Clemson Football: Offensive Report Cards vs. Georgia Tech 2019
The 2019 Clemson football season opened up Thursday night. Here are our offensive grades for the Tigers’ win over Georgia Tech.
The Clemson football team returned to Death Valley Thursday night and came away with an impressive 52-14 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The Tigers took control of the game early and capitalized on a few mistakes from the Yellow Jackets’ perspective.
Clemson played a total of 90 guys during the game and will be able to take the film from the season opener and truly learn from it as they get ready for the Texas A&M Aggies next Saturday.
Here are our offensive grades for the 2019 Clemson football team’s victory over Georgia Tech.
Passing Game Breakdown:
The passing game certainly left more to be desired. After going back and watching the film, it just seemed that Trevor Lawrence and his wide receivers weren’t on the same page in many cases. Other times, Lawrence would have an open man, but just missed him.
He finished the game with 167 yards passing and a touchdown to two interceptions. Two of the bright spots in the passing game were when Lawrence found Tee Higgins for a 62-yard touchdown strike and when Chase Brice hit freshman Frank Ladson Jr. for a touchdown. Brice finished the game 5-of-7 for 53 yards and a touchdown. In limited throwing action, he looked comfortable and much more accurate.
That being said, it certainly should be expected that the passing game improves over the next few weeks. Lawrence knows how to handle adversity and he will come out with a better performance next week.
Grade: C-
Rushing Game Breakdown:
The rushing game couldn’t have been much better. The Clemson football offensive line really settled into the game well and began just dominating Georgia Tech up-front. Travis Etienne rushed the ball just 12 times, but had 205 yards and three touchdowns. He broke off a huge 90-yard run in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead.
Clemson should also be impressed with Etienne’s partner Lyn-J Dixon. Dixon rushed eight times for 64 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore was just a broken tackle away on at least a couple of carries for having another touchdown. Those two guys, combined with the offensive line, looked really good.
Behind Etienne and Dixon, freshmen Chez Mellusi (6 car, 36 yards) and Michel Dukes (7 car, 29 yards) looked promising in their debuts. Darien Rencher also had six carries for 21 yards.
Grade: A
Next. 5 Takeaways from the victory vs. Georgia Tech. dark
Overall Report Card:
The Tigers proved Thursday night that the offensive line has a chance to be dominant. The passing game will come as the guys settle into the season and it won’t be long before the offense looks more balanced.
I also believe the coaches intentionally held back in the passing game- running simple concepts- for the sake of saving tendencies for Texas A&M and Syracuse the next two weeks.