Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney likes to do things his own way. But after numerous internal promotions, the Clemson offense just wasn’t clicking as it had with Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence at the helm.
Swinney went outside of his comfort zone to hire Garrett Riley to fix the anemic offense in 2023. But until Week 2 of 2024, little changed. After back-to-back offensive explosions against Appalachian State and NC State, though, the Tigers are feeling great. Did Garrett Riley finally fix Clemson’s offense, or is the recent offensive efficiency a product of poor competition?
Examining Clemson’s Recent Offensive Outburst
Clemson finished 52nd in total offense last season, doing most of its damage against inferior competition. After Riley took over, the Clemson offense was held to 20 points or fewer against six of its first 12 Power Conference opponents.
That includes single-digit performances against South Carolina (the defense scored the Tigers’ lone touchdown in that game), Duke, and, of course, Georgia to start this season.
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But something clicked in Week 2, as the Tigers scored a touchdown on every first half drive against Appalachian State, finishing the game with 66 points.
Then on Saturday, the Tigers again rolled offensively, averaging nearly 10.5 yards a play and putting up 45 points in two quarters against a flailing Wolfpack defense that looked shell-shocked throughout the entire first half.
So, did Riley fix the Clemson offense?
As Lee Corso likes to say, “Not so fast, my friend!”
Look, you play the schedule in front of you, but Appalachian State and NC State haven’t played defense this year, or at least not to level expected of two teams with preseason hopes of making the College Football Playoff.
We saw that Thursday when the Mountaineers allowed 320 rushing yards to South Alabama.
We saw that last week when NC State allowed Louisiana Tech’s Tru Edwards to go for nearly 150 receiving yards on just four catches.
The Tigers have looked great, no question, but the Tigers have benefitted from playing spiraling defenses at the perfect time in the season.
Can Clemson Keep This Offensive Pace?
No question, Clemson benefitted from playing two defenses in the midst of collapsing seasons. We still haven’t seen the Tigers play well offensively against a defense with a pulse.
Here’s the kicker though, Clemson only plays three defenses with a pulse all season.
The Tigers play just four teams the rest of the season with a defense in the top 60 of ESPN’s SP+. Of those teams, only Louisville also has an offense in the top 30 as South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Florida State are struggling on that side of the ball.
Clemson will not average 50 points a first half the rest of the season like it has the last two games. But the Tigers don’t have to be that perfect on the offensive side of the ball.
Clemson has not allowed 30 points in regulation of a regular season game since South Carolina won a 31-30 thriller in 2022. The Tigers don’t need to score 50 points every game, especially against this schedule. The Tigers simply need to be competent enough offensively to avoid the letdown games that have plagued the Tigers over the last two seasons.
Cade Klubnik has been better and as long as he continues to make good decisions, the Tigers’ offense is good enough to get them to the College Football Playoff.
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