There’s little doubt that Clemson will look better on Saturday than the No. 8 Tigers did against LSU.
As a nearly five-touchdown favorite, they’re expected to handle Troy at 3:30 p.m. inside Memorial Stadium. Yes, upsets can happen, but the talent gap is large enough that this shouldn’t be a concern.
That’s a good thing for Dabo Swinney. There are plenty of other areas to be concerned about than the scoreboard. While it may or may not be evident this week, there are five things Clemson must improve upon quickly to keep the season from getting away from them.
Playcalling
The problem: From a broad view, this was the biggest issue Clemson faced against LSU. It’s why Swinney ripped into his offensive coordinator and quarterback this week.
Yes, the SEC Tigers are really good up front, and they caused a ton of problems. Give them credit. But the lack of adjustments, not sticking to the run game, and forgetting how to get the ball out of Cade Klubnik’s hands quickly plagued the offense all night.
It hurt that Antonio Williams got hurt on the first drive, but still, the playcalling and flow simply made no sense. The scoring attack looked much more like the Garrett Riley offense from two years ago than the one that supposedly was loaded with talent and experience.
Can a good opponent make you look bad? Sure, but when will Clemson once again be the good opponent that makes somebody else look bad? That wasn’t the case last week.
The fix: This week, there has to be a real intent on getting playmakers the ball. T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr. have to be the focal point. If there isn’t time to get the ball down the field to them, run something where they do touch it quicker and in space. Play more guys at receiver as well. Build confidence in a more balanced offense.
The Tigers are going to need those things moving forward, because it doesn’t look like they can just roll anything and anybody out there and dominate.
Quarterback and O-line
The problem: Some of this one is on the offensive line. They didn’t give Klubnik enough time at several key points in the game. They have to be better, and frankly, there are no more excuses for this O-line. They have plenty of bodies and an all-star type coach. They’ll be better, and we’ll see if there’s another team on the schedule that can overwhelm them like LSU did at times, even though it was the same pressures and blitzes much of the night.
When it comes to Klubnik, he just didn’t see the field well against LSU. That’s been a knock on him for a couple of years. He was much better last season, but things came easily within the offensive system at times. Against LSU, he had to do it all, and he couldn’t, for multiple reasons. Some of that was him as a QB. Some of it was his playcaller. Some of it was the guys around him. Every one of them has to be better.
The fix: At this stage, Klubnik kind of is what he is. That doesn’t mean he can’t improve, but the reality is, he’s not judged on improvement against teams like Troy. His legacy will be tied to the big games. But this week, the plan has to be to get him comfortable, and sometimes that means letting him go, as in improvising. That’s when he’s at his best. He didn’t run much against LSU, and he wasn’t effective when he did. He must show that he’s shaken off the rust this week, because there’s a big challenge waiting in Atlanta.
Close the back door
The problem: Clemson’s rebuilt defense behind new coordinator Tom Allen got exposed a little bit against LSU, which forced the Tigers to move laterally with his shifting run game. It worked well in the first half, as Clemson couldn’t protect the backside and gave up several key cut-back yards.
The Tigers got better at stopping it as the game went along. However, that meant bringing more guys up to the line of scrimmage and asking safety Ronan Hanifin to do more. It worked in the second half last week, but is it sustainable, or does Clemson have a real issue that other teams can expose?
The fix: It’ll get tested this week, next week, the week after, the week after that, and so on. You best believe every opponent will see the open backdoor on film. Do the Trojans have enough speed and size to take advantage of it? Probably not, but Allen and the defense must show that they can contain the run game. It’s kind of like when former DC Brent Venables got eaten up by the shovel pass against Pitt in 2016. He vowed never to let that happen again, and he didn’t. Time will tell if this year’s backside issues are talent or scheme-related.