Another Bad Night for Clemson’s O-Line
By: Will Vandervort September 13, 2026

Clemson offensive linemen Collin Sadler (50) and Ronan O’Connell (77) can’t prevent quarterback Tait Reynolds (2) from being sacked in Saturday’s win over Georgia Southern. (Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider)

CLEMSON — Once again, it was bad night for Clemson’s offensive line.

Everywhere on the team in Saturday’s 22-7 win over Georgia Southern, there was improvement.

Reynolds improved the play at the quarterback position, sort of. Gideon Davidson and Chris Johnson combined for 115 yards and averaged a combined 5.5 yards per carry at running back.

Wide receiver T.J. Moore hauled seven passes for 103 yards, while Bryant Wesco had 71 all-purpose yards, including 36 on punt returns.

The defense allowed just 266 yards and just 22 yards on the ground.

Every unit played better on Saturday night with the exception of one – the offensive line.

“A lot of it was not on the OL. A lot of it was on the quarterback,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “It starts with the quarterback making the right decision. Some of it was on the OL or the tight end or whatever, but a lot of it was on our quarterback and not doing what he was supposed to do.”

Maybe that is so, but the offensive line was charged with giving up 11 tackles for loss, including two sacks. They were also called for four holding penalties, one illegal use of the hands to the face and two procedural penalties.

It was not a good night at the office.

“It is a concern anytime you have too many TFLs and you have a bunch of penalties like we had, it is so frustrating,” Swinney said. “They have to get better. They have to keep working.”

There was a little bit of a sign in the fourth quarter that the offensive line was getting better. Clemson kind of put the game away with a drive midway through the quarter, as Davidson rushed for 38 of his 62 yards to move the Tigers into field goal range.

Hauser made a 50-yard field goal after the drive finally stalled at the Southern 33-yard line. It was not much, but it was a little sign the offense, when executing, showed it is will in the trenches.

“We just have to get back to work and practice,” Swinney said. “We have to learn from the mistakes that we had and try not to make the same mistakes. Apply the lessons that we learn. Week-to-week you learn, and fortunately we were able to win and overcome some of our mistakes.”