At the half, the Clemson Tigers are tied with the Duke Blue Devils by a score of 28-28 at Memorial Stadium.

Below is an analysis of both sides of the ball from the opening 30 minutes.

Offense:

— After an opening three-and-out, the Clemson offense responded with a six-play, 75-yard drive. Quarterback Cade Klubnik used a 64-yard pass to Antonio Williams to get into the red zone, and Williams would run in a 5-yard touchdown several plays later.

— Klubnik didn’t have a lot of time to throw as Duke brought lots of pressure in the first half. However, he has made the necessary plays to keep Clemson in the game. Klubnik has completed 10 of 14 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown.

— The Tigers have more rushing yards than passing yards, which has been the catalyst for the lead. Clemson had 142 rushing yards in the half with three touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry on the ground. Running back Adam Randall has 90 yards for two touchdowns.

— Clemson saw changes at running back in the first half and it’s paying off. While Randall took most of the carries, freshman Gideon Davidson saw the most snaps he’s seen as a Tiger so far. Davidson finished with 28 yards off six carries while catching a 9-yard pass.

— All of Clemson’s scoring drives have seen a balanced attack to get into the end zone, which is something the team has struggled with throughout the season. The Tigers will look to continue their success on the ground going into the second half.

Defense:

— Duke opened the afternoon converting on multiple fourth downs during the opening drive, leading to a Darian Mensah passing touchdown, connecting with receiver Que’Sean Brown. The Blue Devils set the tone early while exposing the Clemson secondary.

— The Tigers’ secondary has had multiple breakdowns, leading to easy walk-in touchdowns. Mensah was able to connect with receiver Cooper Barkate on a wide-open, 77-yard touchdown.

— Clemson had its first stop of the game with nine minutes remaining in the first half. This started a major momentum swing. After tying the game at 21, the defense came up with another stop, which gave the Tigers the opportunity to take their first lead of the game.

— Mensah absolutely stunned Death Valley with a terrific response to the Clemson touchdown, throwing a 43-yard strike to Brown to tie the game at 28 as the half came to an end. The Tigers’ secondary has consistently broken down in expected passing situations — an adjustment that will need to be made during the break.

— The Clemson defense did not contain the prolific Duke air attack. Mensah closed the first half with 241 passing yards and four touchdowns. Duke’s offensive game plan has seen no issues, to the point where it doesn’t even need to incorporate the ground game. Duke only has 10 rushing attempts for 11 yards.