What We Learned About Clemson Following Unbalanced Win Over Furman

With Week 2 in the books, the Clemson Tigers made it through a short turnaround, and while there was some improved play on offense, there wasn't much complementary football played on Saturday.

Dabo Swinney gave us all a harsh reminder following No. 5 Clemson's 35-12 over the Furman Paladins on Saturday: A quarter of the college football season will be over by next weekend. 

That's kind of hard to stomach. It all just started yet it is a fleeting season. 

So we're running out of time to be reactive to every play, every game. Still, take these thoughts below on what learned about the Tigers after a short turnaround game against Furman with a grain of salt or question everything you know about college football. 

After all, it was a wild day throughout the country. Regardless, evaluations have to be made so let's get to it:

Lack of complementary football

Swinney said it best when he said after the win that his team didn't complement itself very well at times. Sure, the Tigers got off to a fast start, scoring on five of their first six drives, and the outcome was never in question. But there were tons of missed plays, uncharacteristically, on defense. The offense had just one score in the second half and got outgained 384-376. And special teams even had a big gaff on a muffed punt. Maybe it was playing on a Monday night on the road and then having to suit up again on Saturday afternoon. 

"There are no excuses," Swinney said. "We'll get better. It's hard to win." 

It doesn't feel like an ideal situation for anyone, but this was still an FCS team that Clemson should've handled more convincingly. Many of the errors seem correctable. However, you expect a better effort no matter the situation out of a highly-ranked team of his caliber. Obviously, Clemson is far from a complete product and there's plenty of time to fix it, but this doesn't feel like one of the elite teams in college football through two weeks. 

DJU beaming

Starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was all smiles after the game. It wasn't because he or the offense was perfect. He just played a really solid game, completing 78 percent of his passes and tossing two touchdowns, and Uiagalelei was having fun and feeling confident. Maybe that's the key to his improved play. He seems to be simplifying the game in a sense and remembering that football is meant to be enjoyed. He didn't do much of that last year, so from that standpoint, he is a different person. 

It also might be the fact that he's held off freshman backup Cade Klubnik for another week and maybe put some separation between the two. Klubnik looked great in his one drive against GT, but he struggled to find his footing in two drives against Furman. Klubnik was 1-for-4 passing for minus-2 yards. Uiagalelei, meanwhile, used his legs to extend plays and hit a few down the field to keep drives alive. He deserves to be the starting QB and he's still got a lot to improve on. DJU threw a bad pass that was picked off. But he's the best option at QB for the Tigers coming out of Week 2.

Defensive panic button?

No, it's not time to hit it yet. But Saturday was weird. The Tigers looked out of sync from the beginning. 

"Disappointed in how we handled the quarterback and little loose in coverage," Swinney said. "A lot of things we can improve on and grow from for sure.

"I didn't think we played the screen game well." 

There's no doubt about that. That's the second consecutive game where the lesser talented side of the ball used Clemson's aggressiveness against it. The Tigers pursue hard to the QB, but they are unable to make adjustments against screens. It's a tad troubling, and clearly, Furman scouted Clemson well and went an astounding 10-of-18 on third downs. 

But the Tigers also couldn't contain their gaps, allowed too many easy, quick passes and struggled against Furman's cut-block scheme. Maybe the easiest explanation is the most logical one: Clemson was gassed from having just four days off. This unit did have a goal-line stand and forced two turnovers. Based on the vast ability, let's go with fatigue and lack of readiness for now. And while nobody should panic, the Tigers need to show they can clean these things up after a normal week of rest and preparation. 

Receivers improving

There's actually a good bit to like about the receiving corps coming out of the second game. Beaux Collins caught a touchdown and led the team in yards for the second consecutive game. That's some good consistency, and he had a 40-yard bomb catch as well. Freshman Antonio Williams has emerged as one of Clemson's most productive pass-catchers. He had six targets and made three nice grabs. After getting just one catch on two targets on Monday, Joseph Ngata got more involved with 44 yards on three catches (4 targets) and led the team in average yards per reception.  

Overall, 10 different Tigers caught a pass. It wasn't the most explosive game ever, but for a maligned group that hasn't exactly helped their starting QB much in the previous 14 games, this was an effort to build upon. There is a little bit of promise with these receivers. The recruiting rankings tell you that. But the execution must continue to get better For a week, there's more of a sigh of relief around the receivers. 

Want to join in on the discussion? 100% FREE! Interact with fellow Tiger fans and hear directly from publisher Zach Lentz, deputy editor Brad Senkiw, recruiting analyst Jason Priester and staff writer Will Vandervort on any subject. Click here to become a member of the ALL CLEMSON message board community today!