Clemson’s season has been defined by a strange split personality. The Tigers are 6-3 and have stacked back-to-back wins over ACC opponents on the road, but one number keeps hanging over the program: when Clemson gets inside the red zone, the touchdowns have been hard to find.
The Tigers have turned those trips into touchdowns just 36.7% of the time, a mark that ranks 137th in the FBS and second-to-last after this weekend’s win over Syracuse. Clemson has only produced 11 touchdowns in those situations, and for a team that crosses midfield often enough to keep creating those chances, that’s been a glaring issue.
Dabo Swinney was asked about it on Sunday’s teleconference, and he didn’t pin the problem on one single culprit.
“It's all the above. I mean, it really is,” he said.
“And it's not-I wish I could tell you it was one thing. But it's just kind of, we just kind of rotate on what it is.
And it's frustrating.”
There were examples of that frustration in the Syracuse game. On a second-and-goal in the second quarter, Tait Reynolds was sacked and Clemson was pushed into a long third down, which Syracuse then stopped.
T.J. Moore also had a drop in that area, and the Tigers settled for four Nolan Hauser field goals and 12 points.
That kind of waste has shown up in the bigger games too. Against LSU, Miami and Virginia Tech - all losses - Clemson couldn’t cash in when it got close.
“I mean, you got a chance to put some of these games away, and so we're gonna keep working at it,” Swinney said. “And we are making some improvements.”
There is some reason for that optimism. Chad Morris is in his first year as offensive coordinator, and Reynolds is a true freshman at quarterback. From Reynolds’ first start to last weekend’s win, the quarterback play has looked more confident, and that should keep trending in the right direction as the season goes on.
Still, Clemson is alive in the ACC race and has the Palmetto Bowl against ranked South Carolina coming up, so the Tigers can’t afford to keep leaving points on the table near the goal line. Swinney said the issue comes down to more than one thing, and he’s still searching for a cleaner answer.
“So it's a combination of a little bit of everything. Just not the type of crisp execution and precision that you gotta have to finish the drive with a touchdown.”
Clemson will try to straighten that out this weekend against Georgia Tech. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
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