We suck, last week was a nightmare. If we lose next week, I will start playing golf again or get an escort. Anything to take my mind off this shit show.
So many Clemson fans forgetting to BTOG after three games of mediocre offense coupled with elite level defense shaking my damn head
this is the early phase of the spiral You can't have 2 generational QBs in succession and then expect not to have to pay retribution to the merciless and sadistic cfb warlock
Yes, but I'm scared to say so because I know he's going to throw for like 450 and 6 TD's when we play in November.
That Shipley kid is going to carve us up with his lunch pale enough that it won’t matter who is at QB for Clemson.
is the conventional wisdom right now that Dabo brings back Chad Morris? his coaching tree is pretty small given how long he has been coaching
Yeah, he had chances at power 5 jobs, and now that's pretty much shot. Still is/will be a very rich (hopefully non-OC) man though.
Yep, insane. Will probably never be a head coach, and could have had numerous power 5 jobs. Wont even be able to stay an OC.
if BC had Jurkovec I'd have been real worried as a Clemson fan but they'll probably be fine but that game against Pitt in a few weeks is going to be ugly if they don't fix the O.
Spoiler How Clemson’s offense suddenly went from national championship to bottom-10, ‘predictable’ and ‘stagnant’ Bruce Feldman and Grace Raynor 1h ago 22 CLEMSON, S.C. — It took only a month for Clemson to plummet from a top-10 offense in each of the last three seasons to the bottom 10 in 2021. Instead of simply plugging in sophomore quarterback DJ Uiagalelei for Trevor Lawrence and heading for a seventh consecutive College Football Playoff run, the No. 25 Tigers are 2-2, have not scored more than three touchdowns in a game against an FBS opponent and are averaging just 4.73 yards per play. Coach Dabo Swinney and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott are under pressure to figure it out. Industry experts this week provided insight to The Athletic about Clemson’s drastically different circumstances, from a questionable offensive line to staleness and signs that this was on the way even before Lawrence, the No. 1 draft pick, and Travis Etienne, the ACC’s all-time leading rusher, left after last season for the NFL. “It would be silly if you’re Clemson to look at the last three times that you’ve been on the field with a team that has similar talent as you, and think that your coaching has maximized the talent gap. It didn’t against LSU. It didn’t against Ohio State and it didn’t against Georgia,” said former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovksy. “For you to sit there and not address, ‘Hey, schematically, can we do the same stuff that we did in 2017? Can we?’ Right now, that answer is no.” Evaluating the big picture “The world is not ending,” Orlovsky said. “Clemson is not going anywhere. I know a lot of people are talking about the demise of Clemson. No, this is not a Thing. But I do think they have to be objective. (Alabama coach) Nick (Saban) did a great job of getting ahead of some stuff, and that’s why they’re still who they are. He did a great job of making tough decisions with the type of system that they were gonna run and how important the development of the kids was. You’ve got to be objectively looking at it.” For starters, Orlovsky said, this isn’t just about this season. He, as well as a couple of NFL assistants, noted concerns to The Athletic about the Clemson offensive system that may have impacted Lawrence, now starting for the Jacksonville Jaguars, in his development. “I believe this scheme held Trevor back. They’re very much go out and execute dependent, and when you’ve got generational quarterbacks with some superstar receivers and one of the best running backs in the history of the ACC, that works because they cover up a lot of stuff,” Orlovsky said. “But now, they’ve got a really young and unproven back, and a really young and unproven quarterback and some of these receivers aren’t the superstars that they’ve had in the past.” ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III, also a former NFL QB who called last week’s double-overtime loss at NC State, described Clemson’s offense as “archaic.” He said Wednesday that the Tigers’ scheme needs to be “more flexible,” adding that “the days of just lining up and steamrolling people just because you have better players is over in college football. Schemes have gotten so good offensively and defensively that they’ve bridged that gap between the good players and the great players.” Orlovsky, who called Clemson’s bizarre 14-8 win against Georgia Tech on Sept. 18, described the scheme as “stagnant,” and said it’s based too much on “one singular read.” That’s where he believes Lawrence was limited. “When you are so one-read, you are training the mind but the physical for a quarterback, too. ‘Oh, one read, if it’s not there, what do I do?,’” he said. “I thought that minimized Trevor’s potential creativity athletically.” Clemson beat Alabama 44-16 for the 2018 national championship, but has lost by double digits in each of its last two College Football Playoff appearances. Clemson scored three points against Georgia in the season opener and ranks No. 105 nationally with 21.8 points per game. Swinney has been adamant that Clemson’s biggest issues are rooted in execution. He didn’t take issue with what Griffin said, though. “Well, we run the zone, we run the counter, we run the power. We’ve been an offense that’s been really, really good for a long, long time,” he said. “But the criticism is warranted