Dabo Swinney on Clemson's strong defensive start to the season

Clemson might be off to a slow start offensively, but the Tigers defense has been outstanding so far this season. The defense has not allowed a touchdown through its first three games, which is a first since the 1950s, according to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

Clemson fell 10-3 on opening weekend to No. 2 Georgia, but the Bulldogs’ lone touchdown in the game came on a pick-six. The Tigers bounced back to defeat South Carolina State 49-3 in week two. Last weekend, Clemson snuck by with a 14-8 victory over Georgia Tech during with the Tigers allowed two field goals and a safety in its second win.

Swinney has been very impressed by the performance from Clemson’s defense early in the season.

“The name of this game is points,” Swinney said to reporters after Saturday’s game. “When the team can’t score, you don’t win a lot of games. So, really proud of our defense. First time since 1950 we’ve had three opening games without a score. So man, just an unbelievable effort.

“There’s gonna be a lot of things on tape that we gotta clean up. I thought some fundamental stuff… Defensively, they got outside of us too many times where we were coming inside and trying to make plays. We had four sacks, should have a few more if we stay on the upfield shoulder if we leverage the ball properly. There’s a lot of good things we can learn defensively too.

Clemson has fought through offensive inconsistency

The Tigers did not score a touchdown against Georgia in week one. Clemson put up 49 points on South Carolina State, but then just 14 against Georgia Tech. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has not thrown for more than 178 yards in a game. Running back Will Shipley, though, has emerged over the last two weeks, with 80 yards in two touchdowns in each of the last two games.

Just as Swinney wants his defense to work on fundamentals, he is looking for that same improvement from Clemson’s offense.

“Fundamentals, it’s just fundamentals,” Swinney said. “Again, it’s one of those things I went over last week with D.J. We had a nice play last week, and he’s going to his left, and the ball is in his right arm. When you got’s the ball, you’re exposed. It’s just a little habit for him we have to get him out of, as opposed to putting the ball over here and have a hand to protect the ball a little bit. It’s just fundamentals. We’ve had some exchange issues with Will, a dropped snap.”

Clemson comes in at No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll. Swinney and Clemson face NC State in Week 4 in what should be an interesting matchup.