Clemson offense needs to learn to finish, but there were scrimmage standouts

Elliott (right) and head coach Dabo Swinney discuss things this week.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Aug 15 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – The Clemson defense owned the first scrimmage of August camp, but offensive coordinator Tony Elliott wants his offense to know that it’s right on track for the season opener against Georgia.

The Tigers scrimmaged for two hours inside the Poe Indoor Facility Saturday afternoon – rain moved the scrimmage inside – and Elliott said his group didn’t do a good job of finishing drives.

“My general impression is that we started out well moving the ball, we just didn't finish drives. We had some critical drops,” Elliott said. “Too many self-inflicted wounds like penalties and false starts by receivers and the offensive line. You have to control the controllable and we didn't do a great job there. We came alive later in the scrimmage. We had some situational work down in the red zone and were able to find the end zone. But overall, good work, and this will be a good opportunity for us to evaluate a lot of players. But not as consistent as we want to be. But it's a great opportunity for us to go back and learn and figure it out.”

Communication was lacking.

“I think communication is where it starts, and the guys being dialed in. Like I told them before, camp is always like this,” Elliott said. “It's a little bit frustrating because the defense is going to be a little bit ahead. We aren't necessarily game planning for them and we will have play calls that aren't going to match up. Don't get frustrated. Sometimes, especially young guys, get a little frustrated because things don't match up. We are trying to tell them to not focus on that. We don't to get into game-planning for the defense, we are installing our entire offense to build for the season.

“So the biggest thing for the young guys is helping them stay confident and control the things you can control, which is your fundamentals and make sure you're headed in the proper direction. And then when school starts we will pare it down and we will figure out exactly what we will carry into the Georgia game. For the young guys we want to make sure they stay in the playbook and stay the course. We've installed a lot of stuff every day except for today.”

Elliott had a list of players he thought stood out.

“So today, I thought Dacari (Collins) had a good day. Been pleased with Frank (Ladson) and his progress. Jordan McFadden has been solid,” Elliott said. “J-Lay (Jaelyn Lay) made a couple of plays and I'm anxious to see what it looks like in the other aspects of his game. But when he was targeted he made some plays. Those are the guys that stood out. And then, Will Taylor just continues to impress.”

Running Kobe Pace scored two times in the red zone, but Elliott said room to run was hard to come by.

“I think we saw a ton of flashes there,” he said. “He still needed to learn the entire package, especially from a protection standpoint, but we knew that it was there and we anticipated that he was a guy that would push for that lead spot.”

Along the offensive line, Matt Bockhorst started at center while Mason Trotter also saw time at the starting spot.

Tight end Jaelyn Lay had a good day.

“Today he made some big plays when he was isolated 1-on-1. It was a third-down catch on a play he needed to win to make the play and he was able to do that,” Elliott said. “So far, I have seen some flashes and I know it's in there. I want to get it out of him and he's willing. He is willing and he wants to. And you have to be confident in what you're doing. When you know what you're doing you can play fast and physical and that is my job is to get him to that point to where he is confident in the run game and the pass game.

"I am encouraged but we still have a lot of progress to make.”