Good, Bad, Ugly
Clemson fans have come to expect scores like 52-17 or 45-10 each week, thanks in part to Coach Dabo Swinney and QB Trevor Lawrence. Anything closer than a 3-touchdown win brings out the naysayers. Sometimes, even WITH a 35-point victory, some just aren’t satisfied. Thus, it’s all Dabo’s or Tony Elliott’s fault when a team actually shows up on the other side of the ball.
Clemson’s record speaks for itself. They will get every team’s best shot. That’s a given. 9 times out of 10, the Tigers will come out on top because of better players and better coaching. It’s not always pretty.
Good:
Plenty of good came out of this game. Sometimes, it’s expected, sometimes not. All you have to do is look at LBs Keith Maguire, LaVonta Bentley and Trenton Simpson. Starting LB James Skalski played one series and returned to the sidelines for the rest of the game. Jake Venables broke his arm early and left the game. These three showed out. Nolan Turner led the Tigers with 12 total tackles, followed by Mike Jones, Jr., and Baylor Spector with 8 and 7 tackles respectively. Darien Rencher, what can you say. One carry, 50 yard TD run. Lyn-J Dixon, three carries, 37 yards and a touchdown. Chez Mellusi, three carries for 44 yards. It seemed like every time Travis Etienne was in the game, there were 8 in the box. When he wasn’t in the game, the defense backed off into pass coverage. Interesting that.
Bad:
Looking for something bad in this game, one has to take a few things into consideration. With a team missing several players on both sides of the ball, the offensive play calling took a conservative approach. QB Trevor Lawrence put the ball in the air only 22 times, Throwing out the Citadel game (49-0) where he was 8-9 before leaving early, this was the fewest amount of passes he has attempted all year. The fans don’t like the conservative game, but going into the ACC Championship Game in two weeks against Notre Dame, there was no need to “open up the playbook.”
Ugly:
The “injury bug” has continued to rear its UGLY head where the Tigers are concerned. Last week against Pittsburgh, James Skalski, Mike Jones, Jr., and Tyler Davis made their return to the field. Last night, Skalski played one series and then done for the night. Tyler Davis appeared to still be a little bruised and nicked up but he played through it. LB Jake Venables broke his arm early and the Tigers turned to sophomore Kane Patterson and freshmen LaVonta Bentley and Keith Maguire. Landonn Zanders was on the inactive list, as well as Frank Ladson and Joe Ngata. WR E.J. Williams played sparingly in the first half and not at all in the second half. Starting cornerback Andrew Booth didn’t play in the game, dealing with an injury of his own.
The 2020 season has been one for the books. This Clemson team has been put through the ringer, dealing with Covid-19, racial unrest, injuries, and other life changing events. Yet, at the end of the day, the Tigers are still right there. We can Good, Bad and Ugly every game, but when push comes to shove, Dabo Swinney, Tony Elliott, Brent Venables and the rest of the staff are still one of the best if not THE best staffs in the country.
