Another productive day turns historic for Clemson’s tight ends

As has often happened this season, Davis Allen got involved early. The senior tight end caught his first pass – a 5-yarder – on Clemson’s second offensive snap Saturday. With the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Allen split out wide against Miami’s 6-1 …

As has often happened this season, Davis Allen got involved early.

The senior tight end caught his first pass – a 5-yarder – on Clemson’s second offensive snap Saturday. With the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Allen split out wide against Miami’s 6-1 cornerback, DJ Ivey, near the goal line, D.J. Uiagalelei went back to Allen at the end of the 12-play, 75-yard opening possession.

Uiagalelei faked a handoff to Will Shipley to help better clear a throwing lane to Allen, who worked his way inside Ivey on a slant toward the middle of the end zone. Ivey tracked closely behind, but Allen reached up to snag Uiagalelei’s fastball for a 7-yard touchdown.

And with that, Clemson’s tight ends were off in what turned out to be a historic day for the position.

Allen’s scoring catch was his fourth of the season. Fellow tight end Jake Briningstool had four coming into the game, making for the first time ever that Clemson has had two tight ends catch at least four touchdown passes in the same season.

Allen came into the game as Clemson’s second-leading receiver and added two other catches in the Tigers’ win Saturday, finishing the day with a team-high four receptions for 35 yards. His touchdown catch was the 11th of his career, moving him past former Clemson great Bennie Cunningham for the fifth-most scoring receptions by a tight end in program history.

Briningstool caught three balls for 57 yards, 49 of those coming on a catch and run late in the fourth quarter to set up another touchdown that put what was just a two-touchdown game at the time out of reach.

“It was a mixture of some matchups and just getting them involved,” offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said. “We’re very talented in the tight end room, and they made plays for us.”

Even reserve tight end Luke Price got in on the receiving action. A sixth-year senior, Price had not caught a pass all season. That changed early in the second quarter when Streeter went deeper into the playbook to add to Clemson’s 14-0 lead at the time.

With the Tigers set up with first-and-goal at Miami’s 3-yard line, the Tigers dialed up a throwback to Price, who, with all of the action going to the right on a play-action pass, sifted his way through the defense to the left. Miami left him all alone, making for an easy first touchdown catch of his career.

“We’d seen on film that they’re susceptible to some stuff,” Price said. “We took a little bit from that, from some other teams that they’ve played. We had our own little wrinkle for it, and it worked.”

Clemson’s tight ends finished with eight catches on the day, a continuation of the group’s heavy involvement in the passing game. Allen is up to 32 receptions on the season while Briningstool has 20. As a whole, Clemson’s tight ends have 55 catches – 18 more than all of last season.

About the only negative for the position was a lack of ball security at times that’s permeated an offense that’s committed 12 turnovers in the last four games. Allen lost a fumble with Clemson going in for another potential score in the second half while Briningstool also put the ball on the ground once, though Clemson got a fortunate bounce when it popped directly into the hands of Antonio Williams, who was close by.

But Saturday was largely a memorable one for a position that’s been productive all season.

“They continue to make plays,” Streeter said. “That’s just going to continue to happen, giving them opportunities to make plays.”

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Clemson’s offense fights prosperity in latest win

For the first time in a long time, Clemson’s offense was complementary and in control. The Tigers came out like gangbusters in their win over Miami, looking like a group that might help Clemson to the type of relaxing Saturday it’s rarely enjoyed …

For the first time in a long time, Clemson’s offense was complementary and in control.

The Tigers came out like gangbusters in their win over Miami, looking like a group that might help Clemson to the type of relaxing Saturday it’s rarely enjoyed this season. Even their most lopsided win – an opening 41-10 win over Georgia Tech – came on a Monday.

Clemson effectively mixed things up to score touchdowns on its first two possessions and three of its first four. The Tigers had 131 yards before the first quarter was over, 100 yards rushing before the end of the first half, and D.J. Uiagalelei didn’t look like a quarterback who’d been struggling of late.

Uiagalelei completed nine of his first 11 passes and 14 of his first 17, utilizing the middle of the field more and the perimeter less in the passing game. He had a 7-yard touchdown strike to Davis Allen and an 8-yard touchdown run within the game’s first 11 minutes.

And when he found another tight end, Luke Price, on a well-designed throwback pass for a 3-yard score early in the second quarter, Clemson was rolling up 21-0 with the second-most points it’s scored in a first half against a Power Five opponent all season.

“Offensively, really as good as it can be in that first half,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Just crisp and great execution.”

