CLEMSON — Things are getting bad at Clemson, and Saturday’s 20-6 loss to Georgia Tech was a low point.
It was Senior Day in Tiger Town, and with the program already not having much success at home over the past two seasons, the stadium was nowhere close to being even remotely full.
For the fans who did come out, there wasn’t much to cheer for. By the time the Yellow Jackets went up 20-3 early in the third quarter, a lot of those fans were starting to leave in droves. And we are talking about a Georgia Tech team that had lost four straight, had not won a road game all season, and one that looked pretty checked out in a blowout loss to Louisville a week ago.
However, what stuck out most to me was the missing boos. They were heard back in September when Clemson got down to North Carolina early. They were heard last month in the home loss to Virginia Tech. But Saturday, it was fairly quiet for the most part. And that is what apathy looks like.
Sure, some of that can be attributed to starting quarterback Tait Reynolds leaving after the third play with a knee injury. The breath was completely sucked out of the venue in that moment. After that, it just felt like few cared from that point forward.
Sitting in that stadium, watching this program drop to 2-9 in its last 11 home games against Power-4 competition, and the lack of emotion the fans displayed, my mind went back to something Dabo Swinney said about midway through the 2023 season.
“We’re at a point in our time, and I hate that, where people, if you don’t go undefeated — you’re losers, you’re terrible, and it’s just such a terrible mindset,” the head coach said. “And honestly, maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon. Sometimes the bandwagon can get a little too full.”
Well, I think it’s safe to say that the bandwagon is getting lighter. And with two games left against pretty good Duke and South Carolina teams, it’s safe to assume things can still get worse.
That is hard to fathom, seeing how bad this Georgia Tech team was and that the Yellow Jackets had 20 players listed as out on the injury report. We counted less than 60 Yellow Jackets dressed out during pregame warmups.
No Plan B
Again, once Reynolds went down, that was it. To be clear, I am not suggesting Clemson wins had he not gotten hurt, but it was pretty evident the Tigers currently have nothing at quarterback behind Reynolds. Vizzina not being healthy certainly factors into that, but not taking a portal quarterback in the offseason has really come back to haunt Swinney.
No need to beat that dead horse, but the Tigers are now in a really bad spot. Pearman proved in his three series Saturday that he’s not going to be effective behind this offensive line. Vizzina was hurt again on Saturday. So, who does the staff turn to now?
Do we see Brock Bradley on the field on Friday night in Durham at some point, or will Chris Denson, who has been at receiver all season, get moved back into the quarterback room this week?
Swinney said before the season that if his plan at quarterback did not work out, he would be “raked over the coals.” Well, here we are.
Was Tait the Entire Game Plan?
You are playing a Georgia Tech team that has one of the worst run defenses in the country, and your running back doesn’t register his first carry until the second quarter? Pearman, who is definitely not known for his ability to run the ball, had more carries in the first quarter than starting running back Jarvis Green.
Was the crux of the game plan to just run Reynolds at that porous defense all afternoon? If it was, how did it not change in the moments after he left? And this comes a week after Green only had three carries on the opening drive against Syracuse and then not another one until after halftime.
If the idea was that Chad Morris was brought back to reinvigorate this Clemson running game, it’s been a complete and utter failure so far.
After his lone carry on Saturday, Reynolds now has more rushing attempts than anyone else on the roster. Even Gideon Davidson. Yes, Davidson has been out the last two games, but Reynolds was basically out for the entire game and only played a handful of series in the season-opening loss to LSU. Something about that just doesn’t feel right.