Clemson offense needs to find consistency

CLEMSON — Clemson picked up a victory in Pittsburgh last weekend, but it didn’t come without its challenges.

While the Tigers scored several touchdowns in the first half of their game against the Panthers, the consistency of the offensive unit has been an issue in recent weeks.

Difficulty moving the ball is certainly an issue that tops the list, which isn’t helped by multiple injuries on the offensive line. Additionally, the Tigers didn’t see the explosiveness their offense produced in the first few weeks of the season.

Offensive coordinator Garrett Riley spoke to the media to address possible inconsistencies with his unit and assured that there was not, in fact, an overall problem.

“The hardest part is that it hasn’t been a chronic thing,” he said. “Untimely and unfortunate events occurred at critical times.”

These unfortunate things have once again been abandoned. Clemson had four against Pitt and has 14 in the last three games.

“You have a few drops in this last match. You have a few missed throws,” Riley said. “We had a somewhat unfortunate agreement. We had a good drive to start the game against Pitt, and we had a fumble, which was kind of an unfortunate transaction that happened there. This hasn’t been a chronic thing.

While it’s true that there isn’t just one problem, that doesn’t make things much better. The Tigers need consistency in their offense, whether it’s catching passes that should be caught or other things.

“The message to our guys and our staff is, ‘Look, we just realized we need to get back to doing common things at a higher rate,'” Riley said. “We just have to make sure we’re really consistent and doing it at a high pace.”

Clemson will have the opportunity to show its consistency against The Citadel on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Death Valley.