CLEMSON — Coming into the 2025 season all everyone talked about was how great of a defensive line Clemson was going to have.

On paper, it is easy to see why.

The Tigers brought back potential top 10 picks in T.J. Parker at defensive end and Peter Woods at defensive tackle. They went to the transfer portal, really for the first time, and brought in defensive end Will Heldt from Purdue. DeMonte Capehart was back for one more season at defensive tackle, plus up-and-comers such as Stephiylan Green and Jahiem Lawson.

The possibility seemed endless on how good they could be.

But through the first seven weeks of the season, the defensive line, like a lot of areas on this year’s Clemson team, has underperformed to this point.

Parker, one of the nation’s top sack leaders and leaders in tackles for loss, has just six tackles behind the line of scrimmage and two sacks. Woods, who has taken on more double teams and played well overall, has one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

As a unit, the defensive line has 15.5 off the Tigers’ 17 sacks, plus 26.5 of the team’s 45 tackles for loss. They also have 27 of the team’s 38 quarterback pressure.

The numbers, as a whole, are not bad, however they also are not great.

“It just has not been consistent as I wanted it to be,” Clemson defensive coordinator Tom Allen said. “To me, it is about the consistent get off, striking and knocking back and playing with that confidence is what I really wanted to see.

“So, it has not been consistent. I feel like it has been, at times, what you want, but not what you want all the time.”

The defensive line did not look good at all against SMU last Saturday, as the Mustangs pushed them around, especially in the second half when they rushed for 102 yards. The Tigers had just one sack and six tackles for loss.

“To me, we have to do a better job during our drill time, during our individual time and during out technique emphasis,” Allen said.

It is not helping the defensive line that its offensive line is struggling, too. It is hard to sharpen iron when there is no iron to sharpen.

“We have to continue to find ways to get our guys better,” Allen said. “I do not think it is from a lack of effort. They are playing hard. If they were not playing hard, I would call them out and tell them what it was, but I do feel like it is more about confidence in your technique, confidence in what we are doing systematically and just continue to work on it.

“You just can’t grow weary of doing things the right way. You keep going after the standard. This is the standard and you keep chasing that standard.”