The confidence with which Clemson’s offense is operating five games into the 2022 season is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to where it was for much of last season.
With that has come more assurance as a play caller for Brandon Streeter, who’s in his first year as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. Coming off a 30-point performance against NC State’s top-10 defense, Clemson ranks in the top 51 nationally in rushing, passing, total yards and scoring.
A season ago, Clemson scored more than 19 points in regulation just once through its first five games, and that was against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent (49 against South Carolina State). The Tigers, who’ve already played a pair of top-15 teams, haven’t scored fewer than 35 so far this season and own the nation’s No. 14 scoring offense at 41 points per game – 14.7 points higher than last season.
While D.J. Uiagalelei’s improvement has been notable – the Tigers’ quarterback is completing better than 65% of his passes and has already accounted for more touchdowns (14) than he did all of last season (13) – Streeter noted the offense is simply making plays more consistently as a whole than it did a season ago, pointing to the continuity the Tigers have had on that side of the ball as a primary reason why.
One example: The Tigers have started the same five offensive linemen in every game so far after having eight different starting combinations up front last fall.
“We had changes every week whether it be at receiver or offensive line,” Streeter said of last season. “That has been a constant, which has allowed some confidence for the quarterback and for other positions as well. Any time you have that constant, you’re going to be able to be more confident and you’re going to be able to make more plays, and that’s what those guys are doing.”
As a result, Streeter said he’s got more conviction in calling more high-risk, high-reward plays that usually take a higher level of execution to pull off, which have also hit with more regularity than at any point a season ago. Clemson already has 29 plays of at least 20 yards – third-most in the ACC – after tying for the league’s fewest such plays last season (49).
“Any time guys are not making any plays and it’s just hard to get it going, it’s hard to call some of the shots down the field because then you’re getting even more backed up and you’re not on schedule on second down and third down,” Streeter said. “And then we all know when you get into third-and-long, that’s a hard situation.
“It starts with the players. Getting the right players the ball, No. 1. And then by making those plays, it gives me confidence to call those down-the-field plays a lot more. It allows our staff to be even more creative to find ways to get those guys the ball. And then it really comes down to the quarterback. Is he confident? And is he giving those guys a chance to make plays on the ball? And DJ’s been able to do that for the most part this year.”
One example of that creativity came late in the Tigers’ win last week when Clemson called an impromptu bootleg for Uiagalelei, who faked a handoff and came out the back side untouched for a 9-yard touchdown run that iced Clemson’s 30-20 victory. Head coach Dabo Swinney heavily consulted on the play call, but it’s not one Clemson likely dials up 12 months ago.
“You’re just seeing an offense that’s continuing to gain more and more confidence, and that also is a reflection of coaches being able to have confidence in them,” Streeter said. “It’s been fun. It’s been a lot of fun. The demeanor has been really good, and our leadership has been really good. It’s just been a positive atmosphere.”
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