Clemson Tigers Will Look to Stay Aggressive on Offense Against Texas Longhorns

The Clemson Tigers aren't going to take off the gas against the Texas Longhorns

Clemson football Offensive Coordinator Garrett Riley speaks during a press conference at the Smart Family Media Center in Clemson, S.C. Tuesday, August 27, 2024. Clemson plays University of Georgia at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia Saturday, August 31 at noon. / Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Clemson Tigers will be looking to pull off a big upset against the Texas Longhorns in the first-round of the College Football Playoff. 

It has been a wild couple of weeks for the Tigers, despite looking like they didn’t have a chance to make the CFP multiple times, a few things fell their way and they have entered the dance. 

Over the past couple of weeks, the Tigers have played some very quality opponents in the SMU Mustangs and South Carolina Gamecocks. In both games, it was very tight, but the game styles were a bit different. The win against the Mustangs ended up being a shootout, but it was more of a grind it out style against the Gamecocks in the loss. 

Recently, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley commented on a couple of regrets in both of those games, as he wants the offense to be more aggressive and put games away. 

“We had some chances to really put them away in both games, honestly in the first half,” Riley said to Jason Preister of the Clemson Insider. “Didn’t make a play here and there. And just the way the games have gone, we probably didn’t stay on the gas as much as I would have liked to,” Riley added. “That’s always… hindsight is 20/20 coming off the game. Trying to draw off the last two weeks for sure, on how we can hopefully close a little bit better,” Riley said. “Or keep the momentum going a little bit longer with what we’ve had offensively the last couple of games.”

Riley is certainly right that the offense could have done a better job putting a couple of these games away. While they still escaped with the win over SMU, it was much closer than it should have been. However, the loss to South Carolina was a game where Clemson had the lead late and got a little conservative on offense. 

One issue for the Tigers when it has come to closing out games has been their lack of a running game. With Phil Mafah playing banged up, Clemson has been very one-dimensional on offense at times. While Cade Klubnik and the passing offense have been excellent this season, they can’t do it all. 

Against the Longhorns, the Tigers will have to make sure that they stay aggressive if they get a lead. Texas will be coming into the matchup with one of the best defenses in the country, and Clemson must stay aggressive on them if they get a lead.