Saturday night will serve as an inflection point for the Clemson Tigers under Dabo Swinney. There have been many other bad offensive performances in recent weeks and years, but tonight felt oddly different. In a game where Clemson's season was essentially on the line, the Tigers could not do anything against a reeling Virginia Tech team that was trying to give away the game down the stretch.
For as bad as Chad Morris has been all season long at calling plays, this all comes back on Swinney. He was the one to bring him back to Clemson in the first place. The game passed Morris by long ago. The guy could not win a single SEC game while leading Arkansas. Why on God's green earth did Swinney think Morris could reinvent the wheel after 12 years away from the program? This was awful!
The most damning part about Saturday night's loss was true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds once again was unable to throw for a single touchdown. He threw for one to Christian Bentancur during his first career start in Week 3 at home versus North Carolina. Reynolds has yet to throw for one since. Clemson is not taking on world beaters, but the end zone might as well be an asymptote.
Clemson needs to implement wholesale offensive changes immediately
Of the many painfully frustrating things this coaching staff has said this season, Morris saying that he was going to stay up in the booth moving forward has to be chief among them. How is this helping the young quarterback develop? It got so bad that Swinney blamed all of his coaches for a horrid first half. He was seen holding a play sheet in the second half, trying to help Morris actually do his job.
Yes, there were moments where Clemson could move the ball effectively on Brent Pry's defense, but it was almost exclusively between the 20s. Pry may have a good feel for these players, mostly because he was the Hokies head coach a season ago! Yet for some reason, the Tigers are the ones wearing the dunce caps after Saturday night. How can Clemson possibly say this is good enough?
The worst part in all this is even if Swinney moves on from Morris as offensive coordinator, there is not an immediate pathway for this to get better. It would require admitting defeat. Reynolds has not done enough in his five starts to merit him being the future under center for Clemson anymore. It may have been a better call to see if Christopher Vizzina could sling it because Reynolds was not inclined.
At 4-3 on the season and 2-2 in ACC play, Clemson's chances of playing for anything of significance this season are completely toast. For as hard as Tom Allen's defense played tonight, the offense could not attempt to carry its own weight. We are watching the ACC equivalent of the Tony Dungy Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In time, the Glazers moved on from Dungy. Could that happen to Swinney?
Well, with Dave Doeren out of a job at North Carolina State, Swinney will have to adapt fast or else.
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