'Sluggish' Second Half Performance Cost Clemson in Rivalry
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CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson's offense has been a model of inconsistency this season.
On Saturday, those inconsistencies cost the Tigers in a big way, as rival South Carolina was able to overcome an early 14-point deficit and defeat No. 8 Clemson 31-30. The loss ended the program's seven-game winning streak in the rivalry series, as well as its 40-game home winning streak.
Once again it was a second-half lull that did the Tigers in, as the offense produced just 86 total yards after halftime, with just 13 of those coming via the passing game.
"We were really sluggish in the second half. We couldn't move the ball," offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said. "We had like 250 yards in the first half and just really, really struggled with being consistent. Whether it would be just missed plays, we had missed throws, drops. Obviously, the passing game was nonexistent most of the night. So it was a really tough day. Really tough day."
Clemson was able to have some success running the ball, as Will Shipley rushed for 132 yards and averaged 8.8 yards per carry. On the day the Tigers ran for 232 yards, losing for just the second time under Dabo Swinney when going over the 200-yard mark.
It was the passing game that never got going, as DJ Uiagalelei had the worst statistical performance of his career, finishing just 8-of-29 for 99 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Coming into the game Uiagalelei was completing 65% of his passes.
"You got to be able to be balanced," Streeter said. "I know our passing percentage was really, really low, which is not the norm. We had a pretty decent percentage coming into the game. Gotta give credit to them and they were the better team today. They were the better team."
South Carolina played a lot of man-to-man coverage, but according to Streeter, Clemson's receivers just couldn't win enough of those matchups.
"They played a ton of man coverage," Streeter said. "They just did better than we did as far as playing man coverage. And we didn't win in man and we didn't make the plays that we needed to make."
Streeter insists that as the offensive coordinator, the buck stops with him, and with North Carolina up next in the ACC Championship, it's his responsibility to get any issues ironed out quickly.
"We had a bad game," Streeter said. "That's our responsibility as coaches to get it right. That's what we're gonna do. We're gonna come back to work tomorrow and get it fixed and move forward."
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