By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
Each week we will take a look back at what the Clemson Tigers did right and what they did wrong on the gridiron as we grade the Tigers performance at every position in their 26-19 victory over Auburn Saturday night.
Quarterback
Grade: A
Tajh Boyd looked like the veteran quarterback offensive coordinator Chad Morris wants him to be. Though his numbers were modest looking—24-for-34 for 208 yards, one touchdown and one interception—Boyd played much better than the stats reveal. First of all, Clemson receivers dropped six passes, which easily could have jacked up Boyd’s numbers. If those drops are caught, he would have been over 300 yards and would have completed 30 passes. That means only four of the passes he threw were off the mark, including the one interception, which was behind tight end Sam Cooper. But when the game was on the line, Boyd shined the most and it had nothing to do with his arm. In the touchdown drive that gave Clemson the lead in the fourth quarter, he took a zone-read option and went off the left side for 27 yards to the Auburn 44. On the drive in which Clemson ran four minutes and 35 seconds off the clock, he used his legs to convert a key third-down play which kept the chains moving on a drive that led to a field goal. Really the only bad thing Boyd did Saturday was not wear his helmet tight enough. He lost his helmet three times, and due to a new NCAA rule, he was forced to miss the next play. I’m sure head coach Dabo Swinney doesn’t want to see his First-Team All-ACC quarterback standing next to him on the sideline because his helmet keeps falling off.
Running backs
Grade: A+
Andre Ellington alone earned this grade. The senior running back from Moncks Corner, SC rushed for a career-high 231 yards including a 68-yard jaunt in the second quarter in which he was spun around by Auburn linebacker Jake Holland, yet used his hands to keep his balance and then zigzagged his way down the field to the Auburn 15. He also had a 45-yard run in the fourth quarter on the Tigers’ final scoring drive. But Ellington just didn’t look good as a runner, he also did an excellent job in pass blocking, being used several times to chip Auburn defensive end Corey Lemonier. Roderick McDowell had a seven yard touchdown run, while D.J. Howard had four carries for 23 yards (5.8 yard per carry). Howard also showed marked improvement with his run blocking.
Wide receivers/Tight Ends
Grade: D
If it was not for DeAndre Hopkins record-setting night in the Georgia Dome, I might have failed the receivers. Simply put, outside of Hopkins school-record 13 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown, the pass catchers were awful. A total of six passes were dropped, plus three times receivers were called for illegal formation or illegal procedure penalties. There were some bright spots besides Hopkins, though. Once he got the jitters out, tight end Brandon Ford started catching the football, though his blocking still needs work. Peake did well when he got his opportunities as did Adam Humphries.
Offensive line
Grade: B
If it wasn’t for the four sacks, this unit would have gotten an “A.” As well as they run blocked Saturday night, the pass blocking left a lot to be desired, especially in the first quarter when Auburn recorded three of its four sacks. After that, Morris had his running backs chip more, which slowed down the Auburn rush enough to give Boyd more time in the pocket. Boyd also did a nice job avoiding sacks by making quicker decisions on when to run or not. In the end, though, when the game was on the line, the O-line came through. The Tigers finished the night with 320 yards on 52 carries, and though Ellington did have some electrifying runs to help those numbers, someone had to open up a lane for him to run through initially.
Defensive line
Grade: C
I could have given this group a “B” but I figured there is still some room to grow. Let’s start with some of the good we saw from the defensive line. Defensive tackles did a good job reading Auburn’s screen game and staying home. At times they had good penetration and showed they have the ability to make plays on run defense. Josh Watson did a nice job tackling the ball and forcing a fumble in what I feel was the game-changing moment of the evening. In the fourth quarter, it was nice to see defensive end’s Malliciah Goodman record a tackle for loss and force pressure on the quarterback. It was also good to see defensive end Vic Beasley push an offensive tackle into the quarterback, while being held, and still record the sack. The parts where they can improve come with a pass rush. Clemson did not have much of one for most of the night, and you credit some of that with the max protection Auburn was using, but nonetheless, the pass rush was not there. Also, Goodman and defensive end Corey Crawford did not stay home on some pitches or outside containment plays and that allowed Auburn’s speedy backs to get to the edges, instead of forcing them back inside where Clemson’s linebackers were waiting to make plays. When they did stay home, Auburn’s yards per carry were at a minimal.
Linebackers
Grade: B
I thought the linebackers looked good for much of the night. When the play was funneled back inside to them, they were making tackles. They also did a nice job in pass coverage. Several times Auburn tried to run a wheel route down the side line, but in all instances the linebackers, most of the time Jonathan Willard, stayed in coverage and forced Auburn quarterback Kiehl Frazier to look elsewhere. Twice on those plays, Frazier had to eat the ball for no gain. There was only one glaring mistake that I noticed and that’s when Willard lost tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen on a seam route in the second quarter to set up their second-quarter field goal. Willard ended the game with eight tackles and one sack, however.
Secondary
Grade: C
Auburn did a lot of max protection which forced Clemson’s safeties to come up to the line of scrimmage, leaving guys like Bashaud Breeland and Darius Robinson alone on an island at times in single coverage. For the most part, they handled themselves okay, except for the one time when Robinson got turned around by wide receiver Emory Blake, which turned into a 54-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. But there were a few times when Frazier missed wide open targets so there are definitely some things that need to be fixed. With that said, the speed of the secondary was obvious, especially in run support as several times they saved what could have been long scoring runs by getting to the football and making tackles. The tackling, especially from guys like safety Jonathan Meeks was much better.
Special Teams
Grade: B
Chandler Catanzaro is proving to be money. The former walk-on was 4-for-4 on kicks Saturday, including one from 40 yards. He has now made 12 straight field goals dating back to last season when he ended the year with eight straight. That covers a span of seven games now. The Clemson record for consecutive made field goals is 14 set by Obed Ariri in 1980. Punter and kickoff specialist Spencer Benton was solid in both regards. Six of Benton’s seven kickoffs were touchbacks, while he averaged 38.3 yards on three punts, including one that was downed at the one-yard line. The only real down part of the kicking game came on two kickoffs, where Martavis Bryant returned the kicks only to the 15 both times. Clemson also had zero attempts on returning punts.
Coaching
Grade: B
I’m not one that questions a coach because they obviously know way more about the sport than I do, but Clemson’ game management at the end of the first half was not smooth. First, they allowed Auburn to run down the play clock which killed 30 seconds—good enough for two plays—prior to setting up a field goal attempt. That left me wondering, why? Then on the ensuing drive, Clemson elected to kick a 55-yard field with 14 seconds remaining when it had a fourth down-and-seven at the Auburn 38 with one timeout remaining. Benton missed the kick. Again, that was a head scratcher. Other than that, Swinney and his staff did an excellent job getting his players in the correct positions to be successful. After four penalties in the first half, Clemson was called for only two the rest of the night, and only one was called on the defense. Another bright spot, the offensive line had no holding penalties called on it, and only twice did they jump early in what was a very loud atmosphere. That credit goes to coaching.