The Clemson football team came away with a 52-14 win over Georgia Tech. Here are five Tigers who impressed in Thursday’s victory.
It was just about as perfect as a Clemson football fan could dream up the season-opener.
Though the offense was a little slow out of the gate, the Tigers still methodically took a 28-0 lead into half against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and never looked back.
While playing 90 different Tigers, Clemson came away with a 52-14 victory and clearly could’ve beaten Tech much worse had they opened up the playbook or chosen to keep their foot on the gas.
Even so, Clemson football covered a giant spread of 36 points and got the season started off on the right foot. After going back and watching the film, the Tigers were clearly dominant, but still has plenty of work to do heading into the Texas A&M game. Clemson football will open up the Texas A&M match up as a 16.5-point favorite.
Before we dive completely into analyzing Texas A&M and the match up that will take place in Death Valley just a few days from now, let’s go back and look at Thursday night’s victory. Here are five Clemson football players that had impressive performances against Georgia Tech.
5. Chase Brice
You have to give Chase Brice his due. Brice came into the game after the match up was firmly in hand, but that didn’t stop him from making some impressive throws.
He finished the game completing 5-of-7 passes for 53 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown pass to freshman WR Frank Ladson Jr. was about as perfect of a ball as a quarterback could throw.
To be honest, Brice should’ve been at least 6-of-7 with two touchdown passes had freshman Brannon Spector came down with a pass in the end zone that hit him in the hands.
We don’t talk enough about Chase Brice and his ability. He has stuck around the Clemson football program as a second-string quarterback, but the truth is that he could start at 95 percent of the other programs around the nation and that passing ability was on display Thursday night.
4. Tyler Davis
We really could’ve picked a number of defensive linemen when looking at impressive performances. It certainly should be noted that Xavier Thomas was constantly in the backfield and came away with a few huge tackles for loss.
That being said, freshman DT Tyler Davis certainly lived up to his billing.
Davis got the start and was an anchor along the interior of that defensive line. He finished with four total tackles and a 0.5 tackle for loss, but it was more than just his statistics that were impressive.
Davis was consistent and did an excellent job playing different techniques on that defensive line.
3. Isaiah Simmons
Isaiah Simmons was all over the field Thursday night.
Simmons’ power, athleticism and physicality were fully on display against Georgia Tech. He did a good job in passing situations and was able to come up in the running game and make plays. There were a few times where Simmons was on an island by himself and made a play to get to the ball carrier.
He finished with a game-high 10 tackles.
Simmons is an athletic freak and he proved that against the Yellow Jackets. We’re going to see a lot more from him over the course of the 2019 Clemson football season and it will be interesting to see just what he is able to do this year.
2. The Offensive Line
The entire Clemson football offensive line gets a spot on our list this week.
After the opening couple of series, the offensive line really settled into the game and did an excellent job controlling the line of scrimmage.
The interior of that line opened up holes in the running game and they gave Trevor Lawrence time to pass despite pressure and blitzes that Georgia Tech was bringing.
One of the highlight-reel plays for the offensive line came on Travis Etienne’s 90-yard run when OT Jackson Carman absolutely pancaked a Georgia Tech defender and gave Etienne a clear lane to get open and take the ball to the house.
The offensive line did all of this despite heavy rotations at times, especially in the second half.
1. Travis Etienne
Travis Etienne leads our list, and for good reason.
The junior running back was absolutely explosive and dominant in his rushing ability Thursday night. Etienne had 12 carries for 205 yards and three touchdowns.
He carried the offense and busted off a couple huge runs to get the Tigers on the scoreboard in a big way.
Etienne proved Thursday that he shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to the Heisman race.
Though he sometimes can be overshadowed because of his quiet nature, Etienne is a special running back and is, in my opinion, the top runner in the nation. He’s going to make plays and it’s clear that Clemson football fans need to appreciate what they are seeing unfold in front of their eyes.