CLEMSON — Clemson’s quarterbacks racked up 424 passing yards, while the offense as a whole tallied 615 total yards, as the Orange defeated the White, 33-15, in the Orange & White Spiring Game Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
The Orange team was the offense and the White team was the defense. Instead of its typical split-squad scrimmage, Clemson utilized an offense vs. defense format with a special scoring system for the defense. While offensive scoring was tabulated by traditional means, the defense could score via t​akeaways or fourth-down stops (3 points), missed placekicks by the offense (3 points for missed FG, 1 point for missed PAT), two-point conversion stops (2 points), three-and-outs (1 point) or standard defensive scoring (7 points for a defensive touchdown & PAT, and 2 points for a safety).
Here are a few things I noticed from the spring game.
–Defensive end Darien Mayo stood out and showed some flashes in the spring game. He made one play where he basically jumped over the left tackle to tag Cade Klubnik down. He finished the afternoon with seven tackles, six solo tackles, with one sack and two tackles for loss.
–Tristan Smith had a huge day. The transfer caught five passes for 137 yards and scored on an amazing 72-yard TD in the fourth quarter. He got a little coaching up by Dabo Swinney after dropping the ball in the end zone instead of giving it to the official.
–Running back David Eziomume broke three would-be-tackles on his way to a 30-yard TD run earlier in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 11 carries for 69 yards. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry.
–The defense had three interceptions. Safety Khalil Barnes baited Cade Klubnik to throwing a first-quarter interception, which scored the game’s first points. Swinney later said the defense did a good job flushing Klubnik outside and he made a bad decision on the throw. Jake Venables also intercepted a Trent Pearman pass in the third quarter, which prevented a touchdown, while reserve safety Joe Wilkerson had an interception in the fourth quarter.
–Swinney said they are satisfied with their punters, but neither Will McCune or Jack Smith stood out in the scrimmage.
–Nolan Hauser still has it. The sophomore kicker made field goals of 24, 37 and 49 yards in the scrimmage. His 49-yard kick came at the end of a two-minute drill to end the first half. He made the kick as time expired.
–Though he did throw the first quarter interception, Klubnik bounced back and made two really nice throws on the following drives. One was a 29-yard hookup with Antonio Williams that he laid perfectly between both safeties. He also had a a nice two-minute drive at the end of the half to setup Hauser’s 49-yard field goal. Klubnik finished the afternoon 11 of 17 for 118 yards.
–Transfer linebacker Jeremiah Alexander looked very comfortable playing middle linebacker. The former Alabama player had seven tackles, including four solo tackles.
–Adam Randall had a couple of nice runs in between the tackles. However, he looked really good on a second-quarter checkdown pass from Klubnik. Randall turned the ball up field quickly, made one defender miss and then rumbled 23 yards.