New Season, Same Problem

By Matthew Osborne
SouthernPigskin.com

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For now, Clemson’s team remains as almost a mirror image of last year’s squad: a dominant offense which is held back by a porous defense.

The 2011 football season couldn’t have started much better for the Clemson Tigers. Through eight games, the Tigers were a perfect 8-0, and had elevated themselves all the way to No. 5 in the national polls.

Defensive collapses over the latter part of the season, however, would lead to three losses in their final four games.

After rebounding for an impressive 38-10 victory over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game, the Tigers’ defensive ineptitude would reach an all-time high, as Clemson allowed an astonishing 70 points to West Virginia in an embarrassing Orange Bowl loss.

All totaled, the Clemson defense allowed just under 37 points per game over the final eight games of the 2011 campaign. Such dramatic defensive inadequacies led to the prompt firing of defensive coordinator Kevin Steele just a week after the conclusion of the season.

Longtime Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables was paid a hefty sum during the offseason to take on the challenge of solving Clemson’s defensive woes.

Whereas Steele’s defensive scheme was characterized by its extreme complexity, Venables preferred implementing a defensive scheme which allowed his defenders to simplify the thinking process and use their superior athleticism to make plays on the football.   

Just four games into the 2012 season, it is safe to say that the Clemson defense, despite returning the majority of last year’s starters, could very well be the team’s Achilles heel once again.

The Tigers currently rank 95th in the FBS in total defense (443 yards per game), and are coming off of a contest in which they allowed 667 yards and 49 points to Florida State.

Such an apparent lack of defensive progress begs the obvious question: Is it new season, same problem for the Tigers?

According to one former Clemson All-American defender, youth and inexperience might have a lot to do with the prolonged defensive struggles.

“Well, we’re a young team – you can expect some things to go the way they have went. But I really think these guys are improving every week,” former Clemson linebacker Keith Adams stated. “They have good players, so I’m not worried about that.”

Certainly, lack of talent can never be used as an excuse for a sub-par Clemson performance. Outside of the Seminoles, no other ACC team has consistently recruited as well as the Tigers over the past decade.

Simply looking at the depth chart along the defensive line, it appears that Adams’ theory about a lack of experience hurting the Tigers is extremely valid.

The Tigers currently have just one upperclassman – senior DE Malliciah Goodman – listed on the two-deep on the defensive line.

Youth, particularly along the defensive front, would certainly start to explain why the Tigers are currently allowing opponents to rush for over 200 yards per game on average.

“There’s a huge difference,” Adams said about the divide between the play of underclassmen and upperclassmen. “The way to get better is to go out there and play and get the experience. So when you lack experience, you might not have seen certain things that you have seen as an upperclassman.”

While the Clemson defense has continued to give up yards in bulk, the Tiger offense has remained consistent in its production, topping 35 points in three of their four contests thus far this season. And with talented playmakers such as Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington, Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins, it does not seem likely that the Tigers’ vaunted offensive attack will be slowed by the opposition anytime soon.

At the end of the day, the Tigers are still a top 20 team in spite of their well-documented defensive struggles. They are also one of the most explosive and potentially threatening teams in the nation.

For a team coming off of its first ever berth in a BCS bowl game, however, a top 20 ranking and the title of a team with tremendous potential means little.

Clemson’s offense is good enough to compete for a conference title, if not a national championship.

Until the Tigers can fix their problems on defense, though, they will continue to fall tantalizingly short of reaching their most prominent goals.

Inexperience might explain some of Clemson’s defensive troubles. It does not, however, serve as a legitimate excuse for their current defensive statistics.

For now, Clemson’s team remains as almost a mirror image of last year’s squad: a dominant offense which is held back by a porous defense.