Clemson traveled to Chestnut Hill on Saturday and continued the positive momentum it’s recently started to build with a 41-10 thrashing of Boston College.

The Tigers were efficient on the offensive side of the ball, led by another solid performance by quarterback Cade Klubnik. The Tigers totaled more than 500 yards of offense, with 333 of those coming in the decisive first half.

Clemson Needs Klubnik

Not sure why Klubnik was still in the game late in the third quarter with the Tigers up 24 points. A week ago, the staff yanked him after the first possession in the third quarter with the team up big. That was likely going to be Klubnik’s final drive of the game, but did leaving him in a little longer this week come back and bite Clemson?

Obviously, we don’t see what transpires on the practice field, but backup Chris Vizzina has not looked all that impressive in mop-up duty the past two games. Judging by what we’ve seen from CV in the last two wins, losing Klubnik might be the type of loss this team will struggle to overcome. Despite being in his third year, Vizzina doesn’t look ready to be a full-time starter.

Competition About to Ramp Up

Blowing the doors off a bad North Carolina team and a Boston College team that is ravaged by injury is great and all, but we’re about to find out how well this team is really playing. SMU visits Death Valley on Saturday, and the Mustangs are much better than the teams the Tigers have played in each of the past two weekends.

Not sure this SMU team is as good as last year’s, though. The Mustangs lost to Baylor at home in week two and then lost at TCU by double digits two weeks later. The same TCU team that just got punked by a 3-4 Kansas State team.

Still, the Mustangs are better than both UNC and BC, and we need to see Klubnik and this offense have success against some of the better teams on the schedule.

Too Many Big Plays

Tom Allen’s defense just gave up too many big plays in that first half. BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan hit on five passes that went 15 yards or more over the first two quarters of action. After forcing a three-and-out on the Eagles’ first possession, the defense was allowing BC to hang around for a lot of the first half.

Forcing turnovers can cure those kinds of ails, and in the second quarter, Sammy Brown forced a Lonergan fumble, giving the defense its first turnover since the Troy game. The unit would force three total.

BC didn’t register a single “big play” in that second half of action.

Lawson Continues to Thrive

Jahiem Lawson might be one of the most improved players in the country. The redshirt junior continues to just make plays. He finished Saturday night with four tackles and two sacks. He even had a pass breakup. Nice to see the staff finding creative ways to get him on the field more.

Photo by Eric Canha-Imagn Images