Once again, Clemson was not able to play complementary football.

With a running game that was basically non-existent, the Tigers’ offense sputtered much of the afternoon as Penn State gave Clemson a dose of reality with a 22-10 win in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Tom Allen’s defense, despite missing half of the starters and all but one player along the defensive front, routinely got off the field through the first three quarters, but the offense just couldn’t take advantage of those opportunities.

The fourth quarter was a different story, though. The Nittany Lions pretty much did what they wanted, scoring both of their touchdowns and totaling 158 yards of total offense over the final 15 minutes of play. Ethan Grunkemeyer went 5-of-6 for 133 yards with two touchdowns in the final quarter. He finished with a career-high 262 passing yards.

The Tigers mustered just 236 yards of offense, with Cade Klubnik not getting a lot of help from his pass catchers, who had half a dozen drops on the afternoon. Not that Klubnik played all that well in his own right.

Clemson finishes the season at 7-6, its worst record since 2010, Dabo Swinney’s second season as the full-time head coach. The Tigers also fail to win a postseason game for the 15th consecutive season.

All a Mirage

Clemson came in feeling pretty good about itself after winning its final four games of the regular season. However, Saturday proved that the run in November wasn’t as impressive as Swinney would have you believe.

The Tigers beat a bad Florida State team, were basically gifted a win at Louisville, beat FCS Furman, and then went on the road and knocked off a putrid South Carolina team. Not a one of those wins was all that impressive.

While there were a ton of regulars missing in this game, the loss to Penn State is a stark reminder that there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed before the start of 2026.

Compare the Two Offenses

Watching these two teams play, one thing really stood out. That is the vast difference in the two offensive schemes. Penn State’s Taylor Mouser did a really good job of getting creative and using a lot of misdirection to keep the Clemson defense off-balance, particularly in the second half.

Compare that with what you see with Garrett Riley’s offense. There’s very little presnap motion. Hardly any window dressing at all. In this particular game, on top of not making much of an effort to establish the run, we didn’t see the Tigers do much attacking downfield. Against a Penn State secondary that was missing two starters.

Why Won’t Clemson Run the Ball?

In a game in which points were at a premium through the first three quarters and the passing game just couldn’t get much going, Clemson made very little effort to establish the ground game. Despite only trailing by three points at the break, the Tigers had just four rushing attempts in the third quarter. This, after Adam Randall and Gideon Davidson combined for only eight carries in the first half. However, there were plenty of screen passes that will be called an “extension of the running game.”

The Waiting Begins

With the season now officially over, we will finally see exactly how much change Dabo Swinney plans to make when it comes to the coaching staff. With the transfer portal opening on January 2, and this game showing exactly how many needs on this roster need to be addressed, there’s no way you can hold the status quo for 2026. And you’d think any changes that are coming will need to be made fairly quickly.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images