The Clemson Tigers football annual Orange and White Spring game was held on April 5, 2025, at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. / ALEX HICKS / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Clemson Football's Spring Scrimmage Reveals Offensive Prowess

Originally posted on Clemson Tigers on SI | By Jacob Moss | Last updated Apr 5, 2025 7:00 PM ET

The Clemson Tigers held their annual spring game on Saturday afternoon. The highly anticipated scrimmage was not televised due to a decision made by head coach Dabo Swinney, who reportedly didn't want to deal with everything that goes into coordinating a game-day broadcast.

Nevertheless, the fans who attended in person were treated to an intriguing preview of what their offense could look like in the 2025 season.

The final score ended up being a dominant victory from the Orange Team (Offense), as they cruised to a 33-15 win against the White Team (Defense), despite a rather lackluster performance by senior quarterback Kade Klubnik.

Klubnik, who only played a handful of series with the first team offense, finished the day with 118 passing yards and an interception while completing 11 of his 17 passes. Despite the underwhelming numbers, Klubnik did lead the Tigers on two scoring drives in three possessions, with both being field goals.

According to Derrian Carter of the Greenville News, true freshman running back Gideon Davidson also made some noise, picking up a 20-plus yards reception from fellow freshman Chris Denson. This caps off an impressive showing for Davidson, who coaches and teammates had been raving about since he stepped foot on campus.

The real star on offense for Clemson was transfer receiver Tristan Smith, who according to Carter finished the day with five receptions for 137 yards which included a 73-yard touchdown from backup quarterback Chris Pearman,

Tristan Smith is having himself a day.

Here’s the sequence of his touchdown, along with another insane catch.

Clemson snagged a good one in the portal. @ClemsonTigerNet pic.twitter.com/zK5nIfAcWo
— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) April 5, 2025

This showing from the Tigers' offense is sure to stir up optimism heading into the summer, as the unit is expected to be the driving force for the team in 2025. Seeing how explosive Smith can be in action is also a welcomed sign, as the Southeast Missouri State transfer adds to an already stacked receiving core.

The defense not producing as well as anticipated could be a cause for some concern, as the unit was widely viewed as the weak spot of the team last year. It could also simply be a matter of the offense being as advertised though, so only time will tell.

Regardless of what conclusions people may draw from the spring scrimmage, it's apparent that Clemson has given both fans and analysts a lot to look forward to heading into the new season. It will be interesting to see how things continue to develop over the rest of the offseason, and how the team we see take the field on August 30 against the LSU Tigers differs from the one we saw Saturday,

This article first appeared on Clemson Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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