CLEMSON — After what happened against LSU, Clemson needs a bounce-back performance in a big way.
Fortunately, the eighth-ranked Tigers will host Troy on Saturday, with Clemson being as much as a 33.5-point favorite.
Make no mistake, this is one of those games where a win is expected. The Tigers are, by far, the more talented team. However, after the performance of the offense in last weekend’s season-opening loss to LSU, Clemson not only needs to win, but the team needs to look good doing it.
3 Keys to Success
1. Better OL Play: Clemson’s veteran offensive line had its share of struggles against LSU, particularly on the left side. While super senior Walker Parks missed the contest, Harris Sewell got the start in his place. Sewell had eight starts under his belt coming into the season, with more than 1,000 snaps under his belt, meaning he is plenty experienced, too.
The LSU defensive front is likely the best the Tigers will face off against during the regular season, but this group was expected to hold up better than it did. Troy gives this group a chance at regaining some confidence.
Matt Luke is one of the most respected offensive line coaches in the country, but this group needs to be much better than it was in the opener.
2. Finding the Ground Game: Throughout fall camp, Dabo Swinney boasted about how much faith he had in his running backs.
“I know nobody thinks we got good players there, but I like our running backs,” Swinney said early in camp. We got a good group, and I think they can all help us.”
After one game, we still don’t know what this team has in Adam Randall, David Eziomume and Gideon Davidson. The three combined for eight carries against LSU, with Davidson not getting a single one.
No matter what the result is on Saturday, this offense needs to feed those backs against Troy. Having, at the very least, a serviceable running game will not only help open up the offense, but it also takes some of the pressure off quarterback Cade Klubnik.
The staff moved Randall to running back for a reason. Troy is an opportune time to show what he can do. The timing is also perfect to let Davidson get a lot of work before the start of ACC play next weekend.
3. Klubnik Finding His Groove: In the loss to LSU, Klubnik looked like anything but a veteran senior quarterback. He definitely didn’t look like the Heisman favorite he was portrayed to be. He actually looked more like the player we saw during his first season as the full-time starter.
While the offensive line certainly shares in some of the blame, too often Klubnik would scramble to his right rather than stepping up into the pocket. He also wasn’t seeing the field well for whatever reason. There is example after example where he was forcing the ball downfield rather than hitting his checkdown, and several times those guys were open with lots of green grass in front of them.
This team is only going as far as Klubnik takes it, and he needs to get dialed in on Saturday. Even if that means playing him well into the second half.