The Clemson Tigers opened up their season this past Saturday with a dominant 48-7 win over the Furman Paladins. Despite playing against a weak opponent, the Tigers still had several takeaways in all three phases of the game. Most importantly, in the words of head coach Dabo Swinney per TigerNet, “Today was just what we needed. We needed to play somebody.”
Clemson’s offense opened up the game on a shaky note. The first drive consisted of a third down conversion, a fourth down conversion and eventually a turnover on downs. Senior quarterback Kelly Bryant was not effective early on going 2-6 for just eight yards to start the game. He responded on the next drive by connecting with Amari Rodgers on a beautiful 40 yard pass to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead. After the touchdown, Bryant struggled again. After a 62 yard punt return put Clemson in the red zone, a near interception forced them to settle for a field goal.
After the mediocre performance from Bryant, freshman Trevor Lawrence came into the game. Despite a slow start, Lawrence gained confidence in the pocket. The freshman was able to lead the Tigers on two touchdown scoring drives to close the half. Lawrence added another touchdown in the fourth quarter and finished the day going 9-15 for 137 yards and three touchdowns.
The defense was dominant throughout the game. Before the fourth quarter began, the Tigers had allowed under 70 yards of total offense for Furman. The defensive line lived up to the hype in their 2018 debut as they forced their way into the backfield all game long. Clemson compiled ten tackles behind the line of scrimmage and forced two turnovers.
Bryant returned to the game in the second half and appeared to shake off some of the rust. He marched the Tigers down the field and picked apart the Furman defense with both his arm and legs. He tallied his first rushing touchdown on a 35 yard dash in the third quarter.
With his performance in the second half, Bryant did enough to keep the quarterback race close. At times in the second quarter, it appeared as though Lawrence was taking control of the quarterback battle, but Bryant fought his way back. The veteran finished 10-16 for 127 yards and two total touchdowns.
Perhaps the biggest storyline of the day was the performance of Clemson’s freshmen. Besides Lawrence, freshmen Lyn-J Dixon, Derion Kendrick, Braden Galloway, Justyn Ross and KJ Henry, amongst others, contributed in the win. Dixon compiled 89 yards on just six carries while Kendrick ignited the crowd with a spectacular 38-yard reception. Galloway and Ross picked up their first touchdown receptions in Tiger orange, and Henry scooped up a fumble late in the game.
The lopsided scoreline allowed Swinney to put his young players into the game and they certainly made a case for more playing time. Swinney touched on the depth of the Tigers after the game when he said, “We were able to play so many people… The depth showed up for us today. We got all three quarterbacks in the game [and] there were a lot of opportunities for players to touch the ball.”
Another highlight from the game was the revamped Tiger special teams. Freshman kickoff specialist B.T. Potter blasted the ball through the back of the endzone on each of his kickoffs and senior Greg Huegel had an excellent return from his 2017 injury. After a second team All-ACC selection in 2016, Huegel tore his ACL in practice midway through last season. Huegel converted both of his field goal attempts from 35 and 49 yards out.
Swinney and his coaching staff certainly have a lot to build off of and lots of areas to improve upon before a matchup with Texas A&M in College Station, TX. Swinney said that the team will, “watch the tape and make some improvements to help us to continue to win.” He added, “We don’t always play perfectly, but we play with a lot of heart and toughness, and that helps us get the job done.”
