The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Most Clemson fans will wake up this morning with a hangover, not from drinking (or maybe it is) but after watching the Tigers lose a heartbreaker to Georgia, 10-3. Many, including me, never envisioned the game would end with Clemson NOT getting into the endzone.

The Good;

The defense played an outstanding game. The Bulldawgs were held to 256 total yards, and without an offensive touchdown. JT Daniels completed 22 of 30 passes for 134 yards and was harassed all night, but was only sacked one time. James Skalski racked up 14 total tackles and Mario Goodrich was next on the team with 12. Granted, the defense was without two starters, safety Nolan Turner and defensive tackle Tyler Davis. The Tiger defense overcame these missing starters and held Georgia to zero touchdowns on the night. On the offensive side of the ball, the play of WR Joseph Ngata stood out, hauling in 6 passes for 110 yards. The offense as a whole, however, was stymied.

The Bad

From a fan’s viewpoint, it is easy to say the offensive line played bad and the quarterback play was even worse. This is only partially true. The entire offense had a less than sparkling night. The Tigers were held to 2 yards rushing. Let this sink in, 2 yards rushing, Sacks took yardage away from the rushing total, but even that means that the yardage gained was only 24. Is this more of a reflection of bad offensive line play? Is this a reflection of not filling Travis Etienne’s shoes at running back? No, but more on that later. Center Mason Trotter was not available for the game and Matt Bockhorst moved over from guard. Marcus Tate got his “come uppins” starting at left guard. This offensive line was pushed all night long by one of the best front 7’s in college football all night, from beginning to the very end. There will be a lot of “teachable moments” this week in practice. Playing against a top 5 team in Georgia highlighted areas that need to improve going forward. This brings me to the ugly.

The Ugly

As the game unfolded, it was obvious that Georgia was going to pressure the Clemson quarterback from all points possible. The first two Clemson drives started at the 10 yard line and the one yard line, not ideal for any offense. However, these two drives also ended with big sacks on 3rd down, both pressure points coming right up the middle. If my walls could talk, my mom would be rolling over in her grave from the language used in my living room. QB DJ Uiagalelei will be the first to tell you his play is not what he expected it to be. Here is the catch to all this; offensive play calling. Uiagalelei completed 19 of 37 for 178 yards, threw a costly interception, and was sacked 7 times. Did he hold the ball too long? Sometimes, holding it trying to find a receiver happens. He had several intentional overthrows to avoid taking more sacks. Uiagalelei had two starts to his name from last year and honestly, the offense looked like it lost two first round picks and two productive wide receivers. The question is how did this offense fail to score a touchdown for the first time since 2007 against Georgia Tech.

The performance by the offense falls on the shoulders of the coaches, the play calling, game preparation. Before people start hammering on the fact the media aren’t coaches, my opinions are purely my own. While Georgia was sending blitzers from all parts of the field, the Clemson offense played right into their hands. The questions range from where was Lyn-J Dixon? Why did we not run DJ more on RPO’s? Was it because of the backup quarterback situation that the coaches didn’t want to risk injury? The Tigers had a couple of good drives during the game, and the play calling was quick passes out to the receivers and runs mixed in to keep the defense honest. With a 1st and goal at the 5 yards line, three pass plays were called. Uiagalelei is 6-4 250, Dixon is a senior running back that averages 6+ yards a carry over his career. I’m 100% sure OC Tony Elliott and head coach Dabo Swinney will take this game, dissect the film, and see what went wrong.

There is not another team on the schedule that will present the defensive problems this Georgia team did but these could have been overcome with just a few tweeks to the offense. Rollouts and moving pockets could have helped lessen some of the pressure. The RPO run game was missing. Losing to a top 5 team 10-3 is not the end of the world, but many feel it could have been prevented. None of us are on the practice field or in the coaches box or responsible for managing the team, but we all have observations. Let us all remember, however, that this Clemson offense was going against one of the best defenses in the country, and most offenses they play will also struggle to put points on the board.

A different type of bulldog will be coming to Death Valley next week. The South Carolina State Bulldogs will have to face an angry Tiger team on September 11th. That day will forever be etched in the memories of every American regarding the events that happened on 9/11. This Clemson football team will look to right the wrongs that happened last night against the #5 team in the country, It’s going to be a long day for this set of Bulldogs