Clemson Football: Tigers look sloppy in win over Georgia Southern

The Clemson football team held on for a sloppy win against the Georgia Southern Eagles Saturday afternoon in Death Valley.

Clemson football came up with a 38-7 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles in ugly, sloppy fashion Saturday afternoon.

A week after the Tigers held on for a win against Texas A&M, Clemson returned to Death Valley with the hopes of correcting some mistakes and tuning up both the offense and defense before heading to Georgia Tech next Saturday.

While a game is more to coaches than just the look outside of the program, I can honestly say this game was not what you wanted to see if you are a Clemson football fan.

The Tigers looked sloppy and didn’t score a point until midway through the second quarter. After scoring on three-straight drives in the second quarter, Clemson only scored three points in the third quarter.

Travis Etienne came back in the game and broke off a nice run for the Tigers midway through the fourth to give Clemson another touchdown, but overall, it just wasn’t the day that Tiger nation was looking for.

Analysis:

Here are my instant takeaways from the win Saturday.

• QB Competition

Kelly Bryant was injured in the first half, but returned to the sideline after a lengthy time spent in the locker room in the third quarter. He didn’t enter the game, but he had all his gear on, which tells me he’s probably okay, but we’ll wait for official word soon.

Trevor Lawrence had a chance to show us what he is capable of and he had a lot of bright spots, but he also missed on some throws in the second half. He finished 12-of-19 for 194 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Both of these guys have a long way to go and it just seems like neither have benefited from the inconsistent offensive line play thus far, either.

• Same problems are still there

My biggest concerns following the Texas A&M game were the secondary and the offensive line. Neither group did anything to change my mind in this one.

The secondary was weak and gave up some huge pass plays. They were out of position on several occasions. I know just as well as anyone that both groups did a ton of substituting, but I saw starters make mistakes and get beat in both of those positions.

What’s next?

Clemson football will travel to Georgia Tech next weekend to take on yet another option team. The Tigers have their work cut out for them the rest of the way through and it will be interesting to see what the coaching staff does to fix some of those mistakes going forward.