Then things grinded to a halt. And much of it had to do with another bout of inconsistency that Clemson has dealt with on that side of the ball for much of the season.

“They kind of played with their core deal and what they’ve been showing on film,” offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said, referencing Miami’s defense. “Just the turnovers and then a few other drives, we missed a couple of plays that we should’ve made. That’s really what stopped us.”

Statistically, it was one of the Tigers’ more balanced efforts of the season. Clemson finished with 207 yards rushing, just 34 less than it had passing. It’s just the second time this season the Tigers have achieved the 200-200 split.

Uiagalelei finished with 227 yards passing and led the Tigers with a career-high 89 rushing yards, but he completed just eight of his last 17 attempts. Clemson got a couple of first downs on its opening possession of the second half before that drive bogged down.

The Tigers netted just 2 yards on three plays to begin the fourth quarter. And there were just 78 yards of offense on their three possessions in between, though the Tigers never got a chance to see how those would’ve ended without a turnover bug for which they seemingly can’t find a remedy.

“It’s frustrating because I thought Street and our staff, they really did a great job,” Swinney said. “On both sides of the ball, our players were in a position to be successful, but you’ve got to make the plays.”

All of those possessions ended in giveaways, running Clemson’s turnover total to 12 over its last four games. Uiagalelei was intercepted and lost another fumble, giving him seven turnovers during that span, and Allen had an ill-timed fumble inside Miami’s 10-yard line late in the third quarter to end what was the Tigers’ most threatening drive of the second half to that point.

“In the past, we’ve been doing really good coming out from halftime and getting some points on the board, but we really struggled in the third quarter,” Streeter said. “I told the guys that the only way you can overcome (the turnovers) is to hold yourself accountable and then keep playing. Keep playing. Don’t overthink it. But just too many turnovers. And that stopped some of our momentum, especially going into the second half.”

Miami turned its shortest field of the night following Uiagalelei’s fourth-quarter fumble into a touchdown that suddenly made it a two-score game with 13:45 left. With the fact that Clemson was averaging less than 5 yards per play for most of the second half compounded by another turnover barrage, Swinney called the offense together on the sideline at one point to deliver a pointed message.

“It was just sloppy,” Swinney said. “We were just stopping ourselves, and I really challenged them: Let’s let’s go put a drive together. And they did.”

Clemson held onto the ball long enough to respond with its longest scoring drive of the night to take control again. The Tigers took nearly 5 minutes off the clock with an 86-yard touchdown drive and followed that up with a 37-yard scoring drive for good measure after forcing a turnover of their own.

It left the Tigers once again wondering what could’ve been had they been able to put it all together for four quarters.

“We have that ability to be explosive. We have the ability to be balanced,” Swinney said. “But it takes consistent execution.

“A dominant win, but we left a lot out there.”

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Uiagalelei feels ‘more confident playing free’

Clemson’s star ting quarterback, DJ Uiagalelei, has had a rough last few weeks. Between the unexpected loss at Notre Dame on Nov. 5 and freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik taking over in the third quarter of the game against Syracuse and leading the …

Clemson’s starting quarterback, DJ Uiagalelei, has had a rough last few weeks. Between the unexpected loss at Notre Dame on Nov. 5 and freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik taking over in the third quarter of the game against Syracuse and leading the Tigers to victory, it is safe to say Uiagalelei feels the pressure to perform every single game.

He did that this past weekend against Louisville, throwing for 185 yards and one touchdown, and rushing for one as well in the Tigers’ 31-16 win. He had a completion percentage of 70.4, the highest it has been since the second game of the season against Furman (77.8).

His play was not perfect, but he got the job done, and he said he feels good moving forward and putting the last two games behind him.

“There are certain things I wanted to do, certain things I wanted to get out of the game, and I feel like that is what I got out of it,” Uiagalelei said. “It was good to be able to get those last two games out of my system and play a solid game coming into this week.”

Uiagalelei sat down with the media Monday ahead of the Miami game this weekend, detailing how he wants the offense to continue to play faster and more free.

“We definitely worked on it this week,” Uiagalelei said. “We want the offense to be able to play with more tempo, be able to play faster, and I feel like we did a good job this weekend playing faster.”

In regard to playing free, Uiagalelei stated how it helps his confidence improve throughout the game because he does not overthink every single play.

“I think it’s just less thinking, you just go out there and react instead of thinking,” he said. “The faster you play, the less you have to think, and it’s more just a reaction and just not thinking about stuff too much.”

Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter agreed with Uiagalelei, and liked seeing his confidence grow throughout the game against Louisville.

“We talk about that a lot, to find that peace of mind to go play free, and I think he’s done a really good job of that for most of the year, and like a lot of things it is easier said than done,” Streeter said on Monday. “When he can do that and has that mindset, he is in a much better spot when he’s able to go play free and play more confident.”

Streeter liked seeing the change in Uiagalelei this past weekend, but knows there is always room for improvement from the junior quarterback.

“Any time you can go play free and then you start fast, you gain confidence quickly, and I think that’s what you saw from him on Saturday — not perfect but he played a good game,” Streeter said. “He started fast, and I think it is our jobs as coaches to help him get to that point.”

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Streeter on Clemson’s QB ultimatum: ‘That’s just life’

In the aftermath of Clemson’s latest win, Dabo Swinney revealed the ultimatum he had stashed in his mind regarding quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei. The Tigers’ coach called it “do or die” for his starting quarterback, who had been benched in Clemson’s …

That didn’t happen last week against Louisville. Uiagalelei performed better, completing 19 of 27 passes with no interceptions. He did fumble in the Tigers’ 31-16 win over the Cardinals but ended the day accounting for more touchdowns (2) than turnovers (1), the first time that’s happened since the Florida State game in mid-October.

True freshman Cade Klubnik didn’t make his first appearance against Louisville until midway through the fourth quarter. With the Tigers leading by two touchdowns at the time, his insertion was more about getting him some additional experience rather than providing a spark that Swinney and offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said they thought was necessary when Klubnnik entered with Clemson trailing against Syracuse and Notre Dame.

Swinney said following the Louisville game that he was prepared to go to Klubnik sooner if Uiagalelei had struggled the way he did in those games, though he didn’t specify whether or not that meant making a permanent change at the position. Streeter didn’t offer much clarity on that either when pressed this week, but the Tigers’ first-year play caller and quarterbacks coach has seen the same things other observers both inside and out of the program had seen the last few weeks.

Streeter said Uiagalelei isn’t oblivious to the fact that he has to perform well at the most important position on the field in order to maintain his status as QB1.

“I think he knows every day and every week, there’s competition,” Streeter said. “When you’re playing the quarterback position, the team is going to go as you play. It’s very simple. And I talk about that with the quarterbacks all the time. We’re going to play as well as you do. So as soon as you accept that pressure and accept that responsibility, that’s just life. That’s what you signed up for, which is not an easy spot. But hey, when it goes good, you’re getting all the praise. And when it doesn’t, you’re getting the blame. That’s just part of the territory.”

Uiagalelei will look to build on what he did a week ago Saturday when Clemson hosts Miami at Memorial Stadium. Despite some rough patches, the junior quarterback has still accounted for 24 touchdowns with just five interceptions on the season.

But as the last few weeks have shown, it’s a fluid situation.

“He understands that very, very well,” Streeter said.

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Streeter asked how Tigers can get back to being ‘WRU’

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Clemson offense this season, but now at the final stretch of the season the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Clemson, over the years, has been known for the exceptional talent it recruits at the …

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the Clemson offense this season, but now at the final stretch of the season the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.

Clemson, over the years, has been known for the exceptional talent it recruits at the wide receiver position. However, this season, no player has reached 500 receiving yards yet. Instead this season, passes have been spread more evenly across the wide receivers, tight ends and running backs, which just serves to show that offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter is trying to diversify his offense.

Streeter spoke to the media on Monday and was asked for a program that prides itself on being “Wide Receiver U,” what he thinks has caused a lack of production at the receiver position and how the Tigers can get back to being WRU.

“I think number one is our tight end room is very, very good,” he said. “That is allowing us to spread the ball out, not just with the receivers, but I believe — I don’t even know if this is true or not — but I’m guessing our running backs have more catches than we have had in the past. Our tight ends I know have had more catches than they have had in the past. I love that about our offense, because now we can spread the ball around and not need it to be one or two or three just receivers that are making those plays.”

Streeter shared that the versatility and dynamic nature of his offense has actually kept defenders on their toes all season. The offensive coordinator shared why this season he is putting more emphasis on keeping defenders guessing.

“So, I think I really enjoy the fact that we are able to highlight different position groups and be able to have go-to plays for different types of guys,” he said. “We are always going to have great wide receivers here, there’s no question about it. But just being able to spread the ball around, I think it really keeps the defense guessing on where you’re trying to throw the football and they can’t focus in on one or two guys, because we have several guys who are very close as far as receptions.”

