Dabo Swinney dismisses idea dropped passes are an issue for Clemson wide receivers

The Clemson Tigers were able to move the ball against Duke but ultimately struggled to finish drives with points. One big issue the offense had was that wide receivers were dropping passes. However, head coach Dabo Swinney didn’t think the drops were an issue.

During his midweek press conference, Swinney explained that drops are a thing that happens everywhere and that he doesn’t think it’s a concern for Clemson. In fact, he saw a lot of good to build on from the receivers.

“I didn’t watch a single game across the country where there wasn’t some drops,” Dabo Swinney said. “I didn’t watch a single game. So, we caught the ball well. Yeah, we had a couple critical drops and we had the one 3rd and 8 there with Antonio [Williams] on a competitive play.”

Ultimately, Swinney was happy with the offense’s performance in the passing game. The Tigers threw for 209 yards and nine different players caught passes in the game.

“Again, we threw for 200+ and for a first game we did a lot of good things. I thought Beaux Collins played outstanding. He played really, really well. So, yeah, we had a couple little things. We had the one that [Will] Shipley should have caught and that’s really more of a fundamental thing where he should have just defined the route instead of drifting in the route and trying to run before he catches it. I mean, listen, when you watch the NFL, you’re gonna see some drops,” Swinney said.

“Was it an epidemic? No. Are you happy and satisfied with any drops? No. But was there anything alarming? No. It was actually a pretty good start with this group and definitely got room for improvement. These are human beings. These aren’t robots. This isn’t artificial intelligence running around out there. These are young people, but for a first game, good start and something we can build on. Certainly not perfect, but nothing alarming or anything like that.”

Dabo Swinney left the game confident in his offense despite only scoring seven points and turning the ball over three times. He’s so confident, in fact, that Swinney claimed Clemson won’t lose again if they play like they did against Duke on offense.

“If we do what we did offensively the rest of the year? We won’t lose another game. It’s just that simple. I’ll sign up for that right now. I was very encouraged by what we saw and it’s unfortunate that that got overshadowed because we lost the game. But that’s what happens when you don’t do some of the routine things. We had a cadence situation, we put the ball on the ground a couple of times, three trips inside the five and we get nothing, a couple low kicks,” Swinney said.

“The name of the game is points. A lot of yards, a lot of stats, good on third down. But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to finish.”

Andy Staples warns that Clemson’s offense must improve

After the game, Andy Staples warned that if Clemson’s offense doesn’t improve, the team could lose as many as five games this season.

“I’d say yes. If you average 5.3 yards a carry for the rest of the year, that’s great. But if you average [4.9] yards a pass attempt — which you averaged on Monday against Duke — you will definitely not win every game this year. You will not go 11-1. One thing, Duke may not be the best defense you play. Mike Elko, great defensive tactician, and Duke’s talent has obviously been upgraded in the Elko era. So they are one of the better teams that Clemson will play. But in terms of defense right now, Florida State, NC State, Notre Dame, probably more talented on defense than Duke. I mean, almost definitely more talented on defense than Duke. Miami, probably more talented than than Duke on defense. This is not going to be easy for them. That doesn’t make any sense,” Staples said on Andy Staples On3.

“And I realize you’re trying to get your team back after a pretty devastating loss. I mean, that is a tough way to lose a game. But the other problem that should scare you if you’re Dabo Swinney is you also gave up 6.6 yards a carry at Duke. I don’t know that Duke’s gonna have the best rushing attack of any team you play, either. This is bad. This is very bad. … If they do what they did offensively against Duke, if they do that again, if that is the offense we’re gonna see this season, that team’s going 7-5. If the offense is a little bit better, yes, they may win eight, nine, 10 games. Maybe they’re 11-1 if the offense improves dramatically. But if they do what they did the other night — minus the fumbles in the red zone — they’re gonna lose a bunch of games.”