BY Jackson Sexton
The weather delays cannot escape the Clemson Tigers, whether at home or away. After a two-hour lightning delay, the Tigers faced off against the Georgia Southern Eagles in Death Valley and came out on top, 22-7. Clemson’s record improves to 1-1, turning the tide from its 41-point loss to LSU last weekend. However, with Georgia Southern’s 31-0 win over Charleston Southern last weekend, their record now stands at 1-1.
Despite the win, the offense struggled early on. Christopher Vizzina had started today’s game, and on their second drive of the game, he had his first TD pass of the season to T.J. Moore. However, on the next offensive drive, Vizzina hurled one downfield into double coverage, and it was intercepted. From then on, Tait Reynolds was the quarterback, as Vizzina came out of the game with shoulder and arm pain. Here, Reynolds became one of the positive lights for the Tigers in this game. He finished the game 16/27 with 178 yards. Establishing himself as a dual threat, Reynolds had 12 carries for 38 yards and was the most efficient rusher for the Tigers tonight.
Up until the 4th quarter, the running game had been subpar. Gideon Davidson finished the game with 14 carries for 62 yards, and Chris Johnson Jr. had a solid 7 carries for 53 yards. Additionally, this further proves that the offensive line is not where it should be and has made little improvement since last weekend. The Eagles’ defense had 70 total tackles, 50 solo tackles, and 11 TFLs. With their ability to penetrate the offensive line, the Tigers managed to scrape 150 total rushing yards.
This did not stop the Tiger receivers from performing well, helping Tait Reynolds add some yards to his first “start” of his college career. T.J. Moore led the pack with 7 receptions for 103 yards and a TD. Tyler Brown, with 4 receptions for 44 yards, and Bryant Wesco Jr., with 6 receptions for 35 yards, supported this strong performance.
On the other hand, Clemson’s defense looked significantly stronger than last season and had a much better performance than last weekend. In one half, Clemson forced 6 three-and-out possessions and two turnovers. After the game, Dabo stated they went into this game understanding that “We needed to stop the run.” The Eagles’ rushing group totaled 18 carries for 22 yards.
Both the Tiger defense and special teams had quite a highlight reel. After Clemson’s first punt, the Eagles’ punt returner, Antavious Murphy, dropped the ball and was quickly picked up by WR Zach Johnson. Not to mention, Nolan Hauser had more than half of Clemson’s points, going 5/5 on field goals with the longest of 50 yards.
With one of the needed fixes being defense this offseason, the Tigers can pose a threat in ACC play if their defense maintains this intensity. However, the offensive line, run game, and the ability to limit penalties all need work going into ACC play. The Tigers will play their first ACC game of the season next Saturday (9/19) at home against the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels at 12:00 pm ET. Clemson Sports News will cover any breaking news that may come up this week.
