After its 24-10 win on the road at Cal on Friday night, Clemson has now won three straight games.
The Tigers leaned on a stingy defense, a strong running game and some magic on special teams to help secure the win.
Clemson ran for 255 yards (5.2 yards per carry), with Gideon Davidson accounting for 159 of those, and the defense held the Bears to 231 yards of total offense and did not allow a touchdown.
Offense Still Has Room to Grow
This offense can still be a little hard to watch at times. Some of that is to be expected with a freshman quarterback, and while it’s not all Tait Reynolds, a lot of it is. There is no doubt that the freshman has a very strong arm and can make all of the throws, but he just hasn’t found the accuracy on his deep balls yet.
Make no mistake, Reynolds really bounced back after a pretty tough start that saw him turn it over twice on the first three possessions. It says a lot about his mental makeup. But once he finds his rhythm with the downfield throws, Chad Morris will be able to open this offense up a little bit more. Until then, the Tigers are going to have to rely on sustaining drives.
The freshman finished 13-of-21 but for just 108 yards. He also turned it over twice and came close to turning it over a third time. But just like last week, the deeper we got into the game, the more settled he got.
Making Strides In Running Game
Another strong performance for Gideon Davidson. The sophomore back went over the century mark for the second straight game, finishing with 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns. His 75-yard scoring run on third and long late in the fourth quarter is what put the game away.
Davidson averaged a strong 7.2 yards per carry and continues to show a lot of promise.
Green Carving Out Role
Jarvis Green is carving out a role for himself. The fourth-year back has been injured more than he’s been healthy over his first three seasons, but now that he is fully healthy, he is proving what he is capable of. Green had some hard-earned yards in this one, averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
Coming into the season, most assumed it would be Chris Johnson Jr. serving as the backup to Gideon Davidson, but with the way Green has run the ball in the past two games, he’s bound to get more opportunities. Those two backs might wind up forming a nice one-two punch out of the backfield if the offensive line can continue to grow.
Defense More Than Solid, Just Too Many Missed Tackles
As stingy as the defense was, there is still some room for improvement. Every day in practice, Tom Allen can be heard shouting “best tackling team in the country” over the microphone. Well, this defense is nowhere close to being that. Allen’s unit did a lot of good in this one, but if the tackling is cleaned up, they could be so much better.
There were several instances of tackles being missed in the backfield, and that is the one place you don’t want to be missing tackles.
Wesco Magic
Due to him being one of the starting receivers, some have groaned about Bryant Wesco being the punt returner. Especially seeing as he suffered a season-ending injury on a punt return last season. An injury that could have been a lot worse than it was.
Wesco showed why he is the one back there in this one, returning a third-quarter punt 65 yards for a touchdown. It was a line drive punt that Wesco caught with a full head of steam, and he was immediately off to the races. Ashton Hampton, Sammy Brown and Caden Story each had key blocks to help spring Wesco.
It was the first time Clemson has returned a punt for a touchdown in eight years. The last one came back in 2018, when Amari Rodgers returned one 58 yards for a score. That Rich Bissacia hire is paying off for Dabo Swinney.
Pass Defense Was Excellent
In the grand scheme of things, it’s all about how many points you give up, and Clemson’s defense gave up just three against Cal. The Bears’ only touchdown came on a fumble return.
Cal’s star quarterback struggled mightily against the Tigers’ pass defense. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was 16-of-29 for just 119 yards, with two interceptions.
Ahston Hampton just continues to deliver. Coming into tonight, the junior corner had allowed a passer rating of just 30.2 on 131 coverage snaps, and after this one, those numbers are likely to improve. Knowing he can basically shut down one side of the field gives Allen some flexibility.
Elliot Washington Jr. came away with two interceptions, with his second one really sealing the win. It is the second straight week in which he picked off a pass to seal it.
And it wasn’t just the pass defense. The Bears only rushed for 86 yards and were held to 3.2 yards per carry.
Next Real Test
Clemson will now face its next big test with No. 6 Miami visiting Death Valley next week. The ‘Canes were picked to win the ACC this season and are an early double-digit favorite. It will be a good opportunity to see exactly how much the Tigers have grown.
—photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics Communications