Clemson is Getting Exactly What it Needed This Saturday

The Clemson Tigers are 3-2 entering their Week 7 matchup with Charleston Southern, a game that Clemson should win convincingly.

None of Clemson's three victories this year have been blowouts. Not even its win over Georgia Southern in Week 2.

Is this the weekend it finally happens?

The Tigers have certainly been on the other end of routs this season, having lost to LSU by a score of 51-10 in their opener and then 41-13 to Miami two weeks ago.

But Clemson, a team that used to regularly run opponents out of the building, has yet to put the hammer down in 2026.

That's why the Tigers' otherwise dull contest against Charleston Southern is exactly what Dabo Swinney's squad needs.

Swinney himself recently said that Clemson is very close and that it just needs to dominate an opponent. That could happen this Saturday.

Charleston Southern is 3-3 and lost to Georgia Southern by a score of 31-0 earlier in the season. It is seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Clearly, it can be had for a blowout.

The Tigers have shown some very positive signs in recent weeks, having rallied to defeat North Carolina and then following that up with victory over California on the road.

Of course, the Miami loss put a damper on those wins, but even against the Hurricanes, Clemson did not look quite as inept as it did versus LSU in Week 1.

Tait Reynolds in particular needs a breakout game. He threw for 295 yards in the loss to Miami, but he went without a touchdown and threw an interception.

It's time that Reynolds has a game where he throws for 300-plus yards and two or three touchdowns, and it's also time that one of T.J. Moore or Bryant Wesco has a breakthrough performance.

This is a game that the Tigers absolutely should win 38-3 or something to that effect. It shouldn't be close. It should be a laugher.

If it isn't, then Clemson has even more serious problems than I thought, and I would seriously question its ability to even win eight games this season.

The Tigers do not play a singled ranked opponent on their schedule the rest of the way, so they actually do have an outside shot of running the table.

But if they're unable to make easy work of Charleston Southern this Saturday, then that possibility probably goes out the window.

Charleston Southern should provide exactly what Clemson needs. Whether or not the Tigers take advantage remains to be seen.