By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

In the 36 years that have passed between Clemson’s first National Title in 1981 and their second this past season, only two teams- ‘95 Nebraska Cornhuskers and ‘12 Alabama Crimson Tide- have been able to repeat as National Champions.

That equates to around 5.5%, which is eerily close to my success rate when it came to asking girls out on a date in high school.

Needless to say, it doesn’t happen often in college football, because basically it’s really damn hard to win one, let alone two in back to back seasons.

When you start assessing Clemson’s chance at repeating the first thing that automatically sticks is out is their offense, specifically the quarterback situation.

The Tigers lost a lot of offensive firepower off last year’s team, but none more important than DeShaun Watson. You don’t lose, arguably, the best quarterback in your program’s history without there being a drop off in production.

That’s not to say that either of the possible incumbents, Kelly Bryant (Soph.) or Hunter Johnson (Fresh.), won’t be more than an adequate replacement. It’s just a lot to ask.

Case in point, both Nebraska and Alabama returned their starting quarterbacks during those repeat seasons, Tommie Frazier and AJ McCarron, respectively.

The good news is that Clemson will have one of the better offensive lines in the conference, so Bryant or Johnson shouldn’t be tossed around like a rag doll, a la David Carr during his Houston Texans days.

Since you have to expect some inconsistent play on the offensive side of the ball, that means you’re defense better be up to the task. Fortunately, for Dabo Swinney, he has one of the best Defensive Coordinators in the country in Bret Venables and should have one of the best defenses he’s had since coming to Clemson.

The Tigers defensive line, anchored by Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence, will be on the best in the country. Their linebackers and secondary may not have the household names you’d expect, but they are more than capable of holding their own.

While the talent is there for Clemson to make a run, the road to get there will be difficult. After a warmup game against Kent State, they play Auburn at home, followed by an away game against Louisville, and reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Lamar Jackson.

Besides Florida State, who they get at home towards the end of the season, all the other games where you could see them slipping up will take place on the road; Virginia Tech, NC State, and I’ll go ahead and throw in South Carolina, just because.

The level of talent in the ACC has improved exponentially over the past few years and it seems like Clemson is going to have to go through all the top teams, minus Miami, if they want to make it back to playoffs.

Of course, you can have all the talent in the world (they do), great coaching (absolutely), and a favorable schedule (eh, probably not), but none of it matters if you can’t stay healthy.

There’s no doubt this is a daunting task Swinney and his team have ahead of them; not only trying to repeat, but the reality is they are actually trying to make it back to the National Title game for the third year in a row.

Yet, all that being said, I don’t think they’d have it any other way. The 16 year old kid in me wishes them the best of luck; he knows how truly difficult that 5.5% can be.