A few words of caution to first-year Temple head coach Stan Drayton:

If you start having some measure of success in the coming years and get that itch to leave for supposedly greener pastures, take a break, a very l-o-n-g break, and think things through. Really think 'em through.

Why? Because the list of failed ventures for those opting to leave North Philly just got a little more daunting on Monday with Geoff Collins’ firing at Georgia Tech to put the capper on Week 4 of the 2022 college football season.

Who is Geoff Collins, sadly, too many Temple alums and reputed fans may ask? Ummm, he’s a former HC of your Owls, not all that long ago, and he set the school record for wins by an HC in his first two seasons on Broad Street and became the only HC in Temple history to go bowling his first two seasons.

Check that, his ONLY two seasons as the lure of Power 5 money and returning home as a Georgia kid to take the reins of the Yellow Jackets in downtown Atlanta proved all too much for him to turn down and stay at Temple.

Ahh, the fool – just like Al Golden, Steve Addazio and even architect of the Owls’ best, albeit short, run of success, Matt Rhule, before him.

Golden, who salvaged the Owls’ program from the scrap heap in 2006, put in five years of blood, sweat and tears at Temple, and won 17 games his final two seasons, including a 9-4 campaign in 2009 that included a Military Bowl berth, bolted for Miami the moment the Hurricanes breathed in his direction. He was never a good fit there, especially with him being choir-boy clean and Miami headed to probation after he arrived in Coral Cables. Oops, might wanna get all the info next time, bud.

Oddly, he had a better mark in Miami (32-25) than at Temple (27-34), but no rankings … and Miami administrators finally listened to Hurricanes’ fans and said, no, thank you – next.

Addazio, doing a Collins before Collins did a Collins with proclaiming he had to leave Temple because his “dream job” was offered by Boston College, only last two seasons. Of course, his first once provided the Owls with 9 wins and their first bowl victory in four decades. His second, well, he introduced this kid, Ryan Day, as his offensive coordinator, and the kid was dreadful as the team went 4-7. Somehow, he has seemed to find his way these days in Columbus, Ohio.

Daz? He proved to be the essence of mediocrity at his blessed BC, going 44-44 in seven seasons, before hightailing it to Colorado State, where his HC days likely ended in 4-12, get-him-outta-here abbreviated deal with the Rams.

Even Rhule kinda effed up. He’d already turned Power 5 gigs the previous year, but once he saw that back-to-back 10-win seasons, as well as one glorious victory over Penn State and an American Athletic Conference title were not enough to give him (and Temple) comparable pub to Penn State, never mind that on-campus stadium he so coveted, Rhule was gone to the first bidder. So what that Baylor was under investigation. Huh? Oh ... no biggie.

OK, so Rhule rebounded from the bad news, racking up 18 wins combined his second and third seasons, the latter of which saw an 11-3, national-ranking campaign pave the way to his current NFL gig, but he was sweating bullets that first season at Baylor while going 1-11.

And, frankly, his expiration date seems to be coming up quick with the Carolina Panthers.

Needless to say, things haven’t been so great for any of them since they left. Maybe monetarily. But in terms of success as an HC, no, not really. Not outside of Rhule’s last year at Baylor.

Just might be something for Drayton to keep in mind down the road. Could be a jinx or a curse or something.

Apparently, not even the disaster of Rod Carey was able to kill it.

LAST LAUGH
Before Saturday’s ACC thriller between conference standard-bearer Clemson and fellow unbeaten Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., ever entered OT, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney probably was questioning his recruitment of Nate Wiggins. Pressed into service due to a secondary decimated by injuries, the freshman cornerback already had three pass interference calls and two personal fouls against him … and two Demon Deacons’ TD passes caught against him.

The youngster bitched and moaned after every call, or reception against him, and later Swinney tossed in the obligatory “we had some tough calls go against us back there,” and neither the coach nor the player had a legit gripe. At all.

Yet, even with “being terrorized most of the afternoon,” as ABC’s Sean McDonough so appropriately put it, Wiggins delivered the decisive play – in Clemson’s favor.

OK, so he got another P.I. in overtime … Still, the final play saw him knock down a pass into the end zone by Wake QB Sam Hartman, who abused Wiggins and his DB cohorts for six TD passes, and them crumple to the turf, uncertain whether he made a mistake by not intercepting the fourth-down ball … only to be assured he was “aces” this time by his teammates as they celebrated all around him.

