Clemson offensive stars we’d love to see in EA Sports’ College Football
College football fans and gamers have been waiting a long time for a new video game to play NCAA football on Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox consoles. After more than 10 years, that wait appears to be almost over.
EA Sports announced last week that it was officially relaunching its heralded college football franchise, previously known as ‘NCAA Football,’ sometime this summer. The game will be titled ‘EA Sports College Football 25.’
Who will be on the cover and other details have yet to be finalized, but various reports state that a release date for the video game is expected to be sometime this summer, likely in either July or August.
The last college football game that was released by EA Sports was NCAA Football 14. That game featured former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on the cover. The ‘NCAA’ series was discontinued in 2013 after a wave of lawsuits over name, image and likeness.
For Clemson fans that didn’t hold on to PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 consoles and use downloaded rosters from other online gamers, that means they missed out on playing with a lot of Tiger legends from the Dabo Swinney era.
With that in mind, we decided to put together a list of Clemson football stars from the past 10 years that we’re sure fans and gamers alike would love to play with on EA’s new college football series if the makers of the game decide to allow users to access past players.
Deshaun Watson
The “OG GOAT” of the Dabo Swinney era. Whatever you want to call him, Watson was the quarterback who started Clemson’s run of dominance from 2015-2020. He helped lead the Tigers to the national championship game in 2015 before winning it in 2016 with his touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow with one second left, capping a 35-31 thriller over Alabama. Watson was a Heisman finalist both years.
Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence didn’t follow Watson directly, but there wasn’t much of a gap in between the two signal-callers. After one-plus season with Kelly Bryant at quarterback for Clemson, Lawrence took control of the team midway through the 2018 season and led the Tigers to a perfect 15-0 record and 44-16 romp of Alabama in the 2018 national championship game. Like Watson, he was also a Heisman finalist, making a case for the award in 2020.
Travis Etienne
Clemson Notre Dame Goodyear Cotton Bowl
Another stud in the Clemson offense who earned an invite to the historic Downtown Athletic Club in New York, Etienne was the nation’s best running back in 2018. He’s also the all-time leading rusher in ACC history. In four years at Clemson, Etienne rushed for 4,952 yards and 70 touchdowns while adding 1,155 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Along with Lawrence, he was part of a heralded senior class that won an ACC Championship and reached the College Football Playoff in all four years. Higgins accounted for three touchdowns in the 2018 national championship game vs. Alabama (two rushing, one receiving).
Mike Williams
Williams is third all-time in Clemson history in receiving touchdowns (21) and fourth in receiving yards (2,727). Williams was unstoppable at times in the fourth quarter of the 2016 national championship game in Tampa. He finished the night with eight catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. Williams also had a clutch 24-yard reception on the Tigers’ fateful game-winning drive.
Tee Higgins
One of the most decorated receivers to ever don a Clemson uniform, Higgins’ 2018 season was one for the record books. He led all Tigers receivers that year with 59 catches, 12 touchdowns, and 936 yards. Higgins’ juggling, one-handed touchdown grab seconds before halftime in the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame was one of the best catches of the year, and he followed that up with a dominant performance in the national championship game with three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Justyn Ross
His heroics in the 2018 national championship game is a good enough reason to put him on this list. That night in the Bay Area against Alabama, Ross had a game-high 153 receiving yards on six catches, including a 74-yard touchdown in the third quarter that had Swinney high-stepping down the sidelines in jubilation. Ross ended his Tigers career tied for fifth in Clemson history in receiving touchdowns (20) and 10th in career receiving yards (2,379).
