Garrett Riley explains why Clemson offense doesn't look like his one at TCU

Garrett Riley had one of the most explosive offenses in the country when he was the TCU offensive coordinator last season. Needless to say, he hasn’t been able to replicate that success so far at Clemson.

The Tigers struggled on offense in a 17-12 win over Wake Forest over the weekend as they continue to be too inconsistent.

Through six games, Clemson is ranked No. 47 nationally at 32.2 points per game. But in four games against Power 5 opponents, the Tigers are averaging only 19.8 points.

For comparison, TCU was No. 9 nationally in scoring last season at 38.8 points per game. That includes an average of 37 points against Power 5 opponents.

Garrett Riley was asked during his press conference on Monday why his Clemson offense looks different than his TCU offense. He pointed to personnel as a big reason why.

“I mean, every offense is different, you know what I mean? We’ve got different players. You’ve got different players and you’ve got a younger quarterback. And just all those things, right?” Riley said. “But we’re attacking a lot of the same ways. I mean not a lot of difference there. I would say just kind of who we have and who we are right now and just trying to work through it, you know?”

It’s not as if the Clemson offense has struggled all season.

The Tigers played well for most of the game against Florida State, outside of a few costly mistakes. And the offense had good moments against Syracuse in late September, too.

However, the Tigers have been too inconsistent and committed too many turnovers overall. Clemson is currently tied for No. 93 nationally in turnovers lost with 10.

Garrett Riley mentioned getting off to a faster start and everybody doing their job as other areas where Clemson needs to improve. He said it felt like the Tigers were playing with 10 people on the field against Wake Forest for much of the game, because on a lot of plays, someone didn’t do their job.

“The last few games it’s getting off to a faster start, I think, would allow us to probably unhook the plow almost a little bit sooner. We took some negative plays in the Syracuse game. And we did a much better job in the Wake Forest game of not taking as many negative plays,” Riley said. “But just playing with 10 too much the other day.”

Finally, Riley added what he would say to people who believe the Clemson offense doesn’t look like his one at TCU.

“I guess my response to that would be, ‘No, it’s the same. But you’ve just gotta adapt to the personnel that you’ve got,'” he said.