Jordan McFadden says Clemson's offense is ready to "shock the country"

McFadden delivers a block against Syracuse last season.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Oct 14 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Jordan McFadden says Clemson's offense is ready to shock the country.

Clemson’s once-robust offense has stumbled out of the gates in 2021, ranking near the bottom nationally in many offensive categories. The offense was better against Boston College but still settled for four BT Potter field goals and just one touchdown along the way to 19 points.

McFadden said the win over the Eagles was a starting point.

"It brought some confidence. I think that's what we needed more of. Understanding who we are an offense. We were communicating well, playing super hard,” McFadden said. “We didn't have many unblocked guys. That was a big thing, making sure everyone was hatted up and we were on the same page. Once we get everybody hatted up, we have some special backs on our team. I think the biggest thing for us was just hatting up guys. They put the games on our backs and let us do what we do, and we gained confidence from that."

McFadden said he watched plenty of college football last weekend and his takeaway was that anything can happen on any given day and that Clemson still has plenty to play for.

"Just how to handle adversity, especially in the Alabama and Texas A&M game. There were a lot of momentum swings. Just how to finish. Same with Texas-Oklahoma. Just keep playing until the final whistle blows,” McFadden said. “Coach Swinney was preaching it's not bad to have a long-term vision. Nothing is out of reach for us. I think the biggest thing for us is to focus on Syracuse and take care of business. Just one game at a time."

Because of a toe injury to right guard Will Putnam, Clemson started Matt Bockhorst at right guard while Hunter Rayburn played center. That combination led to the best the line has played this season, but McFadden says it doesn’t matter who plays as long as they communicate.

"I think as long as we communicate and we're on the same page no matter who is out there, whether it's Putnam, Bockhorst, (Marcus) Tate, as long as we're on the same page, we will like the results,” McFadden said. “I'm super confident in whoever is out there. I'm going to keep saying this: just us being on the same page. After that, everything else will fall into place."

McFadden said he feels like the offense is ready to break out and shock the country.

“We move the ball, then stall out and kick a field goal. I think once we start putting the ball in the end zone, we'll explode as an offense,” he said. “I'm telling you, we'll shock the country on what this offense can do. Everybody is kind of looking at us like we can't score, but I'm telling you, once we put the ball in the end zone and show people we can throw, catch, and run -- we'll be a scary offense.

"I'm excited to see what we do Friday. I'm expecting big things."