The Clemson Tigers defeated the Duke Blue Devils by a score of 35-6 on Saturday night. With the win, the No. 2 Tigers remained perfect and improved to 11-0 overall and 8-0 in the ACC.
While the final score of the game indicated that the Tigers dominated the Blue Devils, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Tigers on Saturday night. After the first quarter, the Tigers had only managed one first down on three drives and found themselves in a 6-0 hole. A sense of unease was shared by the 80,000 Tiger faithful in Death Valley as the beginnings of a late-season upset seemed to unfold.
The biggest reason for the offense’s slow start was the disconnect between Trevor Lawrence and his receivers. Throughout the first half, Lawrence seemed to be missing high and wide with several of his throws even when receivers were open. At this point in the season, Lawrence has amazed fans with his pinpoint accuracy and outstanding arm talent, but on Saturday night Lawrence struggled to place the ball where his receivers wanted it.
On the opening drive of the second quarter however, Lawrence finally found his touch and placed a beautiful pass into the arms of freshman wide receiver Justyn Ross. The 42-yard reception brought the Tigers to the two yard line and lead them to their first touchdown of the game. The struggles in the passing game continued, however. Later in the quarter, freshman receiver Derion Kendrick left his defender in the dust and streaked down the sideline without a defender in sight. Lawrence dropped the ball right into his arms in stride as the crowd erupted expecting to celebrate another Tiger touchdown. Unfortunately for Clemson however, Kendrick was ready to celebrate too and allowed the ball to slip right through his hands.
While the Tigers took the lead and added to it late in the second quarter with another connection between Lawrence and Ross, the mood in the crowd was that of frustration. A first half in which the Tigers punted six times, were penalized five times and saw Hunter Renfrow lie on the ground with a head injury left Tiger fans uneasy going into the half.
The Tigers came out in the second half looking like a new team. With their first possession of the half, Travis Etienne led the Tigers down the field in less than two minutes to take a 21-6 lead. Clemson was able to cushion their lead as they put together two more scoring drives to give themselves a 35-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. Etienne and the Clemson running game were on again against Duke as they racked up 208 yards and three touchdowns. Almost all of Clemson’s rushing yards came in the second half as they managed just 17 yards on the ground in the first. The Tigers displayed once again how their multifaceted offense is capable of beating teams in a plethora of ways. Even on what some may consider to be a down night for the offense, they still managed to score 35 points. When an opponent takes away one aspect of the offense, Clemson can expose them with another. After struggling in the passing game in the first half, the run game led the way for most of the second. Once the defense began to suspect the run, the field opened up for Lawrence and Clemson’s playmakers to shred the Blue Devils down the field.
The offense’s newfound production along with another dominant performance from the defense allowed the Tigers to coast to a win. After allowing two scoring drives and 175 yards in the first half, the defense allowed just 87 yards and no points in the second. The defense’s production can be largely attributed to the pass rush which compiled four more sacks on Saturday night. Clelin Ferrell had one of his best nights of the season in his final game at Death Valley as he recorded two more sacks to add to his season total of 10.5, leading the ACC.
While the Tigers were impressive in the first half, they need to be impressive for 60 minutes from here on out. Next week, they will take on rival South Carolina in Death Valley and beyond that the Tigers will play in the ACC Championship and hopefully the College Football Playoff. While the Gamecocks’ 6-4 record doesn’t jump off the page, their losses all came against quality SEC opponents, and they will undoubtedly enter the game with a burning desire to end their four game losing streak against the Tigers. In the ACC Championship, the Pittsburgh Panthers await. The Panthers handed Clemson their lone loss of the 2016 season and will be eager to play spoiler again this season. Opening games with three straight punts isn’t a recipe for success going forward, and Lawrence and the offense are going to have to find a way to come out firing moving forward.
The good news for Clemson is that Lawrence and the offense have been improving all season long. One of Lawrence’s most impressive characteristics this year has been his coachability and willingness to improve. Equally impressive has been Lawrence’s ability to step up in big moments and make big plays with games on the line. Expect Lawrence and the Tigers to further improve as the spotlight increases and the season continues.
