Clemson’s offense has spent much of this season asking its defense to keep games within reach. The Tigers can move the chains, complete short passes, and put together the occasional productive drive.
What they haven’t done often enough is threaten opponents deep, leaving little room for mistakes when a possession stalls. Head coach Dabo Swinney has already taken note of the shortcomings and has now taken a stern stance.
“It hasn’t been showing up good right now, not much at all,” Swinney said in his October 27 presser. “We’re trying to emphasize right now. Just let’s see if we can get 11 guys doing their job, and all that stuff will come. It’ll happen.”
The numbers make for uncomfortable reading for Swinney. Clemson has produced just 17 offensive plays of 20 yards or more, the fewest in the ACC. Its average depth of target sits at 6.7 yards, also among the conference’s lowest.
For an offense trying to find some consistency, that’s a lot of snaps without forcing defensive backs to worry about getting beaten over the top.
Saturday’s 20-16 loss to Virginia Tech offered another example of the problem. Clemson outgained the Hokies 288-234 and held an offense averaging nearly 450 yards per game to its lowest output of the season.
Yet the Tigers couldn’t score enough to win at home. Quarterback Tait Reynolds completed 20 of 26 passes for 153 yards. That 76.9% completion rate was his best of the season, but he averaged only 5.9 yards per completion.
Tyler Brown caught eight passes for 62 yards, while T.J. Moore extended his streak of games with a reception to 34. Neither receiver produced the kind of explosive play that might have changed the result.
Reynolds also led Clemson with 63 rushing yards and scored on a 16-yard run in the third quarter. His legs gave the offense something extra, but the passing game rarely forced Virginia Tech to defend much territory behind its linebackers.
The Tigers even completed 13 consecutive passes at one point. That sounds impressive until the final score is considered. Completing throws isn’t necessarily the same as making progress toward the end zone.
Clemson has averaged just 21.4 points through seven games, ranking 111th nationally. The Tigers are 4-3 overall and 2-2 in ACC play, having scored 16 points or fewer in each of their three losses.
Clemson’s defense did its job against Virginia Tech, but the offense failed to make the most of it. For starters, the Tigers brought down the Hokies’ QB six times, finished with 10 tackles for loss, and held Virginia Tech to just 164 yards through the air.
That defensive performance was impressive by any standard, so much so that it was Clemson’s second consecutive game holding an opponent below 250 total yards, something the program hadn’t accomplished since 2024.
Yet the loss produced an unusual statistic. Clemson had been 65-2 since 2005 when holding an opponent to 235 yards or fewer. Virginia Tech made it 65-3. Under Swinney, the Tigers had won 55 of their previous 57 games in those circumstances. Think about that for a moment.
Clemson also finished without a turnover. The Tigers held on to the ball and got the kind of performance from their defense that should have kept them in position to win, yet they still came up short.
Clemson couldn’t get much going through the air, and Virginia Tech took advantage. The Hokies didn’t have to worry much about giving up a big completion, so they could play closer to the line and concentrate on stopping the run and the short passing game. Clemson never made them pay for it.
Clemson’s offensive problems have put Chad Morris under scrutiny, with growing questions about his play-calling and whether the coaching staff is making the best use of the talent available.
Swinney, though, took the blame for the offense after the Virginia Tech defeat and said he needed to sit down with his staff to discuss what had to change. He did not put the loss down to players making mistakes on the field.
“It’s my responsibility, and I didn’t get it done for them,” Swinney said. “But we got five games left. This [Florida State] is one of them. Let’s go see if we can win it.”
Clemson has played seven games, enough time for Swinney and his staff to get a clear sense of what this offense can and cannot do. They’ve experimented with different looks, used Reynolds as a runner, and had some success throwing short.
None of it has solved the team’s biggest problem. Swinney wants the offense to hit more big plays. Now his staff has to work out how to give the players a better chance of making them.