Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers suffered a blowout loss to the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon to open their season, and the team’s performance has Swinney taking a lot of heat for the state of the Clemson football program.
Following the game, ESPN analyst Booger McFarland did not hold back his harsh criticism of Dabo Swinney and the Clemson program, particularly on the offensive side of the ball as he said it has been the “same, stale offense for four or five years.”
“Well it’s a couple of issues for Clemson,” McFarland said in the ESPN studio after the game. “I’m afraid to say it’s the same old things: No creativity on offense. It’s been the same, stale offense for four or five years. The quarterback, Cade Klubnik, no ability to push the football down the field. And if you’re a Clemson fan, you have to ask yourself: When are we going to change? When are we going to be able to be creative when we don’t have the explosive players that you’ve already heard of? The Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins, when you don’t have those generational players, the creativity has to change already. The defensive line was outstanding the first half. But they just couldn’t hold up all game long, when the offense doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain.”
Clemson was once one of the most consistent and dominant programs in college football. But Saturday afternoon proved they’re a long way from competing for a national title this year.