Dabo Swinney: Clemson offense needs to 'grow up'

On3 imageby:Jonathan Wagner10/16/21

Jonathan Wagner

While Clemson has been good defensively for most of the season, the offense has seen tremendous struggles. The Tigers have scored more than 21 points just once through six games this season. Clemson snuck away with a close 17-14 victory over Syracuse on Friday night.

Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was 21 of 34 passing for 181 yards and one touchdown. Kobe Pace led the rushing attack with 14 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown. But as a team, Clemson averaged just 3.1 yards per carry, rushing for 116 yards on 37 attempts.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said after the game that his offense needs to ‘grow up’ moving forward.

“Well, the defense is the strength of our team right now,” Swinney told reporters after the game. “Until our offense grows up a little bit and starts playing a little cleaner. Again, we did a lot of things — but you got to find a way to win. That’s all we’re resigned to. We got to do whatever we need to, to win a game. Every week is a season of its own, it really is. That’s how you have to look at it. We’ve got a lot of inexperienced players offensively, a lot of moving parts. It’s hard to get continuity and rhythm when you have some of the critical mistakes we’re having. We just got to keep working, keep finding a way.”

Trevor Lawrence has faith in Clemson’s offense behind Uiagalelei

Trevor Lawrence is undoubtedly a Clemson great, and the former star Tigers quarterback is now in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Lawrence said earlier in the week that he still has confidence in his former backup and believes that Uiagalelei still can turn it around for Clemson’s offense.

“I’ll still hit him up every now and then and check on him,” Lawrence said. “I think everyone kind of goes through everything at their own pace. You’ve just got to learn and grow. He’ll do that. I checked in on him after the Georgia game just to make sure he’s hanging in there.

“Just gotta stay the course. That’s the biggest thing. If you don’t quit, it’s all gonna work out. We haven’t had at-length conversations, but I definitely have a lot of faith in him. He’s a great guy.”

Next up for Clemson is a tough matchup against Pittsburgh in Week 8.