There was certainly more bad than good that came out of Clemson football’s season-opening loss to Duke on Labor Day Monday. While not everything was negative, the overall Tigers’ performance left much to be desired. Clemson will play their first home game this Saturday against Charleston Southern, but before the Tigers run down the hill, here is a look back on five things we learned after the loss to the Blue Devils, three bad and two good.
No middle ground…
All that everyone heard throughout spring practice and fall camp was how much more wide open the Clemson offense would be under new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, and how the Tigers would burn up the middle of the field. Clemson took no more than three shots over the middle against Duke, and that aspect of the offense, even in attempt, was non-existent. What gives? Coach Dabo Swinney explained after the game that because the Blue Devils were playing two high safeties in coverage, that it limited opportunities to take downfield shots. Nobody should take that at face value. A vertical passing game does not mean you throw it 50 yards deep every single time you pass. It simply means you throw it to the middle of the field. Run some receivers to the middle and sit them down between the linebackers and safeties and take the 10-15-yard intermediate middle throws. There was no excuse for not trying.
Fumbling away opportunities…
Despite the lack of a vertical passing game, it was not as if the Tigers were bereft of chances. Clemson marched the ball up and down the field using the running back tandem of Will Shipley and Phil Mafah, as those two simply imposed their will when nobody else could. It all went for naught, however, when two fumbles at the one-yard line snuffed out all momentum and any chance the Tigers had of winning the game. Handoffs inside the five-yard line are pretty elementary stuff, especially for high-level college football. Mistakes will happen, and that is an inevitable part of the game. For the Tigers to lose the ball twice that close to the goal line and squander other red zone opportunities with two errant kicks, Clemson can look back and reasonably accept that the loss was more due to their own self-destruction than anything Duke did to stop them.
Nothing special…
Special teams were, to be as nice as possible, not special on Monday night. In fact, Clemson was downright abysmal. Redshirt freshman kicker Robert Gunn III had both of his short field goal attempts blocked, and punter Aiden Swanson simply was unable to flip the field as effectively as his Blue Devil counterpart who was launching punt after booming punt to keep Clemson in poor field position most of the night. Swanson had plenty of chances, for sure, but Duke was able to somewhat neutralize an overall strong night for the Tigers’ defense by making up for it with field position. Coach Swinney admitted that the coaching staff opened up the competition for starting placekicker in practice this week. It will be interesting to see if Gunn III retains his job, and if not, can the staff find a reliable special teams solutions.
Parker is the man…
Now to some of the good things we saw. True freshman defensive end T.J. Parker is as advertised. He was a central piece to Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class and showed why on Monday night. While the defense recorded no sacks, Parker brought repeated pressure against Duke quarterback Riley Leonard and repeatedly harassed the Blue Devils’ signal caller into errant throws. Parker has a lightning-fast first step, and if the first game was any indication, he will be a key cog in the Clemson defense not only this season but at least through 2025.
Clemson has running backs…
It goes without saying that Clemson has two dynamite running backs in Will Shipley and Phil Mafah. Shipley was the game’s leading rusher with 114 yards and caught the Tigers’ lone touchdown on a curl out of the backfield where he was found beautifully by Cade Klubnik on a short throw. Mafah was a bulldozer in short-yardage situations and even broke off a long run of over 40 yards. If Clemson cannot figure out a fast and viable solution to the passing game soon, it will be imperative that Swinney and Riley rely more heavily on their two main backfield weapons. “Will and Phil” have shown they can handle the load and depending on the trajectory of the rest of the offense in the coming weeks…and they may have to.
