Clemson football got off to an inauspicious start to the 2023 season Monday night, to say the least.
The ninth-ranked Tigers lost 28-7 to Duke on the road in a game where they turned the ball over twice in the red zone, including once inside the five-yard line, and had a pair of field goals blocked.
Dating back to last season, Clemson is 3-4 in its last seven games. Many analysts have expressed concern over the trajectory of the program, and ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) is not predicting good things the rest of the way in 2023.
The updated FPI rankings are out, and as always, one of the metrics is projected win-loss record. Right now, the computer predicts Clemson will be 7.3-4.8, which of course rounds out to a 7-5 record.
The Tigers haven’t lost five games in the regular season since they went 6-7 in 2010, Dabo Swinney’s second year at Clemson.
DUKE STORMS THE FIELD AFTER TAKING DOWN NO. 9 CLEMSON‼️ pic.twitter.com/Dz8L3wvSUt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 5, 2023
Looking ahead, Clemson shouldn’t have a problem handling Charleston Southern and FAU at home the next two weeks, but then comes a matchup with Florida State and a road trip to Syracuse to close out September.
The Tigers also must travel to NC State, Miami and South Carolina and take on Notre Dame and North Carolina. That 7-5 mark might not be unrealistic after all.