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Recent turnover issues ‘tricky thing’ for Clemson’s offense

As Clemson’s offense continues its search for consistency late in the season, the Tigers aren’t doing themselves many favors in the turnover department. It’s something that’s gone from an outlier to a trend in recent weeks. Clemson outlasted …

As Clemson’s offense continues its search for consistency late in the season, the Tigers aren’t doing themselves many favors in the turnover department.

It’s something that’s gone from an outlier to a trend in recent weeks.

Clemson outlasted Louisville on Saturday despite committing three more turnovers, running their total to nine over the last three games. That’s in stark contrast to the way the Tigers’ turnover margin was trending through the first seven games. Clemson committed just five turnovers during that span with the offense being responsible for only three of those.

Then came Clemson’s four-turnover fiasco against Syracuse on Oct. 22, and the Tigers have turned it over multiple times in every game since. A pair of turnovers forced by Clemson’s defense helped shrink that margin against Louisville, but the Tigers have lost the turnover margin in all three of those games.

Clemson has now lost as many turnovers as it’s gained on the season, but there’s a balance that has to be struck between being aggressive and cautious within the offense, coordinator Brandon Streeter said. Despite putting the ball on the ground twice, Will Shipley combined with Phil Mafah and quarterbacks D.J. Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik to help the Tigers rush for 248 yards against the nation’s No. 25-ranked rush defense last week.

“It’s a tricky thing,” Streeter said. “Like a lot of things, it’s mental, too. If you over-talk about it, then I think sometimes it just continues to happen.”

The good news, at least in Streeter’s opinion, is that Clemson’s recent issues with holding onto the ball are easily fixable. Streeter pointed to the Louisville game as an example. Shipley and receiver Antonio Williams both lost a fumble while trying to fight for extra yards.

“Shipley is working his tail off, but any time the wrist gets below the elbow, that means (the ball) is loose,” Streeter said. “If you don’t have it high and tight, then you don’t have as much strength around the ball. And obviously that’s the main objective of the defense is trying to get the ball back, so we’ve just got to continue to emphasize and then practice those fundamentals that can help prevent it.”

Uiagalelei also lost a fumble in the pocket while looking to pass during the first half after having the ball knocked from his grasp by defensive lineman Yasir Abdullah. He was holding onto the ball with just one hand, another fundamental mistake that Streeter believed would’ve been avoided had Uiagalelei protected the ball with two hands.

“D.J. took his front hand off the ball and the guy knocked it out in the pocket,” Streeter said. “Those are things we work every day, but we’ve got to enforce it on game day. He’s got to take that over to game day.”

Streeter said he doesn’t want to take his players’ aggressiveness away, but the fundamentals have to remain intact. Doing both, he said, would go a long way in helping the Tigers clean up their act.

“I think you’ve got to coach up the details of the fundamentals because you appreciate the guys that are working hard to get extra yards, trying to escape the pocket or whatever it is,” Streeter said. “Every single situation, just talking about Saturday, that happened is correctable based on fundamentals.”

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Streeter explains the ‘main reasons’ why Klubnik came in against Louisville

Clemson’s highly touted true freshman quarterback saw action, albeit brief, in Saturday’s 31-16 win over Louisville at Death Valley. Cade Klubnik entered the game for starting signal-caller DJ Uiagalelei with under six minutes remaining in the …

Clemson’s highly touted true freshman quarterback saw action, albeit brief, in Saturday’s 31-16 win over Louisville at Death Valley.

Cade Klubnik entered the game for starting signal-caller DJ Uiagalelei with under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Tigers up by 14 points. After the six-play possession with Klubnik at the helm ended in Will Shipley’s lost fumble, Uiagalelei came back in for what turned out to be Clemson’s final possession, which began and ended with Phil Mafah’s 39-yard touchdown run on the possession’s only play.

Clemson offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter met with the media Monday and was asked what the thought process was behind Klubnik subbing in for Uiagalelei and then the latter closing out the game.

“I think in that situation, number one, we wanted to get Cade some more experience,” Streeter said. “And number two, he brings an explosiveness with his feet that you saw on a couple of the plays there – at least one of the plays, he had a 13-yard carry. And so, that allowed us to even run some more clock off and try to hold the ball a little bit longer, too.”

Klubnik’s 13-yard run gave the Tigers one of the two first downs they picked up on the lone drive he played. Aside from that run, he handed the ball off to Mafah and Shipley twice apiece before Shipley’s fumble on his third carry of the possession resulted in a turnover.

