Dabo Swinney and the Tigers fell to Florida State on home Saturday 31-24 in overtime as Clemson failed to extend their win streak against the Seminoles.
Clemson had an opportunity in overtime and put themselves in a situation where they could succeed. Will Shipley took a tough run for 9-yards and set the offense up with a very manageable 3rd and 1. The next play on a designed RPO, starting quarterback Cade Klubnik made the wrong read and threw a screen to Adam Randall, which resulted in a 0-yard reception.
Throwing on 4th and 1, the Klubnik failed to connect with Beaux Collins on a slant as the Tigers lost their second game of the season. After the game, Klubnik took the blame, but Swinney knows he and his coaching staff could do a better job.
“I mean, we expect him to hand the ball off right there. Again, that’s kind of situational awareness, but that’s where we can be better as coaches,” Swinney said. “That’s one of those things where yeah, it’s built-in, but again, we could help him right there with just making it a lock call and not even having that as an option. But situationally, we gotta learn from it.”
Clemson’s coaching staff had a rough day on Saturday, and it was clear. Some changes need to come for the Tigers sooner rather than later because these situations are happening way too frequently.