CLEMSON — Through four games, the Clemson offense has come nowhere close to being what was expected in the offseason. It’s a significant reason why the team sits at 1-3 heading into the first bye week of the season.

Led by a senior quarterback in Cade Klubnik and featuring an offensive line with a wealth of experience, the unit was expected to be good enough to take the Tigers on a deep playoff run.

Instead, it’s been one mistake after another. From questionable playcalling to shaky quarterback play and a leaky offensive line, Garrett Riley’s unit just hasn’t been able to get out of its own way.

“As coaches, you always want to put them in the best position possible,” Riley said. “I think the reality is the way in which we have come up short as a team in some of these games thus far has probably affected us too much.”

Now in his third season running Clemson’s offense, Riley readily admits that the group has yet to come close to playing to its potential. Due to some self-inflicted mistakes that have become drive killers, the Tigers have struggled to put the ball in the end zone and are averaging just 19.8 points per contest, ranking No. 111 nationally.

“Been kind of some strange games for us, and our kind of style of play, to only have 60 plays basically the first three games,” Riley said. “Then this (Syracuse) game, you get a lot more plays and you are in a hole and playing catch-up and all that the second half. Had to go almost two-minute mode in the third quarter just because of the style of game it was.”

Those mistakes have limited some of the opportunities, particularly in the first three games, which in turn impacts the unit’s ability to get into a rhythm.

“It’s been tough from a rhythm standpoint,” Riley said. “Just with some of the situations we have put ourselves in collectively as a team.”

When asked how he’d evaluate the offense through four games, Riley didn’t go in depth but did mention the lack of execution. Most of what he had to say focused on what needs to happen moving forward.

“Some of that is hard to say right now, but we certainly got to keep chipping away at the execution and the toughness that our team needs,” Riley said. “That is what we will be fighting for in the bye week this week for sure.”

With the team in the midst of a bye week, the Tigers will be looking inward over the next few days, hoping to find some answers for an offense that has looked fairly discombobulated to this point. After that, the team will prepare for its second road trip of the season, with Clemson set to travel to Chapel Hill on October 4 to face North Carolina. Kickoff is set for noon, and the game will be televised on ESPN.