Dabo Swinney has allowed for Clemson's once-proud offense to devolve into 2023 Iowa

It has become comical how awful the Clemson Tigers' offense has been this year. While they do run the football well on occasion, the passing game resembles something out of the former Brian Ferentz playbook at Iowa. Fate would have it that through the first eight weeks of the year, Clemson is the only team in FBS whose defense and special teams unit have accounted for more than half of their points.

Yes, 66 of Clemson's 150 points on the season have come off the right leg of Lou Groza contender Nolan Hauser. That is 44 percent of Clemson's point total from just one player. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney joked about Hauser's production and the likelihood he ends up winning the Groza. "It's like a conspiracy to win the Groza -- it's unbelievable ... I bet he'd trade that for some touchdowns."

In addition to Hauser's 18-of-19 made field goals and 12 extra points, the Tigers also have two defensive/special teams touchdowns on the season as well. Bryant Wesco Jr. returned a punt at Cal, while Kylon Griffin had a scoop-and-score against Charleston Southern. That gives Clemson an additional 12 points, meaning it got 78 of its points without any help from its offense, or 52 percent...

Clemson is projected to stall out during its own Drive to 325 this season

With Clemson averaging only 21.43 points per game as a team, the Tigers are projected to fall well short of their ill-fated Drive to 325. Ferentz never got to 325 points during his final season running his father's Iowa offense in 2023. The stipulation was that Iowa needed to average 25 points per game over the course of 13 games. Hence, the Drive to 325. Defense and special teams could help out, too.

Just like Clemson, 2023 Iowa was gifted on defense and special teams. Phil Parker and LeVar Woods were in their bag that season, much like Tom Allen and Rich Bisaccia have been this fall as well. While Iowa's quarterbacking issues were slightly different, Dabo Swinney's decision to have Chad Morris coaching up true freshman Tait Reynolds has resulted without any passing touchdowns in a month.

While rampant nepotism may have ruined Iowa that year, Swinney is as rigid as Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. These are two of the longest-tenured head coaches in college football. Nobody has been around longer in the Power Four than these two complicated head coaches. As is the case with Ferentz at Iowa, Swinney has crossed the Bobby Bowden Rubicon of holding his once-proud program back.

Right now, what we are seeing in Clemson is eerily reminiscent of what went down in Iowa City three years ago. Kirk Ferentz still has his job, while Brian Ferentz was sent packing. At some point, someone will have to intervene and send Morris on his way. While Parker still remains on Ferentz's staff, Woods eventually left for debatably greener pastures in East Lansing. Will Allen or Bisaccia exit stage right?

Clemson can still win a handful of games this year, but it will not match the 10-4 record of 2023 Iowa.

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