Clemson’s offense enters bowl season in a much different place than it was six weeks ago — one that many wondered if the Tigers could ever reach despite the outward confidence of those within the program.
Clemson’s coaches and players insisted there was so much more to come on that side of the ball, but, for the longest time, the offense’s actions didn’t come close to matching those words. Once Clemson got done mustering just 17 points in a 10-point loss at Pittsburgh on Oct. 23 to drop the Tigers to 4-3 overall on the season, they had gone nearly the first two-thirds of the season without being able to crack the 20-point mark in regulation against FBS competition.
Then things changed.
Clemson’s offense scored 24 points against Florida State, using a drive late in the fourth quarter to put the Tigers ahead in what eventually turned into a 10-point win. The Tigers reached 30 points in another comeback victory against Louisville the following week, and they’ve continued to surge since. Clemson had its best showing against an FBS opponent in a 21-point pasting of then-No. 10 Wake Forest on Nov. 20 before tying its highest point total on the road all season in a 30-0 rout of South Carolina to end the regular season.
After scoring more than 19 points just once through the first seven games (49 against FCS member South Carolina State), the Tigers have averaged 36.2 over the last five. And with Clemson having scored just one non-offensive touchdown during that span, the offense is responsible for just about all of them.
Clemson still ranks 95th out of 130 FBS teams in total offense, so how have the Tigers done it? It’s largely a three-pronged answer.
First, a group that struggled mightily to get out of its own way during the first seven games has executed better of late, which has contributed to more big plays that Clemson had grown accustomed to for the better part of a decade going back to the Deshaun Watson era. The Tigers rank 95th nationally and last in the ACC with just 48 plays of 20 yards or more this season, so it’s a part of Clemson’s attack that’s been non-existent at times.
But more than 58% of those plays came in the final five games, including 18 in the last three.
D.J. Uiagalelei has still struggled with his accuracy at times — he owns the second-lowest completion percentage among starting ACC quarterbacks — but Clemson’s sophomore signal caller has been more precise on the deep ball than he was earlier in the season. He had a 46-yard strike to Beaux Collins to get the Tigers on the board first at Louisville. There was a 52-yard heave to Collins early against Wake Forest and a 58-yard scoring connection between the two later in that game. Uiagalelei also hit Dacari Collins for a 37-yard gain on a double move against Carolina.
But Clemson is still averaging just 10.6 yards per completion (15th-lowest nationally), so the chunk plays haven’t been limited to the air. In fact, it’s the Tigers’ vast improvement in the running game that’s spearheaded their turnaround.
Outside of a 129-yard clunker against Connecticut — a game the Tigers played without their top two running backs (Will Shipley and Kobe Pace) and a starting offensive lineman (Will Putnam) — Clemson has been one of the ACC’s top rushing teams during the back half of the season, taking a lot of the pressure off a passing game that’s still missing its top four receivers. The Tigers have averaged 208 rushing yards over their last five games, nearly 63 more per game than the first seven (145.1).
Shipley has led the way with three 100-yard games in the last four he’s played, including tying a season-high with 128 against Carolina. He had a 29-yard touchdown run in that game and a 21-yarder for the go-ahead score late against Florida State. Pace, who added a 34-yard touchdown against the Gamecocks, ripped off a career-high 191 of Clemson’s season-high 333 rushing yards against Wake Forest, which included a 39-yarder to set up the Tigers’ final score.
An offensive line that started to settle in had something to do with that, too.
Whether it be performance-based moves, injuries or a combination of the two, the group has played musical chairs for much of the season with offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell running out seven different starting combinations up front. The last one came when Putnam returned to his starting spot at right guard against Wake Forest. Clemson, which decided to bench true freshman Marcus Tate in favor of Hunter Rayburn at left guard and leave Mason Trotter at center, has averaged 6.1 yards per carry since.
And when some of those explosive plays have helped the Tigers get close to the end zone, they’ve maximized those opportunities more often than not.
Clemson scored touchdowns on three of its five red-zone possessions against UConn and was even more efficient its next time out against Wake Forest, ending five of its seven trips into the Demon Deacons’ 20-yard line in the end zone. The Tigers went 1 of 2 in that category against Carolina but got points on both trips, which was more of the norm for Clemson in its last four games. During that span, the Tigers came away with points on 15 of their 18 trips into the red zone.
Couple all of that with a defense that’s given up the second-fewest points in the FBS, and it’s easy to understand why Clemson ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak. The Tigers will try to keep that momentum going into the offseason in their bowl game, which will officially be announced Sunday.
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