Report card: Clemson football, Dabo Swinney flunk season opener at Duke after upset loss

DURHAM, N.C. — Clemson football opened the 2023 season with a demoralizing 28-7 loss at Duke on Monday. The No. 9 Tigers looked unsteady on offense, dubious on defense and unprepared on special teams.

The loss was Clemson’s first to the Blue Devils since 2004, although the two teams have only met five other times in that 19-year span.

Here’s how we’re grading each phase of the Tigers’ game.

Offense: F

Clemson debuted its new offense under coordinator Garrett Riley and quarterback Cade Klubnik, and it fell totally flat. Clemson managed one touchdown, which was set up by a special teams blunder on Duke’s part. The Tigers punted on four of their six drives in the first half, and their second-half drives ended with a blocked field goal, back-to-back fumbles in the red zone, a turnover on downs and an interception. Clemson went 1-for-4 in the red zone. Klubnik finished 27-of-43 for 209 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Defense: D

The defense was the only reason the game was close — until the second half. That’s when Duke quarterback Riley Leonard’s run ability finally got to them, and he broke a tackle from Barrett Carter in the backfield and outran safety Nate Wiggins for a 44-yard score in the third quarter. After that, Duke scored twice in the fourth. There were some bright spots — a couple of tackles for loss, a forced fumble recovered by Andrew Mukuba — but it didn’t look like the highly touted veteran group it was cracked up to be.

Special teams: D

Clemson gets some points back for linebacker Wade Woodaz’s recovery of a Duke muffed punt in the second quarter. That set up the Tigers’ lone first-half score. But the Tigers had not one but two field goal attempts blocked, one that would have tied the score at 3 and a second that would’ve cut Duke’s third-quarter lead from 6 to 3. Antonio Williams also made a puzzling punt return choice in the second quarter that resulted in a Clemson drive starting at its own 8-yard-line.

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Coaching: D

For a team debuting a new offense with one of the most sought-after coordinators in the country in Riley, Clemson didn’t do much to convince fans that this year would look different than the last two. Puzzling play-calling left much to be desired, and in other phases of the game, Clemson looked out-of-sync all game.

Overall: F

What few positives there were in Clemson’s performance were erased by special teams woes and a completely ineffective offense. Clemson couldn’t have started the season on a worse note.

Christina Long covers the Clemson Tigers for the Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email her at clong@greenvillenews.com.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Report card: Clemson football flunks season opener at Duke