Defending champs
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Things are always going to feel at least a little weird when this star-studded offense is out of sync.
But as long as Brent Venables and his defense are bringing the kitchen sink, Clemson is going to be hard to beat.
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It's a shock to the system when you see Trevor Lawrence missing throws and throwing interceptions right into the hands of opposing defensive backs.
It's just as surprising to see Justyn Ross dropping multiple passes a game.
The offense is still trying to find its rhythm three games in, and that's a major storyline surrounding the No. 1 team in the country after its 41-6 thumping of Syracuse on Saturday night.
Just as major, though, is a defense that was supposed to be rebuilding after the loss of all that talent.
The head coach has said this group is going to be a work in progress as young players get adjusted to prominent roles.
They've surely looked like a bunch of grown men the past two weeks, having given utter fits to Texas A&M and now Syracuse.
The only touchdown allowed by Clemson in the last 120 minutes of football came with six seconds on the clock in the drubbing of Texas A&M.
Venables makes a ton of money, but at this point it seems like a bargain.
The defending champs are playing some serious defense.
The Tigers set a school record with their 18th consecutive win, and even though there were some moments on offense that Dabo Swinney could only describe as "funky," a 35-point win surely beats what happened in the same place two years ago. Not to mention battling from 10 points back in the fourth quarter last year in Death Valley.
"It was a work in progress the whole game, but what impressed me the most was our defense," Swinney said. "There's nothing better than getting goal-line stops."
Clemson held Syracuse to 187 yards and 2.63 yards per play while limiting the Orange to a mere 15 rushing yards on 42 carries. The Tigers were in the backfield all night thanks to all manner of exotic pressures concocted by Venables and a defensive line that controlled the line of scrimmage against Syracuse's patchwork offensive line. Clemson piled up 16 tackles for loss, the highest total of the Swinney era.
Just when things are going seriously awry after Lawrence throws a tipped-ball interception that sets the Orange up at Clemson's 9, here comes Mario Goodrich to save the day.
Goodrich, a backup who was playing with Derion Kendrick banged up, had fallen to the turf when Syracuse quarterback Tommy DeVito made a seriously ill-advised decision not to throw the ball away. Instead he threw it right in Goodrich's direction, and Goodrich was ready.
This preceded a third-and-1 quick pass to Amari Rodgers that he turned into an 87-yard jaunt for a touchdown after breaking one tackle behind the line of scrimmage and another a few yards beyond.
But then things were going seriously awry again, Clemson up 24-6, after Lawrence rolled right and threw it right into the hands of nickelback Trill Williams.
This wasn't just Lawrence's fifth interception of the season, after he threw just four all of last year. It was also looking like things were going to get really interesting as Williams raced for the end zone.
In the opener against Georgia Tech, it was Lawrence who prevented a pick-6 by racing to knock the Tech defensive back out of bounds at the 2.
This time it was Travis Etienne who saved the touchdown by stopping Williams at the 3.
Syracuse was 3 yards from making the score 24-13. It might as well have been three miles.
Stuffed on first down. Stuffed on second. Play-action pass on third down snuffed out by an Isaiah Simmons blitz. And then, on fourth-and-goal from the 3, excellent pass coverage by Nolan Turner and Baylon Spector giving DeVito nowhere to throw and no choice but to try to run it in (that didn't work either).
Four plays from the 3, and nothing. Almost identical to what happened against Georgia Tech when Venables' defense held.
Syracuse was inside Clemson's 12-yard line four times Saturday night and didn't taste the end zone.
In addition to the turnover on downs and Goodrich's interception, Syracuse had first-and-goal from the 8 late in the first half and had to settle for a field goal.
For all the offensive funkiness Swinney referred to, it should be noted that the Tigers piled up some impressive stats: 612 total yards, 8.6 yards per play, and 221 yards on the ground at a clip of 7.6 yards per carry.
That said, no one denies that this offense is still trying to find itself. The two foremost superstars of last year's College Football Playoff, Lawrence and Ross, are looking surprisingly human.
The defense, though, is looking surprisingly a lot like it has in recent years.
Maybe we should stop being surprised.
Swinney, on his offense:
"I'm really proud of how they just hung in there.
"But the defense was awesome."
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