Frankly, considering what had transpired the rest of the game, and the fact this tussle was between the nation’s fifth- and 21st-ranked squads, ending with the higher-rated Tigers prevailing 51-45 after two extra frames, Wiggins’ play – the only one he made all game – was the play of the day in college football.
Just an unreal turn of events … in a flash.

NEW SCRIPT
Oregon QB Bo Nix, an Auburn transfer after being a legacy Tiger (father Patrick had his moments on the Plains at QB a lifetime ago), has been tabbed – correctly so – as dynamite at home and kinda dud away from it during his star-crossed career. That all changed at Washington State over the weekend as Nix rallied the Ducks from a 27-15 fourth-quarter deficit and carried them to a 44-41 victory.

He threw for 428 yards and 3 TDs in the process, ran for another 30, and, for good measure, caught an 18-yard pass well.

SAME SCRIPT
Oklahoma, overrated as always, dropped a game to an unranked squad – in Norman, Okla., no less. Of course, it was Kansas State pulling off the upset, as the Wildcats won for the third time in the last three years of this series. Exiled Nebraska show-runner Adrian Martinez surgically picked apart the Sooners’ D – sorry, but Brent Venables’ days as an elite defensive mind are over – en route to accounting for 5 TDs.
Side note: Tip of the cap to fellow QB transfer, Dillon Gabriel, from Central Florida. The lefty was brilliant in throwing for 330 yards and running for another 61, accounting for 4 TDs himself. Wasn’t sure before. Am now. The kid is an NFL prospect for real.

MY HEISMAN FRONTRUNNER
With apologies to the more over-hyped QB at Kansas and the ridiculously way more-overhyped QB at Southern Cal, Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker has been a revelation for a season and change now at Rocky Top. He is, far and away, the best character in the best story in college football right now. There is no debate.

Talented, but erratic for three years at Virginia Tech, he arrived in Knoxville, Tenn., via the portal, looking for someone to tap into his abilities, but unknowing who that would be … since the Vols had yet to hire Josh Heupel from UCF.

No problem. Since the two have united, Hooker has racked up 39 TDS (and just 3 INTs) passing, plus another 8 TDs on the ground. Tennessee is 4-0 in 2022 mainly due to him and ranked No. 8 – the first time they’ve been that high since 2006.
Against then-No. 20 Florida on Saturday,
 

​The whispers have evolved into almost boastful proclamations.

Clemson is no longer among college football’s elite.

You know, as the vocal consensus stuck in the past or on anti-ACC propaganda snidely suggests, if it ever were.

Six straight CFP Playoff appearances from 2015 through 2020? Pffff, lucky.

Five national-title game appearances in that run? Big deal.

Two championships, over Nick Saban’s reputably unbeatable Alabama machine? See that, the Tigers only went 2-3 in the BIG ONE. Stiffs.

With last season’s 10-3 effort ending that string of success, fluky as it apparently was, the knocks, the digs, the questions have only grown louder.

In response, Clemson and its supporters have dug in, clinging to the reality that no one within the program was bailing. Its all-in, we’re-a-family cry – today’s progressive us-against-the-world approach, if you will – has kept Dabo Swinney’s program relatively intact, at least within the locker room.

Indeed, from the end of last season until the start of this one, “the transfer portal” wasn’t just an unspoken phrase among the orange-and-purple crowd; it was an unknown one.

But that has changed. In the 10 days, two players have left the program – and, frankly, the vibe here is that more will. Probably sooner than later.

And we’re not talking “guy behind the guy … behind the guy” bit players.

We’re talking top-notch talent at the Tigers’ strongest, deepest position – running back. (Sorry, gatekeepers of “Clemson has the nation’s best defensive line,” it’s just reality.)

Not for nothing, but anyone else see Will Shipley’s reaction to scoring on a 32-yard scamper on Clemson’s first offensive play of the second half in the Tigers' closer-than-it-should-have-been, 48-20 win against Louisiana Tech? The dude went bat-shit crazy, almost like he had just been told that KFC was bringing back its potato wedges.

It went far beyond any expression of happiness for getting into the end zone. It was all about the frustration of being an elite back who, finally, almost desperately got another “touch” following yet another half of offense for Clemson spent trying to make quarterback DJ Uiagalelei “comfortable” and to build his confidence.

Three games into season, Swinney and offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter, have devolved into the caretakers of Uiagalelei’s apparently fragile ego.

