While Clemson got the road win over Syracuse 18-13, it was far from a perfect product on the field for the Tigers. Although Dabo Swinney's team played well defensively and on special teams, it was once again a lackluster output by the offense. Chad Morris' side of the ball did not score a touchdown all afternoon. In fact, the only touchdown Clemson scored came from a scoop-and-score on defense.
For as great as it was to see Jahiem Lawson take Steve Angeli's fumble forced by Kourtney Kelly to the house, the 2-point conversion was something else. Tait Reynolds' incompletion was bailed out by a defensive pass interference call. That brought Clemson even closer to the goal line. The next play had linebacker Sammy Brown as a ball carrier. He got tripped up before falling short of the end zone.
Swinney was asked about the odd 2-point run. He said it would have been a walk-in had left guard Gavin Blanchard not gotten in the way of Reynolds. The Clemson quarterback got tripped up a bit, causing him to not give the best handoff to Brown, which culminated in him not getting the 2-point conversion. This just goes to show that Clemson was so clueless offensively inside the 20-yard line.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on handing it off to LB Sammy Brown on the two-point run: "That's a walk" if the left guard doesn't make an error. He says LG Gavin Blanchard took a bad step and tripped QB Tait Reynolds so it wasn't a clean hand-off. If it was, he says, Brown gets it
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) November 7, 2026
Clemson's failed 2-point attempt showed what is wrong with this offense
Look. It does not matter whether this play design was a walk-in or not. Clemson was unable to get any points from its offense all afternoon. If you are going to go for two, you need a play design that is going to inspire confidence in the offense, not have everyone watching, wondering what the hell that was. It just goes to show that Clemson continues to lose the plot offensively with Morris' play-calling.
Although there were a handful of explosive plays on the day, they all took place within the 20s. It may be a result of the game not having slowed down for Reynolds yet, but this was his sixth career start. At some point, it either has to, or it is never going to. Regardless, Clemson's defense was able to do something that the offense never could. You have to punch it in when your offense is really struggling.
The hardest part about this is that Clemson came into this game with so much offensive confidence. Reynolds threw for not one, but two touchdowns on the evening at Florida State. He also took one in from 79 yards out! You do understand why this failed 2-point attempt mattered so much, right? Teams that play winning football take advantage of the other team's miscues. Clemson was simply unable to.
As for what this means going forward, maybe the Florida State game was the anomaly, and not a sign of what is to come? Swinney did say that Syracuse was going to be a tough out. That proved to be true, as it was probably the case. What is also true is that Swinney did not make a smart hire with his offensive coordinator. No matter what role Morris has with this team, he has not been up to standard.
Clemson may have won with defense and special teams again, but this offense can be so frustrating.
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