Clemson Tigers Offense Has Greatly Improved This Year Under Garrett Riley

The Clemson Tigers offense has greatly improved under Garrett Riley

Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley during Clemson football practice at Jervey Meadows in Clemson, S.C. Wednesday August 7, 2024. / Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Clemson Tigers are heading into Week 13 looking to finish off the last two games of the season on a positive note. 

After a big win in Week 12 over the Pittsburgh Panthers to finish up the regular season in the ACC, the Tigers will be doing a little scoreboard watching for the next two weeks to find out if their 7-1 record will be good enough to get them into the conference championship game. 

Despite being on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff, it has been a pretty solid season overall for Clemson with an 8-2 record. 

One of the reasons why they have been successful this season is because their offense has greatly improved from last season into the second year with Garrett Riley as the offensive coordinator. 

Head coach Dabo Swinney recently praised the improvements on offense, but highlighted that there is still work to do. 

“He has done a heck of a job. We are much improved,” Swinney said to Will Vandervort of the Clemson Insider. There is plenty we can still do better. Obviously, we have had a couple of slow starts in a couple of games down the stretch here where we are just not finishing some drives, missing some plays and mistakes along the way, but Garrett has done a great job,” Swinney said. “The staff has really been awesome. I am really pleased with our staff and the work they have put in. It has been really good, and Garrett has a great feel for Clemson, our structure and everything that we do, and obviously the personnel and our players.”

This season, the Tigers rank 10th in total offense, 14th in points per game, and 22nd in explosive plays. Those are all recently strong national ranks through 12 weeks, and with an easier game coming up against the Citadel Bulldogs, those numbers could improve. 

Where the really encouraging improvements have come is from quarterback Cade Klubnik. The junior quarterback looks like a completely different player compared to last season. In 2024, Klubnik totaled 2.563 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns, and just four interceptions so far. 

It has been an excellent junior season for the Tigers quarterback, as he has already greatly increased his touchdowns from 2023, and he has also significantly cut down on turnovers. 

With a couple of games to go, Klubnik can easily get to the 3,000-yard passing mark, and eclipse 30 passing touchdowns. 

Even though it hasn’t been a perfect season on offense, it has been a much improved one from last year. Assuming Klubnik returns in 2025, Clemson could easily have a Top-10 offense in the country with a little more progression.