That may cost the Tigers sooner – with a trip to fellow unbeaten and ACC Atlantic Division rival Wake Forest looming this Saturday – AND later – with the real possibility of, if not Shipley, then his backups, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah, deciding that their buy-in to Dabo’s culture isn’t worth it if their chances of getting the ball are at the mercy of Uiagalelei’s psyche and the coaches’ overkill with trying to protect it.

Clemson slipped into the locker room at halftime the other night, up just 13-6 to Louisiana Tech, with Uiagalelei not only having attempted 23 passes, but leading the team with six rushing attempts.

It’s not just the numbers. It’s that the offense’s pace is so damn slow with him running. It’s basically all Uiagalelei, with maybe a few crumbs for Shipley and lord only knows what miniscule grub will get thrown in the direction of Mafah and Pace for them to “feast” on.

Shipley’s burst, fortunately for the Tigers, kickstarted a 21-0 third quarter, which saw him rattle off 27- and 26-yard runs in a second half in which he tallied 104 yards on eight carries, and Mafah and Pace add TDs as well.

The difference between the halves was like night and day. The moment Swinney and Co. went to its strength – the running game, with three backs that could start anywhere in the country – the Tigers took off.

Even with that, though, Shipley only has 32 carries this season, Mafah 20 and Pace 15 … with Uiagalelei having 27.

If that second-half attack only proves an aberration, expect changes in both the won-loss column and in amount of players entering the transfer portal.

BASKETBALL SCHOOLS, HUH
The quartet of elite college hoops entities – North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas – all being 3-0 at this point may have John Calipari nodding in approval or disgust at this point, and no doubt it’s kinda cool to see the shift in balance of power, or propaganda, at certain campuses.

But let’s keep it real for a bit. Kentucky and North Carolina are not exactly new to success on the gridiron. The Tar Heels, in fact, are a regular bowl entrant, and the Wildcats have been steadily climbing up the SEC respect ladder for several years now under Mark Stoops.

But Duke and Kansas. That’s different. The Devils have a dynamic QB in Riley Leonard, who has to be the youngest-looking kid in college football (he could pass for 12 or 13), and the Jayhawks have one of their own with that (Jalon Daniels), as well as pretty dynamic coach in Lance Leipold, at least in terms of success.

Dude won six Division III national titles with Wisconsin-Whitewater in one eight-year span, won 10 games at Buffalo and directed the Bulls into the top 25 in Covid-crunched 2020, and now has Kansas looking like it has turned the corner in just his second season after quality back-to-back road wins at West Virginia and Houston.

FOR REAL
Got three for ya: Southern Cal, Penn State and Washington – ranked seventh, 14th and 18th, respectively, in the latest AP poll after 3-0 starts in impressive fashion.

Being honest, didn’t buy the Trojans’ hype coming into the season. The Lincoln Riley love from the national media can make anyone give pause to whatever the consensus of it says, but it really does appear USC may go from near-dumpster fire to legit CFB Playoff contender in less than a year’s time thanks to Riley and the QB prodigy Caleb Williams who moved right along with the coach from Oklahoma to Los Angeles.

Penn State? Considering the elite recruiting level James Franklin seems to live at, without ever wavering, that the Lions were not ranked coming into the season was silly. Yeah, OK, they have 17-year, meh-at-best vet Sean Clifford still running the show, but even he’s stepped up his play when it has mattered.

Washington may be the biggest surprise, though – and Michael Penix transferring in from Indiana wasn’t going to change that for me. But anyone who dared to check out No. 11 Michigan State’s visit to Seattle on Saturday was provided a visual clinic on how to completely confuse an opponent, a supposedly superior one, with movement, play-calling and just sheer energy and effort.

NOT SO SURE
Hmmm, gotta be Syracuse, N.C. State and Arkansas  – all 3-0. The Orange are unbeaten only because Purdue gifted them a victory this past weekend, the Pack have endured growing pains in all three games they’ve played, and the Razorbacks were in danger of losing to Missouri State and their former coach/motorcycle enthusiast, Bobby Petrino, in Little Rock.

The Hogs likely lose this week to Texas A&M and N.C. State the next week at Clemson, while Syracuse eventually may be staring down the barrel of closing the season on a seven-game losing skid, with games against N.C. State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Wake Forest and Boston College remaining – in succession, starting Oct. 15 – on the Orange’s slate.

