Clemson football: 3 steps to fixing the Tiger offense heading into the rest of 2021
Three steps to fixing the Clemson football offense heading into the rest of 2021
Step 2: Conservative play-calling is a thing of the past
We’ve heard plenty of criticisms of Tony Elliott and the play-calling aspect of the Clemson offense over the last few days and many of them are warranted.
Clemson had several head-scratching moves throughout the night, including finally calling a quarterback run at the most inopportune time and then abandoning the run for much of the night, especially down near the goal line with a chance to score a touchdown.
Unfortunately, what we’ve seen from Clemson’s offense too much over the last couple of years is a conservative approach with this mentality of ‘trying not to lose games’ versus ‘playing to win.’ Too many times, the Tigers have used this ‘feel out’ approach to their offense where they let the opposing defense dictate what they do and how they do it.
The days of conservative offensive play-calling are over for championship programs.
Look at the innovation of an offense like Ole Miss. Look at how Nick Saban has absolutely transformed his offensive game plan. It’s time for Clemson to do the same.
The Tigers need to go on the attack. They need to play to their strengths and force the defense’s hand rather than the other way around.
It’s understandable that it would’ve been tough to do anything, no matter your play-call, against Georgia, but you’ve at least got to try to make something happen.
Clemson has left the middle of the field open on passing plays for far too long. It’s time that they use that RPO game to their advantage and formulate an offense similar to what we saw with 2019 LSU and 2020 Alabama.
Quick routes to get open. Forcing the defense to leave the box to defend the athleticism on the edge. These are things Clemson is more than capable of doing, but hasn’t done yet. Only time will tell how they revamp the offense– now in season– as we move through the rest of this season, but one thing is for sure: The conservative approach isn’t working.