Coming into the season opener, Clemson was ranked fourth in the AP Poll and one of the media darlings of the offseason. Multiple national analysts even picked the Tigers to win the national title.
Clemson was showered with praise throughout the preseason, and there was no shortage of hype surrounding the Tigers or love for Dabo Swinney’s team. But Swinney says only one narrative stood up in the 17-10 loss to LSU last Saturday – that first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen would make a major impact on the Clemson D and help the unit drastically improve from a season ago.