What’s next for Clemson football?: Takeaways from the opener and looking ahead

Clemson's gameplan on offense should see some tweaks after the opener.

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Sep 07 15:35:51 GMT-04:00 2021

With a chance to take a closer look at the season debut, TigerNet dives into what happened and what’s ahead for Clemson after a frustrating season opener.

The post-Trevor Lawrence era got off to a rocky start to say the least. What’s your main takeaway from the Clemson offensive effort in Charlotte?

David Hood: It was hard to fathom how almost everything that can go wrong on offense went wrong. I thought the play-calling and lack of a run game was a huge factor, as was once again the almost non-use of the middle of the field for slants, seams, etc. Then there was the play of the offensive line, which wasn’t good no matter how anyone else tries to spin it. The running backs didn’t hit what few holes were there. The running backs didn’t block in pass pro as well as they can. The wide receivers didn’t block particularly well on the perimeter and even Justyn Ross ran some wrong routes. Tight end Braden Galloway dropped a critical third-down pass. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei struggled, not trusting some of his reads, holding the ball too long, and he didn’t take advantage of some lanes where could have run for big yards.

In other words – every position group and the coaches struggled. I asked offensive coordinator Tony Elliott if he could remember a game where everything went wrong, and he said no. Give props to the Georgia defense, they played great. But Clemson’s offense made so many mistakes it’s hard to tell just how good the Bulldogs are.

Brandon Rink: If I had to boil it down to one takeaway, I was most surprised that Uiagalelei just didn’t look ready for the big moment, and after an offseason of pundits rightly pointing to the great pinch-hit starts last year and his coaches talking up the poise and ability he has, Uiagalelei didn’t show that in Charlotte.

Georgia’s defense should get all kinds of credit for that being the case and that Bulldogs D-line had Clemson’s O-line clearly overmatched, but it’s been a defining element of the Tiger offense that their dynamic QBs have made plays in spite of Clemson O-lines, at times, over the success the program has had in the last decade or so.

Uiagalelei had two runs of six-straight incompletions Saturday. He appeared to see some ghosts while in the pocket, and Georgia’s stout front-seven and a DB group that smothered Clemson’s receivers largely -- with them not needing to blitz regularly -- meant he had to be more precise when his targets were open or let that talented WR corps make some plays on the 50/50 balls. That precision just wasn't there and there was also an abundance of miscommunications between the QB and receivers.

The talent is clearly there, and there’s little reason to doubt Uiagalelei will work on what he needs to work on. This is also where the Clemson coaches have to make their money and put him in the best position to succeed. Uiagalelei talked about Elliott’s goal to be a top offense in the country last week, and now they have the rest of the 2021 slate to keep building on efficiency into the potential bigger games down the road.

Uiagalelei takes ownership for his tough night in Charlotte

The storyline in some of these showcase-game losses lately has been Brent Venables’ defense struggling, but that was rarely the case against Georgia. What stood out to you about their season debut?

Rink: Venables largely fixed the ills of his group from the LSU and Ohio State losses (and it helped that JT Daniels isn’t exactly Joe Burrow or Justin Fields).

Roughly nine months ago, the Buckeyes burned his group for 15 explosive plays (runs of 12-plus yards; passes of 16-plus). Saturday, Clemson surrendered just one explosive pass and one explosive run, and while Georgia marched down the field late after another set of Clemson missed offensive chances, Venables’ group kept a star-studded Georgia group out of the endzone offensively for the first time since 2016 (also a Bulldogs win, 13-7 over No. 9 Auburn).

Also a point of contention in recent years, they were ready for Georgia to run suddenly to the line and snap it at points, which also helped in containing those big gainers.

Clemson’s defense was as advertised, and maybe even a little more than that, despite missing veteran starters such as Tyler Davis and Nolan Turner. It was next man up and a talented group showed what they are made of.

Hood: How about the players who stepped up? I spoke with Tiger great Levon Kirkland on the field before the game and we talked about Ruke Orhorhoro making his first start. He told me a story about a teammate of his who was almost in panic mode before his first start in Death Valley, and Kirkland sat down with him and told him all he had to do was “Hold point. Hold your gap. That’s all we need you to do.” That resonated with me, because Orhorhoro and Tré Williams help point most of the night. Add in the play of true freshman safety Andrew Mukuba and other reserves and the defense did really well without veterans Tyler Davis and Nolan Turner.

Another big takeaway for me was how well the defense did against tempo also. The Bulldogs obviously watched the success Ohio State had against Clemson running tempo in the Sugar Bowl and tried to use it to their advantage Saturday night. It didn’t work. Head coach Dabo Swinney said that this defense is older with a lot of veterans. Venables reminded me Monday that his defense has been really good against tempo teams in the past but did struggle against the Buckeyes.

Venables' post-game video assessment of the game

On a scale of 1-to-10 (10 being full panic mode), how in danger is Clemson’s Playoff appearance streak?

Hood: Let’s say 2. On the way home after the game I had people texting me about scenarios where five teams go undefeated and where would Clemson stand, etc. I hate to be that guy, but we know there won’t be five undefeated teams. Oklahoma and Ohio State didn’t look great, and even Georgia looks to have some warts. Alabama looked great but they have a small freshman quarterback who will have to stay healthy. There is a long way to go, and all Clemson has to do is win every game in which they’re favored, which is the rest of the schedule. No panic here.

Rink: 2.5. ESPN’s Playoff Predictor plotted out the scenario in front of Swinney’s Tigers last week and gave Clemson a 93 percent chance of making the CFP still if they run the table after a loss to Georgia. It’s certainly not an ideal start, and the Tigers will have to make some history as the first team to lose their opener and still make the CFP.

There is a benefit to getting this loss out of the way early, and if they improve offensively to go with that stout defense, the struggles at Bank of America Stadium to start the year will very likely be washed away for the Playoff committee with another Bank of America Stadium performance in December.

That said, this Clemson team has something to prove now. They have to show the resolve and efficiency to string together win-by-win until it's 12 in a row for another spot in college football’s final four.

More postgame analysis: MMQB - The Sky Is Not Falling