Dabo Swinney places Clemson offensive struggles in career context

The Clemson Tigers are off to a rough start to the 2021 season. Through four games, Clemson is just 2-2 and has fallen to No. 25 in the latest AP Poll. Clemson put up 49 points on South Carolina State but has struggled against tougher opponents. Against Georgia, Georgia Tech, and NC State, Clemson has scored just 38 total points. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney talked about Clemson’s offensive struggles after Saturday’s loss to NC State.

The struggles are something that Swinney hasn’t seen at Clemson in a long time.

“Well, it’s been a long time man,” Swinney said when asked how long it has been since he’s seen offensive struggles like Clemson is right now. “It’s been a long, long time and it hurt us tonight. I think they had the ball 40 minutes to our 18-19. You know, just wore us down. I guess to answer the question, it’s probably been 2010 maybe. I remember that year, we weren’t very explosive.

“We were kind of in transition from a personnel standpoint. We could run the ball, we were able to run the ball well. I remember that year in 2010 the way we were built. We were good on defense and a good running game. But we struggled kicking the ball that year. I think we were 57 percent on field goals and that was something we needed.”

Swinney: Clemson isn’t quitting

Expectations were high on quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei coming into the season. Uiagalelei showed flashes of greatness in his limited action last year for Clemson, but he has simply not been good enough this season. Through four games, Uiagalelei has completed 56.3 percent of his passes with 586 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions.

Clemson’s offensive line has struggled as well, and the Tigers have not gotten enough from other offensive skill positions. Uiagalelei has been sacked nine times, and Clemson is averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Shipley has shown glimpses of his potential and leads the team with 211 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. At receiver, Joseph Ngata and Justyn Ross each have at least 216 yards. But behind them, the next closest receiver has six receptions for 45 yards.

Despite the struggles, Swinney isn’t throwing in the towel for Clemson yet. The team is still committing to figuring things out.

“It’s been a long time since we have just not been able to put it together offensively, that’s for sure,” Swinney said. “That’s where we are, and as I said earlier, we’ll do everything we can to try to get better. Not any quitting in us. Everybody is disappointed and everybody is hurting. We’ll show back up on Monday and go back to work to see if we can find a way to win a game. That’s really all we can focus on and that’s all that we’re going for.”

Clemson hosts a surging Boston College team at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night.