Tag: Garrett Riley

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.”

Heading into this 2023 college football season, expectations were immense for this Clemson offense, with Cade Klubnik taking over under center and Garrett Riley joining the program as the Tigers’ new offensive coordinator. 

The offense has not lived up to the offseason hype through six games, as it has been a truly up-and-down season for this unit. We’ve seen a lot of good, but we’ve also seen just as much bad. Offensive inconsistency has been a major piece of this season, and the Week 7 bye is a great time to clean things up. 

Klubnik recently met with the media and touched on his bye-week plans. The young quarterback is going to assess the film and meet with Riley to do a ‘reset’ after a shaky start to the season. 

“I’ll probably go back and watch the first six games and watch myself and see what did I get better at and what do I still need to improve. I’m going to try to meet with Coach Riley and kind of take a whole reset and look back at what we’ve done,” Klubnik said.

A whole reset might be needed, as this offense hasn’t looked anything like Riley’s high-powered offense of previous teams. There is enough talent on this team for the offense to excel, but discipline and consistency are a significant piece of a team’s success. 

Klubnik has seen improvement in himself from Week 1 to now, with turnovers being cut down and play being cleaned up. He now looks to put together a complete performance, which the Tigers have failed to do this season. 

“I feel like I’ve seen myself get better every week in certain categories,” Klubnik said. “You look at the first two games. After that, I got all of the dumb crap out of the way in my mind…I feel like I’ve added a little bit more every single week in my mind and just put it all together in one game.”

Hopefully, we will see a new look Clemson offense after this bye week.

Clemson’s Week 7 bye comes right around the midway point of this season, and Tigers’ fans have seen some good and some bad from their starting quarterback, Cade Klubnik, through six games.

There was a tremendous amount of hype surrounding Klubnik heading into his sophomore season. We’ve seen flashes of excellence, but inconsistency has been a big part of Klubnik and this offense’s season. They’ve got the talent needed; it is more about putting things together and cleaning up their game.

So far, Klubnik has totaled 1,370 yards and 11 touchdowns with two interceptions, along with 120 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Things look good on paper, but there is still a lot left to be desired from Klubnik and the offense.

In their Week 7 bye, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley discussed Klubnik’s performance at the midway point of this season.

“I thought he got better very quickly in the first month of our season,” Riley said. “Has he been perfect? No, but the kid’s a competitor… I thought he made some strides in a couple areas in this last game, but probably did some things that he definitely would want back in the Wake Forest game.”

“It’s a position that, man, you learn so much from each and every game and those experiences,” Riley said, “and it’s something that he’ll continue to learn from at a fast rate, I anticipate.”

There’s no denying this young quarterback’s talent and what he is capable of down the line. While he hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations he had heading into this season, it would be difficult for many quarterbacks in the country to do. 

The important thing is seeing the improvement week after week. This bye week came at the right time, as we saw the Clemson offense take a step back in Week 6 against Wake Forest. 

Klubnik has a major opportunity to prove himself in Week 8 when the Tigers head to Florida to face Miami.