because that’s where we are right now.” Lacking creativity? Griffin told The Athletic on Wednesday that Clemson’s offense just doesn’t use much formation variability, which not only hinders the receivers from getting open but also limits what its quarterback can glean from how a defense is playing it. Another ACC assistant seemed to make similar criticisms this week when he called Clemson “very predictable.” “I saw too many times when they just went out there and had 2-by-2 and they ran straight stem routes on third downs and guys are covered or have guys around them,” Griffin said. “DJ has a strong arm, but at the same time, you’ve gotta help those wide receivers get open. Put them in bunches. Put them in stacks. Have some eye-candy going with some motions across the formations. Give them some man-zone tells with the running back, motion him out into the slot to the short side of the field, and bring him back — let him know if it’s man or zone coverage. Those are things that they use to help. “I don’t think that’s anything that Tony Elliott or Dabo are oblivious to. I think they understand that. Being a player, I understand how coaches have difficulty doing certain things because they can only do as much as their players can handle. It could be just a (reluctance) to be creative. It could be that they can’t be creative right now because they’re still trying to work through who they have personnel-wise because they lost Trevor Lawrence. They lost Travis Etienne. They lost (receivers) Amari Rodgers and Cornell Powell. That’s a lot of production on offense.” Orlovsky also believes Clemson needs more motions and shifts pre-snap, such as the offenses Lane Kiffin runs at Ole Miss and Steve Sarkisian runs at Texas, to challenge defenses. Entering last Saturday, NC State, according to a Wolfpack assistant, believed Clemson had relied on a potent screen game, something that had proved lethal when Etienne was wearing orange. And the Tigers still like to hit opponents with it on second downs, the assistant said, so NC State opted to avoid going to man-coverage on those situations. Elliott has been Clemson’s primary play caller since the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl and is believed to be the nation’s highest-paid offensive coordinator at $2 million a year. He won the Broyles Award, presented to the nation’s top assistant coach, in 2017. “The response I would have to ‘archaic’ is it’s the same plays that they’re running at North Carolina, it’s the same plays that (are) being run all around the country. We’re just not having success,” Elliott said. “You execute the plays, you have success, you score points – then it’s not questioned as much. “Everyone wants you to go be creative and think outside the box. Well, you’ve got to be able to execute the fundamentals first and foremost.” Swinney adamantly defended Elliott this week, saying there’s no one he trusts more, and called him “brilliant” on multiple occasions. Orlovsky wants to see Clemson, which relies heavily on the run-pass option, use play-action more often. Clemson is using play-action on 29 percent of dropbacks this season, per Pro Football Focus, after using it on 31 percent of dropbacks in 2020. The national average is around 30 percent. The results are different this season because Clemson hasn’t been able to establish a formidable run game. Whereas Clemson averaged 8.2 yards after the catch on play-action passes last season, the Tigers are averaging 4.0 yards this season, according to Pro Football Focus. With no Etienne to make the run fake more of a concern, perhaps instead of honoring the fake, defenders can confidently drop into coverage and close on receivers faster. Opponents used five or more defensive backs on 59 percent of Clemson’s snaps last season, but are using five or more defensive backs on 99 percent of Clemson’s snaps this season. The play-action pass won’t be effective until defenses respect Clemson’s run game, which currently ranks No. 99 nationally. Elliott acknowledged that after the Georgia Tech game, Clemson needed to throw the ball more against NC State and let the receivers try to make a play as Clemson imposed its will, regardless of the Wolfpack’s structure. But Uiagalelei threw for only 111 yards in a game that went into two overtimes and receiver Justyn Ross had just eight catches on 14 targets. Elliott said he could be more of an aggressor if Clemson could “make the layups” first, such as picking up 4 yards on first down with the run to open things up on second and third down. “It’s all RPO-based,” Orlovsky said. “He’s got this monster arm at quarterback, why can’t you go big play-action and take shots downfield that way? I just don’t understand that.” Griffin took it one step further. “I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing them just open it up and let DJ throw the ball first, second and third down of every single game and just let him develop,” Griffin said. “You’re 2-2 at this point. What else do you have to lose?” The new QB It’s been confusing for some observers to watch Uiagalelei go from setting an opposing QB record last year at Notre Dame in relief of Lawrence to struggling new starter. Uiagalelei continues to have accuracy issues, his 56.3 completion percentage ranks last in the ACC. Clemson has found success when it has used Uiagalelei in the run game, but overthrowing his receivers remains his biggest problem. “DJ has got a very strong arm, but his lower half is not tied to his upper half. They gotta really work on that. He’s got a four-seam fastball and a little bit of a change-up, but there’s nothing else,” Orlovsky said. “He’s really got to learn ball placement over velocity. They’ve really got to work on that with him. Not every ball needs to be absolutely hummed. His arm is so strong that taking something off is going to be fine.” Uiagalelei missed a dump pass to five-star freshman running back Will Shipley against NC State that coaches believed would have been a 60-yard touchdown had he taken off some of the heat. Clemson continues to stress footwork and mechanics to Uiagalelei, who showed what he’s capable of during Clemson’s second drive against the Wolfpack. Uiagalelei avoided a sack on second-and-5, threw a 29-yard pass down the sideline on the move to Ngata, then threw a 32-yard strike over the middle to Ross in the end zone moments later. The difference on the touchdown pass? Footwork. “At times, (it’s) really good. ‘Wow.’ And then at times you go, ‘Dadgummit,’” Swinney said of Uiagalelei’s footwork and mechanics. “He’s one of the most talented kids we’ve ever had come through this program. And he’s going to be unbelievable. Unbelievable.” Elliott said it can be tough for someone with an arm as big as Uiagalelei’s to trust footwork and technique, when in the past, he’s been able to rely on talent alone. He believes Uiagalelei can get more comfortable in the pocket and trust his technique as the offensive line gets more cohesive. Elliott seems to want to take some of the decisions Uiagalelei has to make in-game off his plate and make them for him from the press box. But he can’t take off every RPO tag Clemson has. Elliott said his challenge is to help lighten Uiagalelei’s load, while also making sure that he’s not over-coaching the young quarterback to the extent that Uiagalelei starts to overthink. Last week, the Wolfpack started blitzing more, according to the assistant coach, and thought they had Uiagalelei rattled, to the point he was looking more at the blitzing defenders rather than the coverage. In addition, they kept the young QB on his heels by mixing in a variety of looks from dropping eight to playing Cover 1 to never allow him to find a rhythm. It also helped that NC State missed only four tackles the entire day. Clemson finished the day with seven three-and-out series and had only 23 total yards on 17 plays in the second and third quarters combined. Swinney said Clemson’s offense has to be better around Uiagalelei. A problem up front The offensive line, Orlovsky said, compounds Clemson’s issues. “I just think that their offensive line is not nearly as physical as it used to be,” he said. “The quarterback doesn’t make up for some of the deficiencies.” Clemson has new starters at center, right tackle and left guard, the latter of which the Tigers shook up last week and started Paul Tchio over true freshman Marcus Tate. Asked about any more potential changes, Swinney said everything is on the table for his offensive line and … asked a reporter if he had any more eligibility left. If Clemson can get its run-game going, then the Tigers can open up the passing game and let Uiagalelei take more shots. The problem: Run-blocking is the offensive line’s weakness. Despite teams dropping five defenders into coverage so frequently, the Tigers are averaging 4.11 yards per carry, their lowest number since 2014. “When you run a lot of the zone family, I call it poetry in motion because everybody has to step in the same direction, the back has to be on time, everything has to flow in unison and then the holes develop and the back finds it,” Elliott said. “Well if everybody’s not stepping in the same direction with the right timing, then the holes are not going to develop the way they’re supposed to. So then the backs, now they get antsy. That’s where we’re out of sync a little bit, where we’ve got to get better. Where they trust that the offensive line is going to be where they need to be so they can press that track and then find it.” Simple execution Swinney has maintained Clemson’s problems are tied to a lack of execution. At least one ACC assistant coach agrees with him. “It’s hard to lose that combination of experience and elite talent with Etienne and Lawrence in one draft,” the assistant said. “Plans in football really don’t vary that much. It’s the execution.” The offensive line is struggling to finish blocks, the experienced Ross ran an incorrect route in the opener, young running backs are antsy, senior tight end Braden Galloway had a crucial drop against Georgia Tech, fundamentals are poor and in-game mistakes aren’t necessarily showing up on Clemson’s practice field. Tchio, the new starting left guard, said he “never” thought “this would have happened,” and added that the communication issues are “a little shocking.” Nine or 10 players might do the right thing, but when one or two are off, it impacts everything. “Missed assignments here or there, just sync and rhythm and all those types of things, we just haven’t been able to get that in any form or fashion,” Swinney said. Where do the Tigers go from here? Clemson hosts Boston College on Saturday night. “Ain’t no funeral around here. We’re all right. We’re just fine. I know what the problems are,” Swinney said. “It’s not complicated. It’s very simple, actually.”
The problem is obvious, nothing kills southern football dynasties like Cali QB. This does not apply to Nick Saban coached teams.
Damn. “Opponents used five or more defensive backs on 59 percent of Clemson’s snaps last season, but are using five or more defensive backs on 99 percent of Clemson’s snaps this season.”
i’ve been saying teams need to use five or more defensive backs on more than 59% snaps this whole time