‘They have no offense’: ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum critical of Clemson
Georgia Tech threatened Clemson late in the ACC opener on Saturday, but the ninth-ranked Tigers managed to survive the Yellow Jackets 14-8.
While some say an ugly win is better than a pretty loss, Paul Finebaum was disenchanted by the Tigers’ offense. Contrary to his preseason opinion where he said Clemson’s defense would be the team’s weak link, the ESPN analyst on Sunday called the Tigers defense fantastic and said he was disappointed in the offense.
“What offense? They have no offense,” Finebaum said of the Tigers. “We were told D.J. (Uiagalelei) would just fill right in where Trevor (Lawrence) left off. Well, he hasn’t been able to do that because there are so many problems on the offensive front. ... That was simply an inexcusable performance all around.”
Finebaum shared his opinion after being asked on ESPN SportsCenter which college football team was the most disappointing so far. Finebaum said, for him, the Tigers edged Ohio State and Oklahoma for the distinction.
Clemson (2-1, 1-0) is averaging 22 points and 323 yards a game, compared with 44.3 points and 527.2 yards in the national championship season of 2018.
Clemson’s two touchdowns Saturday came from freshman tailback Will Shipley, who led the team’s rushing attack with 89 yards on 21 totes. The team totaled 284 yards of offense with Uiagalelei recording 126 yards on 18-for-25 passing. The Tigers have only surpassed 300 total yards of offense once in three games played.
They are scheduled to play at NC State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPN.
