After Clemson’s offense largely sputtered again in the Tigers’ 14-8 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday, head coach Dabo Swinney revealed the Tigers had to change their game plan after observing early on how the Yellow Jackets defended them.
“They absolutely lined up (defensively) in nothing that we prepared for,” Swinney said.
Tech held Clemson (2-1, 1-0 ACC) to 4.3 yards per play by showing plenty of odd-man fronts and routinely dropping seven or eight defenders into coverage, essentially daring the Tigers to beat them on the ground. Clemson did just enough, rushing for 158 of their 284 total yards and both touchdowns. Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei finished with just 126 passing yards on 18 completions — 7 yards per completion — with Tech determined to keep everything in front.
It could serve as a blueprint for Clemson’s future opponents to follow, something offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said the Tigers are expecting.
“One of the first (games) that I’ve been a part of where you’ve got something completely different than what you were expecting,” Elliott said of Tech’s defensive approach. “We went back and we’d peeked at Central Florida (when Tech played them last season), and they played a little bit of odd, but nothing like what we saw.
“I think more of it’s going to come because I think Iowa State has done a really, really good job with that three-safety package. And you’ve seen us do a little bit defensively in the past with Isaiah (Simmons) and some of those guys. Wasn’t expecting it, so we had to make some adjustments.”
The primary adjustment was to run the ball more than Clemson has all season. The Tigers ran it 41 times, though it wasn’t always as effective as they would’ve hoped. Freshman running back Will Shipley and Uiagalelei, who got seven of his eight carries in the second half, each averaged more than 4 yards per carry, but Clemson went for just 3.9 yards per pop as a team.
Clemson is expecting a similar defensive approach from North Carolina State when the Tigers travel to Carter Finley Stadium on Saturday. Elliott said the Wolfpack operate primarily out of a three-man defensive front, and if that’s indeed the route N.C. State and other future opponents choose to go, Elliott said Clemson’s offense will be better prepared to counter it in multiple ways.
“Structurally, you’ll thave to sit with their corners when they play that,” Elliott said. “And they’re dropping eight into coverage, and so you’ve got to run the football. And then you’ve got to try and find some windows (in the passing game), but there’s a lot of underneath coverage guys.
“Going forward each week, we’ll have a plan for it. But again, going into that game, what we’d seen out of Georgia Tech had been four down (linemen). They stemmed to a little bit of odd and standing up a weak-side (defensive) end, but nothing like what we saw.”
Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
