Clemson Tigers looking for answers
Clemson might not be ready for prime time Thursday at Georgia Tech.
If Dabo Swinney doesn’t use Saturday’s game with South Carolina State as a dress rehearsal, this show might close on the road by Halloween.
For two weeks, he’s winced at questions about the quality of the performances in wins over Auburn and Troy, then Swinney walked up to the line this week and admitted “we’ve got a lot of crap that we’ve got to fix.”
There’s not much time with two games in six days, one where Clemson has lost its last five visits, including two years ago when freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson tore a knee ligament that cost them a shot at the ACC title.
Afterward, there’s little room for error. Clemson faces a challenging October with Louisville and N.C. State at home around a road game at Boston College. A Friday night game at Florida State could either put Clemson back on the fast track to the ACC title game – whereever it’s played – or crush the dreams of another curtain call for the national championship.
Swinney rarely acknowledges another opponent beyond the next one, but privately there must be a degree of concern. Programs are built with a bigger vision, which was why Clemson spent time on Tech’s option during preseason camp.
“They are a very difficult opponent to get ready for because of what they do schematically,” he said this week. “It’s just hard, especially for our defense. There’s a lot of seasonal installation that goes on that we are preparing our guys for … different opponents, things we have done as we studied in the spring, all summer long. We have breakdowns on everybody.”
Entering the season as the nation’s No. 2 team, Clemson has built an impressive resume under Swinney, but six-point wins over Auburn, a team that will finish in the back half of the SEC, and a Troy team that came for the paycheck and sightseeing, were examples of underachieving.
“We can win every game 13-12, I’ll take it. If that’s not good enough to get us to the national championship, so be it,” he said. “The objective is to try to win. That’s the bottom line for us. We got 12 games on our schedule. Man, we want to win ’em all.”
In many cases, the simplest explanation might be the best, which explains why Swinney blames everything on dropped passes. He even has a statistic at his fingertips for the total yards lost by the eight dropped in the Troy game.
“I know everybody wants to look for some underlying theme, but I don’t know how else to say it,” he said. “I’m sorry, that affects everything involved. It affects the defense. It affects field position. It affected third down. It affects the psyche, energy, the quarterback, the left guard. It’s as simple as that.”
However, in a scheme with a purported “run first” philosophy, Clemson hasn’t moved the ball on the ground well enough to take the pressure off the passing game. And unless one considers Auburn with its musical chairs at quarterback a challenge, the defense hasn’t been tested.
Then the week began with Watson confessing he needed an attitude adjustment and that he hadn’t been at his best. Given the benefit of the doubt, Watson was viewed as a courageous leader for his confession. For a player with a mandate during the offseason to play smarter, the results haven’t been evident.
With a short window after S.C. State, the Tigers need to rebuild their self-confidence.
“It is just tough. You play two games in six days,” Swinney said. “Sometimes I kind of like it, too. ‘Alright, let’s lace ’em up and go play.’ You feel like a basketball coach. You don’t have to wait so long to get to the next game.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2016 at 2:51 AM with the headline "Clemson Tigers looking for answers."