Clemson Spring Game: Storylines to Watch

Clemson fans will finally get a chance to see the Tigers after an offseason full of change on Saturday. Here are the biggest things we'll be watching out for.

Fans will get their first look at the 2023 Clemson Tigers this Saturday in Death Valley. Fresh off of regaining their crown as ACC Champions, the Tigers are in the midst of one of the biggest shifts of the Dabo Swinney era. New offensive coordinator Garrett Riley has brought his brand of spread football from TCU to Clemson, and the Clemson faithful are eager to get a feel for what to expect.

Spring games are glorified scrimmages, more catered to recruiting than actually simulating a game, and yet there are still things that can be learned. No starting job has ever been solidified in spring, but you can certainly get an idea of what's to come from certain players. With that in mind, here are the biggest storylines to track on Saturday.

Efficiency on offense 

Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney has heaped praise on the offense all spring, consistently stating how impressed he has been with the lack of penalties and misfires from the team while installing Riley's new system. “Coach Riley’s done a great job," said Swinney after Clemson's first scrimmage. "Offensively, we’ve got a lot in. We’ve actually been able to get a lot done. Probably the biggest thing, procedurally, we’ve really been clean… I’d say we’re ahead of where I thought we’d be at this point.”

We'll see how clean they can be on Saturday. Riley's offense is more "dictating tempo" than "up-tempo". The Tigers want to be able to go fast, but they also want to be able to go at a slow, controlled pace, and they want to do both with equal effectiveness. With a few offensive linemen still out and a battered group of wide receivers, when Clemson tries to go fast on Sunday, will they be able to do so without false starts and procedure penalties?

Tyler Davis decided to return to Clemson for a 5th year of football this offseason

Defensive line rotations

It's a spring game, so Clemson's position groups will be split between two teams, but it will be interesting to see which defensive linemen get reps with the first and second teams. Obviously, the return of Tyler Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro was huge, but Clemson welcomed in a historically good class on the defensive line. 

Peter Woods and T.J. Parker have already been turning heads at spring practice. Will Swinney and the coaching staff try to split the talent up evenly, with some veterans and some young guys going to each squad, or will Clemson try to get a look at what a starting defensive line could look like?

Finding a playmaker outside of Will Shipley

Clemson is desperately in need of a game-breaker on offense. Will Shipley has done an admiral job the past couple of seasons of putting the offense on his back, but he can't do it on his own. Shipley simply can't make every play, and when other teams have been able to take him away, Clemson's offense has sputtered. 

Even Shipley, for as good as he's been, hasn't had the same explosiveness as a Travis Etienne. During his time at Clemson, Etienne averaged 7.8 yards per touch, more than 2 yards more than Shipley's 5.5. With Joseph Ngata off to the NFL, the Tigers are in desperate need of a guy to step up and start making plays.

More Clemson News:

• Garrett Riley Named Top Offensive Coordinator in College Football by PFF
• Will Shipley Looking to "Add Whole New Dimension" to Offense
• Clemson to Receive First Official Visit for 5-Star Linebacker This Summer

Follow Christian Goeckel for more Clemson Football coverage: @goeckelsports