The Clemson football team took care of business Thursday night with a season-opening victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Death Valley.
The 2019 Clemson football season started with a bang Thursday night as the Tigers came away with a 52-14 victory.
Though the offense was a little sluggish right out of the gate, it didn’t take long for Clemson football to get on the scoreboard and take control of the game.
Following a muffed punt, Trevor Lawrence punched in score on a read-option play. Later in the first half, Travis Etienne blasted off for a 90-yard rushing touchdown and the Tigers were up 14.
Clemson took advantage of another forced turnover that led to another Travis Etienne rushing touchdown. The defense bent at times with missed tackles, but didn’t break. It stopped Georgia Tech in several short-yardage situations that continued to keep momentum in the Tigers’ favor.
With a little over four minutes left in the second quarter, Clemson put the exclamation point on the game with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence to Tee Higgins.
The Tigers controlled the game from start-to-finish and played a ton of young players on their way to a victory.
Clemson will host the Texas A&M Aggies at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday and certainly will have plenty to learn from the season-opening victory. The Tigers will be able to take what they see on film from the first game and get better before the Aggies come to town.
Here are five takeaways from Clemson football’s victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
5. Travis Etienne is special
Clemson football fans don’t need to lose sight of how special of a player Travis Etienne truly is. The junior running back has no more than 14 games left in his Tiger career- assuming he doesn’t make a surprising return- and Clemson fans need to appreciate what he is doing on the field.
Etienne is as hard of a runner as they come and he proved that Thursday night.
After a couple of early carries where he was stuffed mainly due to blitzes and a stacked box, Etienne bounced through the hole with force and put in an impressive performance.
He finished the night with 12 carries for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He easily could’ve had more and it was clear after Thursday night that the running back is focused and ready to put the nation on notice.
4. The offensive line was dominant
After the first couple of drives and a few holding penalties (a couple of which were questionable), the offensive line really settled into the game.
The unit doesn’t get near enough praise for the talent it possesses, but that was on display Thursday night.
Yes, they broke down in protection at times, but overall the offensive line was very good and did an excellent job opening up holes in the running game.
That group- which consisted not only of the five starters, but of several key reserves- wore down the Georgia Tech front-seven and absolutely dominated in the trenches.
3. The passing game will come
One of the few negatives of the night was the passing game.
It just seemed that timing and things of that nature were off between Trevor Lawrence and his wide receivers. Still, Lawrence threw for 168 yards and a touchdown, which came from a 62-yard strike to Tee Higgins.
Lawrence threw two interceptions and it just seemed that the Tigers were never able to get the passing game going.
Before Clemson football fans completely abandon ship, though, it should be noted that teams in the past have had slow starts in the passing game, but then have turned out just fine. It seemed Lawrence tried to do too much at times, but we fully expect that he’ll watch the film, learn from it and come out next week with a better performance.
The passing game will come. It’s not a matter of “if,” but “when.”
2. The Defense has promise
Yes, the defense has to replace several starters from last year’s team, but it was apparent Thursday evening that the Tigers have plenty of talent across the board.
The defensive linemen were rotated in-and-out every series as Brent Venables tries to build depth and create competition at the positions. The linebackers were physical. The defensive backs did a decent job in coverage.
Overall, you have to be pleased with what you saw from the defense.
There were too many missed tackles and times where guys were using their arms instead of wrapping up and hitting, but that will all be fixed in the film room. Venables had the Tiger defenders in position to make plays and, in many cases, they did just that.
I was impressed with Isaiah Simmon’s athleticism. I was impressed with Xavier Thomas’s dominance at times rushing the passer and getting in the backfield (he just needs to make sure he doesn’t overrun the play). Freshman DT Tyler Davis was a force along that interior and may have been one of the top performers for the entire unit.
Chad Smith and James Skalski provided a physical element.
The defense has promise. There are things that the unit needs to clean up- especially in tackling and in coverage- but there’s reason to believe that this group can’t be one of the top defensive units in the country.
1. The talent is there
It’s just Georgia Tech, but the one thing we were looking for in this team Thursday night had to do with the amount of talent it possessed.
We heard all offseason about how this team was ready to just ‘reload’ and be right back in the picture for a National Championship.
Well, in the small sample size of a game Thursday night, we saw just that.
This group has the talent, depth and skill to compete with any team in the country. They are only going to get better as the season progresses and it’s clear that this coaching staff likes their chances in winning the ACC and getting back to the CFB Playoff. The Tigers played 90 guys against the Yellow Jackets.
We’re going to see this team grow- especially with how young it truly is- over the course of this season.
There may be some growing pains, but the win Thursday at least showed us that this Clemson football team has the talent and depth to win another National Championship.
And, really, that’s all you can ask for after Week 1.