FINAL WORD
Can we, once and for all, knock off this silliness that Nebraska is this prestigious, coveted job for a head coach anymore? It’s ridiculous. The program hasn’t been relevant for more than two decades. Arizona State, which now has a vacancy after Herm Edwards was shown the door this week, is a better gig, and Auburn, which will have a vacancy of its own once Bryan Harsin gets the boot this fall (word is, he's not even recruiting anymore with a pink slip a certainty), is a much better gig – and neither of those two programs are considered among the elite in their own conferences.

It was an entertaining Week 2 of the 2022 college football season.

Marshall and Appalachian State stepped up in class and recorded road upsets at Notre Dame and Texas A&M, Tennessee topped Pittsburgh in a classic, and top-ranked Alabama survived a scare at unranked Texas.

The fallout from all that, and more, created a continental shift in the rankings that came out Sunday.

Still, the big story wasn’t about a game, or even the rankings. It was about an ouster. An ouster that comes with a $15 million price tag.

Not for nothing, Scott Frost earned his heave-ho Sunday from the University of Nebraska, where he quarterbacked the Cornhuskers to their last national title in 1997. Hired away in 2017 from Central Florida, before the ink even finished penning the Knights’ perfect, self-proclaimed national-title season, the favorite son returned to Lincoln, Neb., immediately got buried in the cornfield-sized hole between those living in Nebraska football’s past and the reality of what it actually is anymore.

Word to the wise, including the dopes who keep listing frontline guys as possibilities to fill the opening: It’s a mediocre FBS program at best, a Power-5 outlet in name only.

Which, frankly, makes the timing of this firing all the more absurd.

On paper, sure, it was time for Frost to go. That 16-31 record he posted at the ol’ alma mater was as pathetic as it sounds, and capped ever so poetically by a school – Georgia Southern – less than a decade invested in FBS-level football handling the ‘Huskers, 45-42, at Memorial Stadium. The Eagles racked up more than 640 yards of offense in the process, which had Frost admitting he had no answers in how to stop them.

But on the paper that really matters, though – the green kind – this was an irresponsible move by athletic director Trev Alberts. Now, frankly, Alberts may have been a greater player for the Huskers in his day than Frost was. He was brilliant on the field, seemingly always making the smart play en route to being an All-American and a first-round NFL draft choice (No. 5 overall) by the Indianapolis Colts in 1994. But this was just dumb, or arrogant.

Alberts needs to realize that Nebraska is not the Nebraska that he and Frost played at. It’s not big time anymore. Oh, it’s in the Big Ten … only that serves as a teaching ground for all to see that the Huskers are no longer an elite program – and it might be wise for Nebraska to start pinching a few pennies. Or at least that it needs to be smarter in where it throws its money around.
​
Alberts, like most of Husker Nation, continues to skip the lesson, though. With an Oct. 1 date set for Frost’s buyout to drop in half, to $7.5 million, it was incumbent upon Alberts to adhere to that date and be fiscally sensible. Once he opted to allow Frost to get another crack at turning things around in 2022, that had to be the deal.

He didn’t fire Frost in the off-season, which made the most sense if you were gonna burn $15 mil from the budget, since that would’ve given the program a chance to reboot with a new coach. Instead, he held onto the guy and put everyone in the program through several unnecessary months of this ongoing nightmare … only to jump the gun mid-season anyway and have Nebraska still on the hook for the same $15M.
 
His reasoning is that he felt that he owed it to all the players and everyone else in the program to make a move now.
Huh? The reality is, Alberts owed it to all of them to fire Frost at the end of last season in order to start fresh, instead of band-aiding things by making Frost fire his offensive staff in some sort of sad-sack faux reboot. Or, OR, to commit, and ADHERE, to an expiration date for Frost no earlier than Oct. 1

He did neither.

Which begs the question: Why isn’t he headed out the door right along with Frost?

BIZARRO LOU HOLTZ
Remember back in the day when Holtz would drone on ad nauseam about how good the opposition was that his Notre Dame would be facing? How they were – gasp – almost unbeatable?
Well, fast-forward to today, and we got Nick Saban doing the exact opposite. If his team has a tough game, as it did in a 20-19 nailbiter against the Longhorns, or, yikes, the Tide actually loses, the guy just can’t shut up with griping about how his team sucked, how inept it was, and the mistakes it made were the most any team could possibly make.
Never, ever, does he give credit – legit credit, not some BS throw-away speak – to the opposing squad.
Enough, coach. It’s beyond old, and tired, and annoying as hell. Have some grace for once.

