Uncharacteristic Red Zone Issues Plague Tigers In Orange Bowl Loss to Tennessee

Red zone offense, something that had been a strength for the Tigers in 2022, plagued the offense in the Orange Bowl loss to Tennessee.

Clemson drove inside the 35-yard line of Tennessee nine times Friday night.

The Tigers would struggle to finish off those drives, though, as Clemson managed to find the end zone just once in a 31-14 loss to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.

The Tigers ran more than 100 plays, possessed the ball for more than 36 minutes and went 7-of-19 on third down, but it was all for naught as uncharacteristic red zone issues plagued the offense all night long.

After coming in as one of the better red zone offenses in the country, Clemson was just 2-of-4 inside the 20 against the Volunteers.

"That was the most frustrating thing tonight," offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said. "So many drives... got us down there to that high red zone area and then just stalled. And that was the struggle tonight and it hasn't been all  year long and that was the frustration."

Pass protection was an issue throughout, as Tennessee harassed QB Cade Klubnik all night, sacking the freshman four times and forcing him into two interceptions. When asked if there was one specific issue that led to the struggles, Streeter insisted that there were a multitude of factors that led to far too much inconsistency up front.

"I think there was good times, there were there was some really good pictures, and then there were some times that we had a breakdown," Streeter said. "Whether it be Cade missing a hot situation or it was a guy with technique up front but just too inconsistent."

Protection issues were not the only thing that plagued the Tigers in Miami. Missed assignments, blown opportunities and a downright lack of execution also played a role. 

The generally very reliable BT Potter missed three field goals in the first half and the Tigers were also stopped short of a first down while attempting a fake field goal on their first possession of the game.

Then on what would be the final play of the first half, with the Tigers at the Vols' 13-yard line, Klubnik inexplicably took off running with time running down and no timeouts. He was tackled well short of the goal line and the team could only watch as time expired, with Tennessee taking a 14-3 lead into the break. 

"There really wasn't," Streeter said regarding whether it was just one thing causing the offense to stall. "I mean, one time a guy made a mistake and had a (missed assignment). Another time there was either a missed throw or a missed opportunity. So it just wasn't the norm with what we've been doing all year long. Very rarely stalled in the red zone.

"Missed a couple of field goals, but a couple of those were long field goals. I mean that was just kinda the story of the night. Just kind of shooting ourselves in the foot whenever we got down close."

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