Dabo Swinney Addresses Clemson's Red Zone Woes in Alarming Statistic

The Clemson Tigers are 6-3 and are coming off back-to-back victories over away ACC opponents. However, beneath it all, there’s an alarming number that has created drama over the course of their season.

Of course, if you watch every game, it’s easy to point out that Clemson is historically bad in the red zone in 2026.

When the Tigers enter the red zone, they’ve only scored touchdowns on 36.7% of their possessions. That is second-to-last in the FBS, finishing 137th after their win over the Syracuse Orange this weekend. Clemson has only scored 11 touchdowns on those possessions, and based on the number of times the offense crosses midfield, head coach Dabo Swinney would want more from his group.

Swinney was asked about it on Sunday's teleconference, and he can’t point out one specific answer for the offense sputtering out during these possessions.

“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.”

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Last weekend, a multitude of things contributed to it. On a 2nd-and-goal in the second quarter, Tait Reynolds took a sack to force a long third down, which the Orange defense was able to stop. Wide receiver T.J. Moore had a drop in that area as well, leading to a quartet of field goals from Nolan Hauser to put 12 points on the board.

Especially against top teams, which Clemson has had in LSU, Miami and Virginia Tech, which were all losses, the Tigers couldn’t take advantage in that part of the field.

“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.”

The Clemson head coach isn’t lying about that, especially with a first-year offensive coordinator in Chad Morris and a true freshman quarterback in Reynolds. From his first game as a starter to the win last weekend, there’s more confidence at quarterback with the Tigers, and that should continue down the stretch of this season. However, with the program still in the mix for the ACC Championship, as well as the Palmetto Bowl looming against the ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, Clemson must clean it up at that end of the field.

That’s what Swinney will look to find, even in the multitude of reasons that the Tigers are inefficient on that end of the field.

“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 host Georgia Tech this weekend with hopes to change that. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

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