1. The coaching of the individual players on the defense has failed. Defensive backs are giving up big plays every single game and it has not been fixed after an entire off season and after 5 games. There is simply no excuse for that.
2. Andre Ellington should be getting more carries. And if he's too tired, he should be conditioning twice as often as he does now. Jamie Harper is a good back, but Andre Ellington is CLEARLY better on every down. Jamie Harper should be used as a Tight End/Receiver until he learns to run north and south. His dancing before contact takes away his biggest asset, his size. He slows himself up and does not fall forward often enough, like Ellington does every play, even though he is much smaller.
3. The coaching of the wide receivers has failed. Clemson has excellent talent at that position but none of them are developing under the current leadership. Clemson is simply relying on talented players to "wing it" at the wide receiver position. Jeff Scott, thus far, does not appear to be capable of fixing the problem.
4. Kyle Parker seems to have temporarily lost his ability to be a positively game-changing quarterback. Maybe he has too many things swirling around in his head, but he is continually either missing throws (like against Miami) or failing to detect open receivers (all season long.) Clemson is being forced to rely on Parker (as teams like UNC dedicate themselves to stop the run) and he is unable to put the offense on his shoulders. Maybe he still has cobwebs from the Auburn beating he took (during a game in which he played very well) but whatever the case Parker's slump has changed Clemson's season for the worse as it has hurt the running game and Clemson's defensive effort as well. (field position and time on the field)
5. Clemson's offense should emphasize running the ball between the tackles more in practice and during games. Clemson has a good offensive line. Clemson has a great back in Andre Ellington. Clemson has another solid back in Jamie Harper. The Quarterback has not been doing well and the receivers are a liability as well. All of this should mean one thing. Run the damn ball between the tackles more in practice and perfect inside plays so you can set up the play action. Play action could save the passing game.
6. Change the way you approach play action passing. Nobody is falling for the lazy, shotgun play action. The most effective way to run play action is after you pound the ball down the middle a few times and make it look as if you are running the exact same play again... but pull up and throw it to your best receiver for a bomb. That makes it easier on the QB, it makes it easier on the WR's, it will help soften up the run defense and it will use the strengths of Clemson football team.
7. Clemson's coaches are not utilizing their team's natural advantages. Running the ball with Harper so often is inefficient. Calling plays in which Kyle Parker has to make progressions and find the open receiver out of a choice of 3 or 4 isn't working. He looks at 1 or 2 and then spends most of the play figuring out a way to avoid a sack and throw the ball away. All those incompletetions may be better than interceptions, but they add up and stall drives. Run the ball with Ellington, use passes that are high efficiency, use play action and route baiting to keep the defense guessing and bring in the wildcat more often. The passing game is weak, call plays that reflect an understanding of that.
8. Using a 5 wide/TE formation in which there are NO BACKS on 1st and 2nd down is a terrible strategy for a weak passing team. That pretty much tells the defense that you are passing, and with the way Clemson's passing game has been, that is a nail in the coffin before the play even starts. The defense can make adjustments that are not influenced by the possibility of a running play. Clemson must use the running game to open up passing. Not having a back in the backfield on 1st and 2nd down is hurting Clemson's cause.
