp was up there, too.

(Take note: Upset alerts were posted right here before those two games kicked off.)

UNI WATCH

Lotta nice attire out there in Week 2, but some notables:

- Illinois is the real deal in this department, without question. Frankly, a case could be made that the Illini have the best uniform-helmet combos in the sport anymore on a week-to-week basis. Their orange-white-orange road getup at Duke, with the '90s/00s-style slanted white ILLINOIS underlined on the helmet, was as sharp as sharp gets.

- Central Michigan's uniform screamed the former Washington NFL team's color scheme and style, and looked great even in a 45-17 loss at Pitt (which always looks good itself).

- Arizona State's white helmet with the Sparky logo on it was cool.

- The green-and-white Ohio Bobcats have one of the most underrated uniforms in the game. Basic and clean.

HEISMAN HYPE

Oklahoma QB John Mateer, who benefits from both the school name and the famous signal-callers it has produced in recent years, probably fired the first real salvo to any Heisman competition this season with his 344-total yardage, 3-TD effort in leading the 18th-ranked Sooners past No. 15 Michigan, 24-13, no matter how silly it was that the Wolverines were ranked so high in the first place.

Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen had the better flair for the dramatic, though, capping off his 279-yard, 3-TD passing night with a game-winning 58-yard scoring connection with Brenen Thompson with 30 seconds left to upend the Sun Devils.

It's gonna be a rough reality check for Penn State fans at some point this season when it hits that their program's best QB the last couple years was Beau Pribula, not Allar, with games like Saturday's 334-yard, 3-TD effort in Missouri's 42-31 victory against bitter rival Kansas proving it.