CLEMSON – Clemson got flat-out embarrassed on its home field by Georgia Tech on Saturday as the Yellow Jackets cruised to a 20-6 win over the hapless Tigers.

Brent Key’s team came into this game having lost four straight and had not won a road game all season. Things were so bad that Key fired several staff members earlier in the week.

This was a Yellow Jackets team that many thought had already checked out. Instead, it was Dabo Swinney’s team that looked like it might rather be anywhere else than on a football field.

Yes, Clemson has lost a lot of football games over the past two seasons. The team is now just 2-9 in its last 11 home games against Power-4 teams. However, this loss feels different. The Tigers were a two-touchdown home favorite over this bad Georgia Tech team that had won just twice all season.

How It Happened

On the third play of the game, Clemson quarterback Tait Reynolds went down with a knee injury. Almost instantly, the body language of this team changed. The Tigers were already struggling to put points on the board, and with Christopher Vizzina also hampered by an injury, as soon as Reynolds went down, the writing was on the wall. And if Tech was checked out previously, they weren’t today. Reynolds leaving seemed to give them a boost of energy.

Trent Pearman came in for Reynolds and had absolutely no success, completing just 2-of-6 for six yards. The offense was so bad that the staff had to turn to Vizzina late in the first half, who was only available in an emergency situation. Watching him, it’s obvious he’s not close to 100%, and for some reason, designed quarterback runs were being called with the Tigers trailing by 17 points late in the third quarter.

Vizzina finished just 12-of-27 for 133 yards with one interception. While he was better than Pearman, it wasn’t by much.

Tech ended up with three sacks and watched on as Clemson put the ball on the ground seven times, even though the Tigers were able to recover all of them. The Yellow Jackets were able to sack Vizzina four times, had two more QB hurries, and held Clemson to a measly 3.2 yards per play.

No Success Against Bad Run D

Georgia Tech has one of the worst run defenses in the country. The Jackets allowed more than 250 rushing yards last week to Louisville, and teams were averaging 5.3 yards per carry against that unit coming in, which ranked 126th nationally. Tech was giving up 227.1 rushing yards per game, which was 135th in the nation.

Despite all of that, Clemson managed just 86 rushing yards against that defense. Jarvis Green had 13 carries for 39 yards. Chris Johnson Jr. got one carry, but not until the fourth quarter. With Gideon Davidson out, that is inexcusable, seeing as this was still a ballgame into the third quarter.

Maybe if Reynolds doesn’t go down, things play out differently. However, when that happens, you have to be able to line up and run it right at a bad run defense. The Tigers just could not do it. There wasn’t a ton of effort made to do so. Chad Morris was brought back here to add more life to this running game and 10 games into his first season, he’s failed to do so.

Bad Look

The Jackets had no issues running it, though. Georgia Tech rushed for more than 270 yards against a Clemson defense that looked downright uninterested at times. Countless missed tackles, with some bad angles thrown in for good measure. This was a GT team that was rushing for just 118 yards per contest coming in.

Justice Haynes averaged 8.9 yards per carry and went over the century mark. Grady Adamson had 85 yards and went for close to five yards per clip. Trelain Maddox had 50 yards on the ground and more than four yards per carry.

Clemson’s defense also failed to put any pressure on quarterback Alberto Mendoza and did not record the first sack against an offensive line that was missing multiple starters and had been giving up sacks in bunches in recent weeks.

Fumblepalooza

Clemson fumbled the ball SEVEN times. Yes, seven times. However, they did not lose any of them and still managed to win the turnover margin 2-1. This marked just the second time all season the Tigers have won the turnover battle. And still lost.