Clemson continues their winning streak tonight with a 41 to 23 win over Virginia. Although the Tiger’s may have won, they were certainly challenged more tonight than in any other game so far this season.
Clemson started the game the best you can, with Lyn-J Dixon returning the kickoff 52 yards. The very next play, Trevor Lawrence runs the ball for 15 yards himself. But, the Tigers are not able to push the ball another ten yards and leave that drive with three points instead of seven. Fast forward to the end of the first quarter and Lawrence hands the ball off to Travis Etienne and Etienne just refuses to go down. Breaking away from tackles, Etienne runs for 16 yards and into the endzone, tying Tim Tebow and Kenneth Dixon’s record (38) for most career games scoring a touchdown.
Virginia, on the other hand, really struggled to get anything going offensively in the first quarter. On Virginia’s first drive, their quarterback Brennan Armstrong showed what he could do with his legs more so than with his arm. Out of the six passes that he threw on that drive, not one of them was completed. It was not until the second half that Virginia was really able to find their rhythm on offense.
Still, the Tiger’s defense produced two interceptions. Nolan Turner made the first interception of the game in the second quarter, and although this is his fourth total interception, this is his first one in the regular season. The second interception came in the third quarter, when Andrew Booth Jr. reached up and intercepted the ball with one hand. Winning the turnover margin is always one of Clemson’s main goals going into games, as whoever wins the turnover margin is more likely to come out on top by the time the clock ticks to zero.
Turnovers were not the only thing that Clemson’s defense accomplished tonight. Baylon Spector was all over the place, making 13 total tackles, half of a sack, and one and a half tackles for a loss. Derion Kendrick also had a really solid showing tonight and was all over his coverage. He broke up two passes and had three tackles. The Tigers were able to sack Armstrong three times, meanwhile the Cavaliers only came away with two sacks. However, it is worth noting that Virginia’s defense was able to put enough pressure on Lawrence to make him throw the ball away multiple times.
Lawrence finished the game 25/38 and threw for 329 total yards. Travis Etienne, Amari Rodgers, and Frank Ladson were frequent targets throughout the game. Etienne racked up 114 total yards and was key to Clemson’s game plan. Rodgers finished the game with six completions for 72 yards and two touchdowns. Him and Trevor just always seem to be on the same page. And Ladson, once again showed us what he can do with his size and strong hands, as he had five receptions for 71 yards.
Uncharacteristically, the Tigers accumulated eight penalties, which added up to 65 total yards. On the other side, the Cavaliers only gave up one penalty for 15 yards. Furthermore, the Cavaliers were able to keep the ball in their possession for longer, 33 minutes, than the Tigers 26 minutes. One thing that helped them with that was their ability to convert the ball on fourth down. Virginia made the gutsy call to go for it on fourth down five times over the course of the game, and four out of those five times, it worked. Giving up big plays like that is not something that Brent Venables and Clemson’s defense usually does. So, the fact that Virginia was able to do that is big.
Another important note from tonight’s game, is that once again, Clemson demonstrated their fight against social injustices. Last week we saw that Clemson will have the words “Equality” and “Unity.” This week, Clemson players had the option to keep their name on the back of their Jersey’s or put some other word like “Unity, Love, Change, Peace, Enough, Together or Equality” in place of their last name. In addition, Clemson played a powerful video at the end of the first quarter, with Clemson football players and coaches pledging “to learn, get uncomfortable, and vote” and at the end, they asked the crowd “will you join us?” Throughout the video, Clemson players, coaches, and staff again stood in a line on their sideline, locked arm in arm.
Clemson will be in Death Valley once again next Saturday on Oct. 10 at 7:30 to play Miami in what should be one of the best games of the season.
