Clemson Football: 3 Takeaways after lifeless performance vs Pitt

After going on the road and losing to Pittsburgh, this is officially a lost season for Clemson Football as they fall out of the ACC title race

A frustrating season might have reached its peak for Clemson football on Saturday as they went to Pittsburgh hoping for a signature moment on the season and came back empty-handed.

This game was just another frustrating one for the Tigers, as the defense played well early, but the offense could not muster anything again and now at 4-3, this can be considered a lost season for Clemson Football.

It is still shocking to see the same Clemson football team go on the field every week and continue to make the same mistakes and play poorly in the same areas.

The offense got to the point where quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was sent to the bench after a horrible interception that was returned for a touchdown.

Clemson’s backup quarterback Taisun Phommachanh came in and converted a couple of third downs, but struggled the rest of the game. The running game was non-existent and the offensive had another poor showing.

The most surprising thing that came out of this game might have been the play of Clemson’s defense. The Tigers have had one of the best defenses in the country, but they did not have much success trying to stop the Panther’s passing attack. The tackling was a problem and they could not get much pressure on quarterback Kenny Pickett.

This was just another lifeless performance from Clemson football and one that should continue to frustrate the fanbase. There are a lot of things that need to be evaluated as the season continues in Clemson.

Here are the three takeaways from Clemson’s loss to Pitt.

3. This was a Poor Performance for the Defense

If Clemson football was going to have a shot to go on the road and upset the 23rd ranked Panthers, the defense was going to have to have another shutdown performance.

That did not happen and the Tigers had their worst defensive performance of the year. The thing that stood out to me when watching this game was how poor Clemson’s tackling was.

Pitt wanted to throw short and let their receivers do the work and that was a good strategy. Pickett seemed like he was in a good rhythm all afternoon and showed why he is one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

The Panthers did not want to even try running the ball because their passing game was so effective. With their offense playing like it is, Clemson’s defense has to be elite every night for this team to even have a chance to win.