After the beatdown suffered at the hands of LSU in Baton Rouge last weekend, Clemson needs a palate cleanser in the worst way.
With Georgia Southern coming to town for the Tigers’ home opener, and with Clemson as more than a 20-point favorite, some might see the Eagles as the typical cupcake. And maybe it turns out that way, but maybe Clay Helton’s squad comes to Death Valley ready to put up a fight.
After the Tigers put on a dismal display in the 51-10 loss at LSU, the question becomes what kind of response will Dabo Swinney’s team have in store for a fan base that is experiencing a ton of frustration.
5 Things to Watch For
1. Mood of the Orange-Clad Faithful: This is a Clemson fan base that is currently on edge. Very few came into the season expecting this team to make a run to the College Football Playoff or anything, but what was expected was a team that could, at the very least, be competitive. What was seen in Baton Rouge was far from that. It was far from it, and on both sides of the ball.
Georgia Southern might be a non-Power-4 team that resides in the Sun Belt Conference, but the pieces are there to give this Clemson team some issues if the Tigers play as they did against LSU. If the Eagles are in this thing late in the first half, the hometown crowd will become restless, seeing as patience is starting to wear thin. If it is a game into the second half, the pushback might become ugly.
2. Lines of Scrimmage: The Tigers were absolutely whipped at the point of attack in the opener and on both sides of the ball. Matt Luke’s offensive line actually looked lost at times. There is no way this group looks like that against a Group of 6 team, right?
The good news is veteran Collin Sadler is expected back at right tackle after missing the LSU game. The bad news? Clemson’s issues extended well beyond his absence. Not a single one of those five spots played particularly well. There is no doubt the Tigers are more talented than Georgia Southern, so on paper, this should be a good confidence builder for this offensive line. However, the games are not played on paper.
The defensive line also has a lot to clean up. Clemson has been besieged by injury already at defensive tackle, with Markus Strong likely out for the season and Kourtney Kelly still out with an ACL injury. Vic Burley is also still out after his summer arrest, although he has returned to practice. With that in mind, Amare Adams and Andy Burburija need to be far more disruptive than they were a week ago.
3. Setting the Edge: If your defense has no edge, you have no defense. Tom Allen’s unit failed miserably at getting the edge set against LSU, leaving Sam Leavitt plenty of room to run. Georgia Southern quarterback Max Johnson isn’t the runner that Leavitt is, but if this defense is unable to get the edge set again this week, expect more wide-open running lanes and for Johnson to break off a long run or two.
Will Heldt and Jahiem Lawson have to be more of a factor this weekend, especially in this department. However, setting the edge isn’t just up to the defensive ends, so it’s not squarely on them. This was a widespread issue, with plenty of blame to go around.
4. Clarity at Quarterback: As bad as the offensive line play was against LSU, it was fairly difficult to get a good read on either Chris Vizzina or Tait Reynolds. Vizzina did have the pick-six and also once missed Gideon Davidson on a wide-open wheel route that likely goes for a touchdown, but Reynolds had a mental mistake or two as well.
Both quarterbacks are expected to play, but after what was seen in Baton Rouge regarding the offensive line, Reynolds might prove to be the better option due to his ability to extend plays with his legs. Vizzina just isn’t that type of runner.
Either way, this staff has to find a way to create some clarity at the position. As the legendary John Madden liked to say, if you have two quarterbacks, you have none.
5. Can This Team Actually Run the Ball: Swinney deciding to replace Garrett Riley with Chad Morris was as much about getting back to running the football as it was about anything else. One week in, and this team is worse than last season’s team when it comes to the ground game. The Tigers had zero rushing yards heading into the fourth quarter Saturday night. Zero.
The offensive line has to give those running backs more room to run this week. Gideon Davidson had 25 yards after contact last week, but only 20 rushing yards total. That gives you an idea of exactly how quickly defenders were getting into the backfield.
Can this offense generate an actual running attack this week? Against a Georgia Southern defense that held Charleston Southern to just eight rushing yards in its opener? We are about to find out.
