Know The Enemy: Clemson Football 2026

Image Courtesy of @ClemsonFB

This week on Know The Enemy we welcome Michael Ray Serber, producer of Phantom Island, Shutdown Fullcast, and Co-Host of Hand in the Dirt Podcasts. He is also a Clemson fan.

1) It feels like the questions around your coach have been bubbling for a while, is the fanbase generally starting to turn? Are they set with the two nattys and fortified for a tough time, or are the expectations high all the time now?

Dabo’s not going anywhere unless the wheels totally fall off this thing. The fanbase is all over the place here. There’s a large portion of folks who expect success and need to see focused improvement year in and year out. A much larger portion of the fanbase is still drunk off all those ACC championships and the 2 Natty’s. It seems lost on them that it’s been 6 years since Clemson truly competed with the best in the sport. That being said, some perspective would be healthy for folks who are hitting the panic button. Clemson’s “tough time” is being 2-1 this season, 16 games removed from an ACC championship and CFB Playoff appearance. I think most fanbases would kill for that to be their “bad run”.

2) How do you see the rest of your season playing out?

This is not a playoff team. I think pretty much every ACC game left on the schedule will be competitive, other than Miami. I think the Canes will handle their business in Death Valley in a painful way. A 9-3 season with a win over South Carolina would be a smashing success if Tait Reynolds remains the starter. I believe that’s the ceiling for this group, but 6-6 or 5-7 are very real possibilities. This ACC schedule is hard starting this Friday night.

3) Defensive player to watch Friday?

Sammy Brown at linebacker. He’s all-world everything, but so far this season his play has been extremely poor. Bad tackling, and he’s given up the gap on so many of those big runs you’ve seen Clemson give up this season. He’s consistently taken poor angles and over-run on a lot of plays in all 3 games. If Clemson wants to win Friday night in Berkeley they need Sammy Brown to step up and play up to his pay grade.

4) Offensive player to watch Friday?

I can’t give just one player, because you should pay attention to the o-line rotation on Friday. Matt Luke has been trying to break the code with these dudes. For the last 32 minutes of the game against UNC a switch flipped, and dudes like Elyjah Thurman started moving bodies. I saw a violence in Freshman Grant Wise’s eyes that made me feel young again. That being said, they were atrocious against LSU and Georgia Southern. If that 2nd half line shows up then Tait Reynolds will have a chance to go toe to toe with the league’s best QB.

5) How do you see the game going?

The fact that it’s 10:30 eastern time is so hilarious, I expect the Calgorithm to feast online. Clemson probably gonna get off to a sleepy start. If Cal comes out slinging it and doesn’t hit big we’re gonna be in a slog. I think JKS feasts though and Cal is able to do what most teams are going to do to us this year: RUN THE DAMN BALL. Cal runs it down Clemson’s throat which will set up JKS for some big throws. Tait Reynolds has some confidence and Chad Morris started to find his rhythm last week. He outcoached Bill in the 2nd half (:shudders: that was tough to type). Clemson is gonna keep this thing close. One posession game. Clemson is the best in the country at those since 2011, it’s gonna be late though so advantage Cal.

6) What does Cal need to do to win this thing?

I repeat: RUN THE DAMN BALL. Clemson has been porous up front. If Cal exploits that it is going to create opportunities for JKS and Clemson doesn’t have the horses on defense to keep up.

7) Whom would you most like to punch in the face?

DJT. Right in the damn nose.