Second half of the season starts at Miami, with Clemson's offense in the bullseye

Clemson's offense has to step up in the season's second half.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 16 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

The second half of the season starts Saturday at Miami, and with several tough challenges remaining, the Tigers will go only as far as the offense allows.

Clemson’s chances of making the ACC Championship Game grow a little dimmer each week. The Tigers are sitting alone in 7th place in the ACC with a 2-2 record. Two teams ahead of the Tigers are Florida State (4-0) and Duke (2-0), teams that have defeated the Tigers and hold the tiebreaker. One of those teams would need to lose three conference games for the Tigers to make the game.

That doesn’t even consider that UNC is 3-0 in the league, Louisville is 3-1, and both Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech are 2-1. Clemson doesn’t get the chance to play two of those teams but does get a shot at North Carolina and Georgia Tech in November.

Now, Duke still has a tough road ahead. They play at Florida St. next week and then travel to Louisville. The Blue Devils play at UNC on November 11th and end the season with a home game against a Pitt team that ruined Louisville’s undefeated season Saturday night.

But for right now, the Tigers just need to keep winning, and that starts on the road at Miami on Saturday night.

Miami is on a two-game losing streak – losing to Georgia Tech after a boneheaded coaching decision and getting drilled by UNC Saturday. But the Canes are third in the ACC in total defense and lead the league in total offense at just over 501 yards per game.

But back to Clemson: it’s hard to know exactly what this team is right now. Syracuse played the Tigers tough and has gotten drilled in the last two games by a combined 81-10 score. Wake Forest played the Tigers close in Clemson’s last home game – after getting drilled by Georgia Tech – and then didn’t score an offensive touchdown at Virginia Tech in a loss Saturday night.

In fact, it’s hard to figure out this league. Notre Dame is not a full-time member, but the Irish lost late against Ohio State, won late at Duke, was hammered at Louisville and then crushed USC 48-20 Saturday night. That’s the way the entire season has unfolded to date.

Clemson’s defense has been solid – ranking first in the ACC and seventh nationally in total defense. Miami will be the best offense the Tigers have faced this season. Florida St. currently sits 24th nationally in total offense, but Duke is 73rd, Florida Atlantic is 77th, Syracuse sits 63rd, and Wake Forest is 86th.

(It’s also worth noting that Miami defeated Texas A&M in the second game of the season and has wins over Temple, Bethune-Cookman, and Miami of Ohio. In other words, against three Power 5 teams, the Canes are 1-2).

As for Clemson’s offense, the Tigers have to find a way to be more explosive. Clemson found some success on the road at Syracuse but had a long pass play of just 16 yards against Wake Forest. Virginia Tech had six pass plays of 15 yards or more against the Demon Deacons on Saturday.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has said repeatedly over the last three or four years that teams are dropping eight into coverage and taking away the long pass play. But that leads to longer drives, which means more plays and more opportunities to make a mistake. As the Tigers head into the second half of the season, it would be great to see the offense dictate something to the defense for once. Be proactive and not reactive. Throw the ball down the field, even if its incomplete, in an effort to open up the running lanes. Through six games, the offense is above average. If the Tigers want to end the season on a high note – with games such as Miami, UNC, Notre Dame, and South Carolina still to go – the defense needs to hold serve while the offense gets better every week.

It all starts Saturday night.