Believe Dabo or not, but Clemson coach touts offense after Tigers' first scrimmage (2024)

CLEMSON— If you ask members of the Clemson defense, they believe they are going up against a differentTiger offense in fall camp.

Offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is always "innovating," safety Tyler Venables said, motioning skill players in one direction or another to make what's coming more unpredictable and complex.

Safety Khalil Barnes felt like he was coveringan abundance of shallow crossing routes in practice last season, but there seems to be more variety with a second-year starter, Cade Klubnik, at quarterback.

"Cade, he's got the confidence of the coaches, the coaches got more confidence," Barnes said after an Aug. 9 practice."Coach Riley, he's in his bag right now. I don't wanna give away all the formations, the plays. But he's giving us work."

The next day, Dabo Swinney came out of Clemson's first scrimmage speaking more positively about the offense than the defense. The offensive line, he said, "won the day." Phil Mafah's backups at running back broke off big runs, including one especially big touchdown trot from redshirt sophom*ore Keith Adams Jr.

Klubnik impressed, too.

Clemson's propensity for falling short of expectations in recent seasons might make it harder to swallow, but Swinney would have you believe a more experienced offense is taking steps forward ahead of an Aug. 31 opener with Georgia. What he wouldn't have you believe is anything Clemson's defenders are saying about new wrinkles in the Tigers' scheme.

"We ain't doing anything different. We're doing the same thing we've always done. We're just doing it better. They just think it's different," Swinney said of his defensive players. "They don't know what they're talking about."

Swinney added, "Same formations, same motions. It ain't about plays, it's about players. Our players are just doing a better job."

It remains to be seen if Clemson's offense will be more dynamic in 2024, more reminiscent of Riley's last TCU offense. That unitstretched secondaries vertically and horizontally with jet-sweep motions and punched front sevens in the mouth with guard-tackle pulls and quarterback Max Duggan's gritty runs.

In three seasons as a play caller, Riley's offenses always produced better than 38 points per game — until his first season at Clemson, averaging just under 30.

His Clemson offense looked different, Riley admitted, because his personnel was different. He never pinned the blame on any specific position, but it wasn't hard to see that Klubnik made too many mistakes as a first-year starter. The offensive line busted one too many times.The receiving corps was beat up.

How different circ*mstances will change Clemson's offense remains to be seen, because Clemson's scrimmage on Aug. 10 was closed to the public, and the Tigers didn't line up 11-on-11 in any of the practice periods media members were allowed to view. The truth probably lies somewhere between Swinney's comments and his defenders' observations.

It's unlikely Riley revamped his playbook, because Air Raid disciples tend to believe in the tried-and-true nature of their scheme. Each play is simple but sufficiently loaded with an answer to whatever a defense might try.

At the same time, it's not unbelievable to think Klubnik, in his second year in the system,has been finding the right answers more often. If Riley is dipping in "his bag," as Barnes says, it could just be that a more experienced unit is more effectively running Riley's plays, twisting Clemson's defense into knots.

"Just the way that they can be precise and spread the ball out with their quick game," Venables said,"it's really hard to prep for early on in camp."

Riley and Swinney have both noted Klubnik's maturation, not only calmer feet in the pocket but more forceful leadership on and off the field.

Venables called the junior signal caller an "executioner"of plays.

"He's very calm under the duress of our defensive line, from what I've seen," Venables said, "and so I have all the confidence in the world in him."

At each level of the defense, they have seen changes. Not necessarily schematically, but just in the way Clemson's offense is performing.

Defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart said Clemson's offensive line seems to have a "new DNA" under the tutelage of Matt Luke, more fire as they finish blocks.

Cornerback Avieon Terrell, who has lined up versus a deeper and healthier receiving corps, described camp as an exchange of blows.

"They punch us in the mouth, we punch them in the mouth," Terrell said. "Cade, the receivers, everybody, it's just a whole different passion out there."

Swinney isn't calling his offense or defense a finished product after one scrimmage. The defense, he said, missed too many tackles. On the other hand, Barnes and fellow safety Ricardo Jones were able to force turnovers.

The offense isn't perfect, three weeks out from the opener with Georgia. But Swinney believes they are better.

And it's not— according to Swinney, at least—because of anything new Riley has cooked up.

"We're playing with a little bit more identity, a little bit more consistency than we were this time last year," Swinney said."We're not the Dallas Cowboys or anything just yet, but we're certainly better at this point than we were last year from just a consistency standpoint."

"Same plays," Swinney added. "They just work better."