BY THE WAY
If freshman QB Quinn Ewers doesn’t get hurt in the first half of that game, Saban wouldn’t have been bitching about a close win. It would’ve been about a blowout loss. Kid was carving up the Tide secondary, connecting on 9 of 12 passes for 134 yards – in the first quarter.

AND ANOTHER THING
Alabama got away with a delay of game to start its game-winning drive. Anyone watching the game could see that Tide QB Bryce Young, the reigning Heisman winner, got the snap a full count after the play clock hit :00. Earlier in the game, FOX broadcasters Joel Klatt and Gus Johnson were spot-on with ripping officials for letting ‘Bama DBs get away with pass interference on so many balls. But they were too busy yapping with each other and missed this egregious error.
Somehow it seems just that ‘Bama fell from its No. 1 perch in Sunday’s latest poll, which saw defending national champ Georgia jump into that spot.

BACK TO EARTH
Following a thrilling, three-point win against then-No. 7 Utah, which also served as a national coming-out party for Anthony Richardson, Florida and its sophomore QB got dealt a cold slap in the face of reality from SEC East rival Kentucky. The 20th-ranked Wildcats were too physical for the Gators, who went from unranked to No. 12 after beating the Utes, and just grinded out a 26-16 victory. It was almost a carbon copy of Kentucky’s 20-13 win over Florida last year.

FEEL-GOOD STORY
A few weeks ago, Sam Hartman’s return to action was up in question, with Wake Forest officials unable to give anyone an answer as to what his physical, “non-football-related” issue was, why it had him leave summer camp, and when would he return, or if he would. Turns out the guy had surgery to take care of a blood clot, causing him to miss last week’s opener against VMI. But he was back Saturday, throwing for 300 yards and four TDs in the Deacons’ 45-25 win at Vanderbilt. Don’t be surprised if he’s in the Heisman discussion late into the season, just like he was in 2021.

STAT OF THE WEEK
Thanks to App State’s change in offensive philosophy from Week 1’s shootout with North Carolina to a control-the-clock effort in Week 1 at A&M, the Aggies only were able to get off 38 plays. The Mountaineers, conversely, got off 82 of ’em, including 52 rushing attempts, while holding the ball for 41:29 of the game’s 60 minutes.

​Honestly, wasn’t that impressed by Ohio State, which is receiving the majority of rave reviews with a “great performance” chorus after its 21-10 victory over Notre Dame at the Shoe on Saturday night.

Really? Granted the Irish came in ranked No. 5, but the second-ranked Buckeyes were favored by 17 points, playing before more than 100,000 of their closest friends and, not for nothing, seemingly the beneficiary of many a call.

Look, they’re better and they wore down the Irish, who look like they may have some issues on offense for a while. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Spare me the “it was an ugly loss that was ‘good’ for Ohio State” BS. Puh-leeze.

The remaining two of the three-headed monster that is said by the masses, both expert and not, to rule the college football world? Well, top-ranked Alabama and defending national champ Georgia took care of business, as expected. The Tide throttled Utah State, 55-0, while the third-ranked Bulldogs embarrassed No. 11 Oregon, 49-3, perhaps permanently ending Bo Nix’s dreams of ever becoming an NFL quarterback while lifting former walk-on Stetson Bennett into Heisman frontrunner status.

Frankly, aside from Marcus Freeman’s game plan keeping ND afloat in Columbus, Ohio, for much of the night, Saturday’s biggest of the big boys’ showings in Week 1 were, well, kinda boring, if not expected. Seriously, it’s not like Georgia’s blowout win was a surprise; just the size of it was. The Dawgs were favored by 16.5, after all.

Elsewhere, though …

MOST IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE
Syracuse hosted ACC rival Louisville Saturday night and, being a 4.5-point underdog, figured to be a better-luck-next-time steppingstone for the Cardinals’ rise again in the conference. Only it wasn’t so.

The Orange, while unplugging electric QB Malik Cunningham for Louisville, went off themselves in winning 31-7 with top-flight running back Sean Tucker racking up 98 yards and a score rushing and 85 yards and a score receiving.

The real dual-threat for ‘Cuse in this one, though, was QB Garrett Shrader, who threw for 237 yards and two scores while rushing for another 95 yards and a score (on 16 carries).

His effort seemed to mirror that of several of his contemporaries over the weekend.

TO RUN OR TO THROW … OR BOTH
Shrader sparked Syracuse in arguably the weekend’s biggest stunner. But he had plenty of company among QBs killing it with their arms and feet.

Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders threw for 406 yards and four scores, and ran for 57 and 2.

Southern Cal’s Caleb Williams threw for 249 yards and two scores, and ran for 68 yards.

Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong threw for 246 yards and two scores, and ran for 105 and 1.

Central Florida’s John Rhys Plumlee threw for 308 yards and four scores, and ran for 86 and 1.

Florida’s Anthony Richardson threw for 168 yards, and ran for 106 and three scores.

All, like Shrader, led their teams to victories.

Richardson may be the biggest freak in the sport ... this side of Alabama linebacker Will Anderson. Dude has the arms, wheels and power to carry Florida a long way. He’s just shy a few hoagies from Wawa – yes, Philly peeps, there are Wawas in Gainesville (five of ’em, in fact, with Richardson knowing all with being a hometown kid) – of being a defensive end playing quarterback.

BEST WINS
Florida, a 2.5-point underdog, tops No. 7 Utah, 29-26. Richardson led the way, but the Gators also gave the Utes a taste of their own medicine, toting the rock the same amount of time (39) but gaining 59 more yards (289 to 230).

Florida State, a four-point underdog, tops Louisiana State, 24-23. Best game these eyes saw all weekend, wild finish or not. The Seminoles’ return to prominence, if this is the start of it, would be great for the sport and the ACC.

Rutgers, a six-point underdog, tops Boston College, 22-21. The Scarlets Knights, due to injury, had to rotate three guys at QB, but still found a way to win … with the clock winding down.

WORST LOSSES
San Diego State, a 6.5-point favorite, falls to Arizona, 38-20. So much for breaking in a sparkling, brand-new stadium in style. This was not the way to counteract all the bad publicity headed the school’s way, courtesy of the Punt Idiot … er, God.

Virginia Tech, a seven-point favorite, falls to FCS program Old Dominion. The Hokies did a Three Stooges routine for 60 minutes in Norfolk. Worse, this ain’t the first time – but it was under Brent Pry’s watch.

WINS IN NAME ONLY
Both North Carolina and N.C. State came up on the right side of the ledger Saturday, and, really, neither deserved such a favorable fate. The Tar Heels gave up 40 – FORTY!! – points in the fourth quarter to Appalachian State and only secured the 63-61 victory when the Mountaineers blew a two-point conversion. The Wolfpack were equally blessed on the same afternoon in a 21-20 win as East Carolina missed a game-tying extra point and a game-winning field goal in the game’s final three minutes.

BACKYARD BRAWL … SQUARED
Was surprised to hear absolutely no mention of the USC trauma bond shared by the QBs in last Thursday’s neighborhood battle between Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The Mountaineers’ J.T. Daniels and the Panthers’ Kedon Slovis both began their collegiate careers at USC before ultimately transferring – Daniels first to Georgia after injury and Slovis’ rise precipitated his initial move, and then to West Virginia. Slovis just made the move since last season, his third as the Trojans’ starter, and is a remarkably similar passer to the NFL first-rounder, Kenny Pickett, he is replacing. Frankly, up to this point, he has been a far more successful passer than his predecessor at the same point in their careers. Slovis, in maintaining his better than 300 yards per game average, tossed for 308 yards and a score on just 24 passing attempts in directing No. 17 Pitt to the exciting, 38-31 victory.
 
FINAL WORD
There is no QB controversy at Clemson. There is a loyalty issue, though, as in the one HC Dabo Swinney has for DJ Uiagalelei, regardless of the detriment it is to the Tigers’ chances of returning to championship glory – conference and national. They’re loaded, everywhere, even at QB. Just not with DJ at the helm. His backup, freshman Cade Klubnik, the top-ranked QB recruit in the country when Clemson signed him, is head-and-shoulders a better player; it’s blatantly obvious. If only with how smoothly the offense ran with him behind center for one series in Monday’s opener against Georgia Tech (not to mention all the rumblings from camp).

Before then, the fourth-ranked Tigers sputtered the entire first half as the plan, apparently, was to give DJ as many opportunities as it took to get him going … and he squandered them all – while the talents of a great RB trio and efforts of a dramatically improved offensive were wasted.

Sure, Clemson won 41-10 … and looked awful in doing so versus a totally outmanned team.

If Dabo doesn’t wake up, that loyalty to DJ is going to cost Clemson – because Tech ain’t the opponent every game this season for the Tigers.