South Carolina football: 3 takeaways from shocking upset of Clemson

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CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 26: Antwane Wells Jr. #3 and Spencer Rattler #7 of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrates Wells’ third-quarter touchdown against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium on November 26, 2022, in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images) /

2. Dabo Swinney has some decisions to make about the offense.

DJ Uiagalelei has played better this season, despite today’s woeful performance. Last season, Uiagalelei completed 55 percent of his passes, throwing nine touchdowns and ten interceptions. This season, he has completed 65 percent of his passes with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. There is no doubt that the former five-star has played exponentially better this season.

The problem is that all the blame falls on Uiagalelei without much analysis of the offense. Everyone wonders where the DJ U who played against Notre Dame went. However, that offense also had Amari Rodgers and a healthy Cornell Powell. This receiving corps is not that good. There is no alpha number-one receiver on this roster.

In addition, Dabo Swinney’s decision to hire internally has harmed the offense. None of the coordinators or position coaches have experience outside Clemson, so there aren’t any fresh ideas in the coach’s room. That is apparent when you watch the Tigers offensively. The scheme is vanilla and has no elite players outside of Will Shipley.

It is apparent the offense requires blue-chip caliber players to be effective, and there aren’t any outside of DJ and Shipley. Either they need to get better players or change their philosophy.