The odds were not in Clemson's favor last Saturday night. Not to be lost in the wake of the Tigers' humiliating 51-10 road defeat at the the hands of LSU, one of Dabo Swinney's big transfer portal pickup's season is largely over. Swinney shared on his weekly radio show that Oklahoma transfer Markus Strong is likely out for the year after suffering a leg injury. He played one game for Clemson.
The senior defensive tackle had to be helped off the field by the Clemson training staff near the end of the third quarter. The game was already well out of reach, but he could not put any weight on his injured leg. Clemson was already especially vulnerable along the defensive line with junior Vic Burley suspended indefinitely by the team for his August arrest. He has not yet been reinstated by the team.
Clemson was no match for the LSU running game on Saturday night. The Bayou Bengals averaged 5.3 yards per carry on 58 attempts. Quarterback Sam Leavitt and running back Dilin Jones each had 113 yards and two touchdowns on the ground for LSU. Had Burley been available and Strong not gotten hurt, Clemson may have found a way to rectify this pervasive issue for Tom Allen's defense.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says transfer DT Markus Strong is "probably gonna be done for the year" after his injury vs. LSU
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) September 8, 2026
Clemson taking a page out of Brent Venables' playbook failed miserably
While much has been made about Brent Venables' impact since he returned to Oklahoma from Clemson, Swinney getting one of his former players out of the portal blew up in his face in record time. Nobody could have seen this coming, but this is the harsh reality of playing a gladiator sport like football. Strong was supposed to be an impactful rotational player for Clemson, but that is over now.
When Clemson was at its best defensively, Venables was calling the shots on that side of the football from 2012 through 2021. Clemson had a defensive line that was every bit as dominant as what Nick Saban had at Alabama and Kirby Smart has had at Georgia. Unfortunately in the years since Venables left, Clemson has devolved into having a pedestrian at best defensive line rotation under Swinney.
It goes to show that Clemson must do a better job of recruiting out of high school, as well as using the transfer portal effectively to augment its roster. You can't whiff on prospective recruits and then take wholesale gambles in the transfer portal and expect for them to work it all out for you. This is not to say that Swinney cut corners during his first forray into the transfer portal, only that this backfired.
Right now, Swinney and the rest of Allen's defense must continue to put its trust and faith into junior college transfer Andy Burburija, Amare Adams, Champ Thompson and the rest of the Clemson defensive line rotation to counterbalance. Hopefully, the Tigers get Burley back on the roster soon. In the meantime, Clemson is just going to have to make due with this trying situation Swinney created.
If we want to pinpoint where Clemson has lost its way under Swinney, it is along the defensive line.
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