Klubnik – who has completed 9 of his 20 passes for 85 yards, one touchdown and one interception across seven games this season, while rushing 13 times for 38 yards – did not attempt a pass against Louisville.

“We weren’t super confident in putting the ball in the air in that situation, up a couple scores, and just didn’t want to give them any confidence for their offense to get back out on the field,” Streeter said.

“So, that was two things – really getting him in the game, in a pressure situation too, get him some good experience, and then you always like to have a guy that can really, really get on that edge. He’s a fast kid that can make some hey with his feet. So, those were the main reasons.”

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‘Just incredibly sad’: Virginia tragedy resonates for Clemson

A tragedy heard around the college football world today hit close to home at Clemson. A few hundred miles away in Charlottesville, Virginia, three University of Virginia football players were fatally shot Sunday night while returning from an …

A tragedy heard around the college football world today hit close to home at Clemson.

A few hundred miles away in Charlottesville, Virginia, three University of Virginia football players were fatally shot Sunday night while returning from an off-campus field trip. The university went into lockdown mode at the time as law enforcement searched for the gunman.

That hunt ended this morning when UVA police announced that a suspect, Chris Jones Jr., had been taken into custody. Jones is a former UVA football player.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all who are involved with that,” Clemson defensive coordinator Wesley Goodwin said this morning. “Just incredibly sad.”

UVA’s football program is in its first season under the direction of Tony Elliott, who’s in his first head coaching job after spending the previous 11 seasons on Dabo Swinney’s staff at Clemson. Elliott spent the last seven as the Tigers’ offensive play caller and was co-offensive coordinator for Clemson’s 2016 and 2018 national championship teams.

Elliott’s successor in that role, Brandon Streeter, worked alongside Elliott for those last seven seasons. Streeter, who initially joined Clemson’s staff in 2015 as a quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in December following Elliott’s departure, said he exchanged some text messages with Elliott after learning of Sunday’s shooting.

“Just said we’re praying for him, his program and obviously the families that were affected,” Streeter said. “Just a really, really tough situation.”

Having worked with him extensively, Streeter said he believes Elliott’s ability to connect with people is exactly what the Cavaliers’ football program needs to heal amid a time of immense pain.

“I know Tony is there for a reason,” Streeter said. “God put him there for a reason, and he has done an unbelievable job wherever he’s been just dealing with people. He’s a people guy, and he knows the right thing to say and how to move forward. But our thoughts and prayers are up for those families that are affected and obviously the program and Coach Elliott.”

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Swinney: ‘it was good’ to get Klubnik some experience

In each of Clemson’s previous two games prior to Saturday, with the Tigers trailing in the second half against both Notre Dame and Syracuse, Dabo Swinney’s team turned to true freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik in hopes he would spark a struggling …

In Clemson’s latest game against Louisville on Saturday, Klubnik once again came in for DJ Uiagalelei in the second half. But this time, the Tigers had the game under control, leading the Cardinals by 14 points with less than six minutes left in fourth quarter.

It was the lone drive Klubnik played on Saturday, and he ran the ball one time for 13 yards, picking up a first down on the possession that ended with Will Shipley’s lost fumble.

The former five-star prospect from Austin, Texas, did not attempt a pass. But according to comments from Swinney and Clemson offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter after the 10th-ranked Tigers’ 31-16 win, they wanted to get Klubnik into the game for his legs and not his arm.

“We needed Cade to be ready, and as you guys can see, he’s got some really, really good feet and good wheels,” Streeter said, “and so we just needed a little bit of that just to try to get a couple first downs right there and get it going. He pulled the ball once or twice and got some good yards for us. So it was good that he was ready obviously, and just glad that he’s continued to respond to every situation.”

Streeter said there wasn’t any talk of Klubnik entering the game earlier than he did, and Swinney echoed that sentiment when asked if the Tigers thought about going to Klubnik following Uiagalelei’s lost fumble in the second quarter.

Still, although Klubnik’s only action against Louisville came on one six-play possession late in the game, Swinney liked the fact the Tigers had a chance to get him on the field as they tried to bleed the clock.

“I’m glad I was able to get Cade in there,” Swinney said. “I felt like especially trying to end the game – it was good experience for him, but I felt like we could maybe get him on the edge and at least get a big first down as we tried to milk the clock, make them use their timeouts there at the end. So, it was good to be able to put him in there too and get some experience.”

