Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley has had a lot of work to do this bye week as the Clemson offense is lagging behind an elite Clemson defense through six games this season.
The biggest issue we’ve seen from this unit is inconsistency. There is clear talent all over the offense, but they have failed to put things together and find that consistency top teams around the country have seemed to find.
Riley knows there are issues right now, and consistency is one he and the Tigers have honed in on during this time. Much of that starts on the offensive line.
“It starts up front. As we continue to try and find the best chemistry and continuity up front, that is always going to be the case,” he said. “It is always going to start there. That is part of the equation for sure. Just continue to develop those guys up front for sure.”
The offensive line has been solid, but that consistency up front can dictate a team’s success throughout the season. The thing is… it is much more than just that.
The play-calling has been shaky, at best. The run game has failed to pick things up to the level we expected heading into this season. Cade Klubnik has been good at quarterback, but the keyword of inconsistent has been a large part of his season, and at wide receiver, we are seeing the same thing.
“I wish you could pinpoint one thing because that would make it easier to fix, but football can be a complicated game that way, with all the different factors going into it,” Riley said.
The key to everything is improvement. We had seen it over the weeks, but the Tigers’ offense took a significant step back against Wake Forest. We’ve seen good things from them this season, but heading into the bye with a performance like that can sting.
Regardless, Riley knows this team is willing to work to improve and is hungry to do so.
“Listen, we have done a lot of good things in the last several weeks. We have improved,” Riley said. “We just have to continue to stay the course and put it all together and I think that is what this group will do. They will come out hungry out of this bye week.”