What Clemson can learn from Michigan's National Championship

Clemson isn't too far removed from their own national titles, but, watching Michigan on Monday night, they have a lot of work to do to get back to that stage.

The college football world watched on Monday night as Michigan was crowned champion of the sport, joining the elite group of teams to go 15-0.

Though their record was perfect, Michigan was far from a perfect team. They were sloppy at times this year, sometimes stagnant offensively, and played teams they were better than way too close. And yet, they got it done in the end.

Michigan took down Washington to win their first National Championship since 1997 / Michigan Athletics

So as Clemson prepares for the era of the 12-team College Football Playoff, what lessons can they take from the final victor of the 4-team version? Plenty.

Defense still wins championships.

Like Clemson, Michigan's defense was its calling card this year. The Wolverines had the nation's top defense, giving up just 247 yards per game and allowing just 17 touchdowns in 15 games. While many teams around the country are focused on up-tempo, high-flying offenses, Michigan focused on playing complimentary football and winning the turnover battle, something they did extremely well. The Wolverines led the nation at +19 in the turnover margin. In contrast, Clemson ranked 23rd at +6. 

Efficiency over explosiveness for the offense.

There's an old saying in football; "Every offensive drive should end with a kick." Meaning your offense is either kicking a PAT, kicking a field goal, or punting the ball away. Not giving the ball to the other team. Washington had a chance to tie the game at the beginning of the second half against Michigan, but an ill-advised throw was intercepted and set Michigan up to take a two-score lead that they never relinquished. 

Michigan's offense wasn't great in 2023, but it was efficient. They were able to consistently run the ball with Blake Corum behind an excellent offensive line. They also didn't turn the ball over. Michigan had 8 total turnovers in 2023, compared to 22 giveaways by Clemson. Think of how different some of Clemson's losses (mainly Florida State) would've gone had the Tigers simply not turned the ball over nearly twice a game.

You can narrow down that thought process to one position: quarterback. JJ McCarthy threw for nearly 3,000 yards over 15 games, averaging 199.4 yards per game. Those numbers aren't eye-popping but he guided his team and didn't turn the ball over. McCarthy had just 4 interceptions on the year and didn't lose a fumble. Cade Klubnik averaged 219 yards per game through the air, but also averaged at least one turnover per game, throwing 9 interceptions and losing 4 fumbles. 

Final takeaway

Nothing listed above is a surprise for Clemson fans. Playing good defense and not turning the ball over has always been the way to win football games, but, specifically on offense, Clemson has gotten away from those concepts over the past few years, trading efficiency for the hope of explosiveness and wins and instead finding volatility and losses. 

With offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and Cade Klubnik entering their second season in their respective roles, hopefully, they can get things ironed out and find an identity.