Good Bad and the Ugly
Clemson’s win over Wake Forest yesterday was exciting to say the least. It will not be the last of these types of games. Still on the schedule are unbeatens NCState, Florida State and Syracuse, as well as dangerous foes Notre Dame and Miami. The ACC as a conference has gotten stronger. No longer can opposing fan bases, especially those in the middle of the state, claim the ACC as a cupcake conference.
Straight up, DJ Uiagalelei critics are retreating to their corners this morning after watching the talented quarterback show how really GOOD he can be. He completed 26-41 (63.4%) for 371 yards, 5 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also rushed for 52 yards. The Tigers converted a record number of 3rd down conversions, successful on 16 of 23 3rd downs. Clemson ran a season high 87 plays, and had six drives of 8 plays or more. Ball control comes to mind here. On the season, Uiagalelei has completed 83-129 passes (64%) for 1,033 yards, ten touchdowns and ONE interception.
One of the highlights of the passing game was Tight End usage. Jake Briningstool and Davis Allen combined for 10 receptions for 108 yards and three touchdowns. Give credit to the offensive line, allowing only one sack on the day and giving DJ a clean pocket to throw from most of the day. It was the fourth game in a row this line has played together.
Will Shipley once again led the rushing attack, gaining 104 yards on 20 carries, one touchdown and chipped in three receptions for 15 yards. Both he and Kobe Pace were slightly injured during the day, but they came back.
It was a BAD day for the Tigers with regards to penalties. The Tigers were flagged 10 times for 120 yards with half of them being Pass Interference penalties. The last time Clemson had 10+ penalties was last year against NC State in the 4th game of the year, having 13 penalties for 94 yards. Most of these penalties were drive extenders. Nothing is more reflective of good/bad coaching than the number of penalties in a game.
Social media yesterday was brutal on this Tiger defense. Most of it, take it with a grain of salt. They don’t care WHY things got UGLY, they just express their displeasure because they have one of those “Couch Coach” degrees hanging on their wall.
The secondary was missing three vital pieces to their arsenal with starters S Andrew Mukuba, CB Malcolm Green and CB Sheridon Jones not traveling to Winston-Salem. For the second weekend in a row, freshmen Toriano Pride and Jaedyn Lukus were forced into extensive playing time against one of the best Wide Receiver groups in the country, as well as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Sam Hartman has thrown for 962 yards in three games, completing 64% of his passes for 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.
His starting receivers are big and talented. AT Perry (6-5 205), Donavon Green (6-2 210) and Jahmal Banks (6-4 208) hauled in 12 passes for 245 yards and five touchdowns. This is a big, tall wide receiver group. On the season, these three have combined for 45 receptions, 748 yards and nine touchdowns.
This begs the question. Why would DC Wes Goodwin leave those young corners on an island all game without safety help? One of the only times he backed his safeties up into two-deep zone coverage was in the second overtime. Hartman, running this slow mesh-RPO had eyes-on the safeties and every time he saw them cheating up and leaving the corners one-on-one deep, he pulled it out and lobbed it deep. The receivers either caught it for big gains or drew PI penalties.
Coach Dabo Swinney talks about “coaching opportunities”. The week leading up to the NC State game will give Coach Goodwin and his staff plenty of that. In four games, QB Devin Leary has completed 64% of his passes for 890 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions, and been sacked four times. Let’s not fool ourselves though. Leary’s toughest competition to date has been East Carolina. More on the NC State matchup later in the week.
Bottom line, the Tigers win. There was ZERO lack of effort on this team. The word “quit” is simply never used for this squad. There is an area on this team that is EXCELLENT and that has been the play of PK BT Potter. He hit the game-tying CLUTCH FG from 52 yards out to send the game into overtime. On the season, Potter is 7-7 on field goals and 18-18 on extra points. Money. Bank. Perfect. Pick your own description of Potter. We are just going to use EXCELLENT.
