Clemson has problems everywhere through its 1-2 start, and none of them looked fixed in the first half of Week 4 against Syracuse, with the Orange jumping out to a 24-14 lead at the intermission. However, Dabo Swinney has predominantly directed his ire at the defensive side of the ball and a unit that features multiple potential first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Heading off the field into the halftime break, after botching an end-of-half sequence with confounding clock management, Swinney didn’t pull any punches when addressing the play of his defense to ESPN’s Kris Budden.
“That’s about as bad a start defensively as I’ve seen,” The 17th-year head coach of the Tigers told Budden, exasperated. “I mean, we have to stop the run. It’s as simple as that. I mean, they just went through us.”
Swinney did acknowledge that the play improved after surrendering points on Syracuse’s first four drives. “We did get two punts. So it was good to see us settle in. We got a couple of stops right there.”
Through the first half of Week 4 against Syracuse, which has nearly been upset by UConn and has a loss to Tennessee, has gained 303 yards of total offense and is averaging 7.2 yards per play.
Clemson’s defense is far from the only problem
After finishing 69th in total defense and still managing to win the ACC last season, Clemson moved on from defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin and hired former Indiana head coach Tom Allen away from Penn State after he spent just one season in Happy Valley and led a top 10 defense in the country.
However, Allen, even with TJ Parker, Peter Woods, and Purdue transfer Will Heldt up front, has not been able to replicate the success he had leading a defense with Abdul Carter, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Zane Durant, with the Tigers. So far through the first three weeks, Clemson ranked 49th in EPA/play allowed and 85th in opponent success rate, but the defense isn’t the only issue.
Despite evading Swinney’s wrath, the Clemson offense could be even more responsible for the team’s slow start this season. Garrett Riley’s unit is 109th in EPA/play and 90th in success rate. Cade Klubnik has not looked like the player who outdueled Kevin Jennings and SMU in the ACC Title game and pushed Texas in the first round of the College Football Playoff.