The Clemson football team came away with a 45-10 victory over the Louisville Cardinals Saturday. Here are our offensive grades for the Tigers.
The 2019 Clemson football team improved to 7-0 on the season with a 45-10 win over the Louisville Cardinals Saturday afternoon.
Despite covering the spread for a second-straight week, the Tigers dropped another spot in the AP Poll and are now ranked No. 4 in the nation.
The real poll- the CFB Playoff poll- will be released in just a couple of weeks.
As we look back at the matchup between Louisville and Clemson football, here are our offensive grades for the Tigers.
Offensive Report Card vs. Louisville:
It’s an array of thoughts when we think about the Clemson football offense in this game.
The Tigers struggled mightily early on in the passing game. Trevor Lawrence was just 3-of-7 for nine yards and two interceptions- both in the end zone- in the first quarter.
That being said, Lawrence was 9-of-9 for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter.
Travis Etienne was dominant basically from the start of the game, rushing 14 times for 192 yards and one touchdown. WR Justyn Ross made an impressive catch at the end of the second quarter for a touchdown and WR Joseph Ngata also went up and made a great play on the first touchdown of the game. Both of those were in the back of the end zone.
Though Trevor Lawrence was pressured at times, the offensive line did a decent job in pass-protection and opening up holes in the running game. Matt Bockhorst filled in for an injured John Simpson and had a nice game.
Offensive Grade: C
If you throw out the first quarter, the Tigers probably have an ‘A’ game. The fourth quarter, they scored three touchdowns. But, where was that in the first quarter? Louisville is one of the worst defenses in the country and, for that reason, the offense is receiving a bit lower grade than most probably would expect.
The unit needs to come out and play better from the start. The talent is there. Nothing is wrong with Trevor Lawrence. It’s just about coming out and executing from the beginning and not making careless mistakes.