Klubnik has played in seven games this season, completing 9 of his 20 total passes for 85 yards and a touchdown with one interception while rushing a total of 13 times for 38 yards.

The nation’s No. 1 quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class played two snaps in relief of Uiagalelei at Notre Dame, with his only pass getting picked off.

One game prior, though, Klubnik entered in the third quarter vs. Syracuse and completed 2-of-4 passes for 19 yards while rushing six times for 15 yards, becoming the first backup quarterback to engineer a fourth-quarter comeback win for Clemson since 2018 (Chase Brice vs. Syracuse).

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The good, the bad and the ugly from Clemson’s loss to Notre Dame

Clemson’s College Football Playoff hopes were dealt a potentially catastrophic blow Saturday with its lopsided loss to Notre Dame. Now the Tigers will try to rebound when they jump back into ACC play this week against Louisville. Here’s the good, …

Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Tigers’ 35-14 setback:

The good

There isn’t much from a game in which Clemson was being shut out through the first three quarters, but Will Shipley was the lone bright spot for the offense.

One could certainly argue the Tigers’ primary running back should’ve been featured just as heavily as he had been the last couple of games, particularly when the game was still reasonably close. Because Shipley averaged more than 5 yards per carry on his 12 carries. He also had five receptions and accounted for 101 all-purpose yards.

Shipley got Clemson on the board with his 11th rushing touchdown of the season early in the fourth quarter. It was too little, too late with the Tigers down 28-0 at the time, but it was a sign that Clemson wasn’t going to quit. The Tigers pieced together 75-yard scoring drives on their last two possessions, showing some fight on an otherwise forgettable night.

The bad

For the second straight game, Clemson’s quarterback play was nowhere near good enough when the game was still competitive.

D.J. Uiagalelei played most of it after watching the majority of the second half against Syracuse from the bench, but the Tigers’ starter wasn’t much better against Notre Dame. He was inaccurate at times and indecisive at other times, which led to some bad sacks after Uiagalelei held the ball too long. Cade Klubnik relieved him for one series late in the third quarter but was intercepted on his lone pass attempt, which ended his night. The two combined for more interceptions (2) than touchdown passes (1).

One of those picks was returned 96 yards for a score, making it two straight games that one of Uiagalelei’s turnovers has directly resulted in points for the opposition. It contributed to Clemson losing another turnover battle. The Tigers, who didn’t get a takeaway, are minus-5 in the turnover department in their last eight quarters.

The play-calling left a lot to be desired, too. Offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter acknowledged there was a “little bit of an adjustment” with the approach through the air given the stiff wind that was blowing inside Notre Dame Stadium, but the Tigers spent most of the night unsuccessfully trying to attack the perimeter with screens and swing passes and rarely attacked vertically with the passing game, which continues to lack the explosiveness it had seemed to regain during the first half of the season.

On a night when the Tigers averaged just 7.1 yards per completion, Clemson’s top pass-catchers were a tight end (Davis Allen, seven catches) and a running back (Shipley, five). Antonio Williams was the leading receiver with just 26 yards.

“We just didn’t execute good enough,” Streeter said. “In the end, we just didn’t do good things.”

And special teams were anything but. Notre Dame set the tone for its rout when Ruke Orhorhoro whiffed on a protection block on Clemson’s first punt, which allowed Notre Dame to come free for a block that resulted in its first touchdown.

The ugly

With just 281 total yards, the offense was the least productive it’s been all season. Yet arguably the biggest surprise was what Notre Dame’s offense was able to do to Clemson’s defense up front.

Clemson’s front seven is littered with next-level talent, which has been as big a reason as any as to why the Tigers have owned a top-10 run defense nationally over the last two years. Yet it was hard to tell Saturday.

It’s been a long time since that group has been dominated at the point of attack like it was Saturday. Notre Dame ran roughshod over, around and through the Tigers for 263 of their 348 yards, easily the most the Tigers have allowed this season. During one of the Irish’s scoring drives in the first half, they ran the ball on 10 of 11 plays.

A Clemson defense that came in allowing the seventh-fewest rushing yards in the FBS had no answers on a night when Notre Dame averaged nearly 6 yards per carry. Logan Diggs (114), who ripped off an average of 6.7 yards on his 17 totes, and Audric Estime (104) each surpassed 100 yards on the ground, becoming the first teammates to do that in the same game against Clemson in a decade.

Now, barring sheer chaos around the country the rest of the way, a return to the CFP will be wishful thinking for the Tigers.