Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Voices Frustration as Clemson Struggles to Find Consistency

After a crushing, 35-24, loss to the SMU Mustangs in an ACC Championship rematch, the Clemson Tigers are back under .500 with a 3-4 overall record and 2-3 conference record.

Following the contest, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney spoke to the media, expressing his frustrations about the line of scrimmage issues they encountered throughout the matchup.

"Well, it certainly wasn't good offensively," Swinney began. "We didn't run the ball and gave up four sacks. The one sack was on our back; we missed a blitz there. But, not good enough."

Last weekend, in a dominant 41-10 win over Boston College, the Tigers' offense exploded on the ground, rushing for a season-high 226 yards and four touchdowns on 43 carries. Starter Adam Randall led the way with 10 carries for 36 yards and a score, while senior Keith Adams Jr. followed closely behind, adding seven carries for 49 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Freshmen Gideon Davidson and David Eziomume also chipped in, combining for eight carries, with Davidson posting 20 yards and Eziomume adding 18.

For Clemson to maintain offensive rhythm and continue putting up high-scoring performances, developing a reliable rotation and trusting the backfield is essential in all facets.

But it also comes down to the run-blocking. The offensive line has arguably been the team's most inconsistent unit, and losing starter Collin Sadler to a scary injury against SMU only adds to the challenge with Tristan Leigh already sidelined.

On defense, Clemson largely contained SMU's Kevin Jennings, though a few costly breakdowns proved the difference, according to Swinney.

"I think we got after them pretty well defensively. In a weird way, we did a pretty decent job against [Kevin Jennings]. He's a handful," he praised. "We just gave up some big plays on the back end that we just didn't need to give up, on some basic stuff; that's the frustrating thing."

While the Mustangs may have earned the win, starting signal caller Kevin Jennings certainly didn't have a perfect game as the Tigers held him to 23-of-43 passing for 290 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The defense also combined for eight quarterback hits, six tackles for a loss and one sack.

Despite holding Jennings in check for much of the game, Clemson struggled to contain SMU's speed out of the backfield, particularly from Chris Johnson Jr.

"We'll see the tape, but I thought they competed pretty dang hard, got after them," he said. "We did let the back slip through a couple of times. That kid's fast, [Chris Johnson Jr.] especially. They caught us in man coverage a couple times, so give them some credit for that, but we'll see the tape."

SMU had 28 touches on the ground, totaling 139 yards and two touchdowns on an average of five yards per carry. They spread touches across the backfield between three different backs, Chris Johnson Jr., Derrick McFall and listed starter T.J. Harden.

Johnson and McFall combined for just 10 carries but made the most of it, rushing for 106 yards and two touchdowns with an average of 10.6 yards per carry. Harden, on the other hand, didn't have a great performance, receiving 11 touches for a brutal 16 yards.

The Mustangs' ability to stay balanced on the ground stood in stark contrast to Clemson's offensive ground struggles, with Swinney pointing to rhythm as the missing piece.

"I think you have to have a good rhythm. The last couple of games, especially, we've had that. We've been better, especially last week, we did a really good job in the run game and got a lot of people involved," he stated. "But we just never got it going today; we never created much of a rhythm. We didn't run the ball much, and when we did, we weren't very effective. It's definitely a priority for us, but we didn't get it done today."

The Tigers have shown they can put it all together; last week proved that, but Saturday was another reminder of how thin the margin for error is. If Clemson wants to climb back above .500 and make a bowl game, it'll start with finding rhythm and consistency at the line of scrimmage.