Clemson Football: Offensive, Defensive Grades vs. NC State 2019
The Clemson football team blasted the NC State Wolfpack this past Saturday in Raleigh. Here’s our offensive and defensive grades from the matchup.
The Clemson football team improved to 10-0 on the season with an impressive 55-10 win over the NC State Wolfpack in Raleigh Saturday night.
The Tigers jumped out to a 28-0 lead and never looked back, smothering the Wolfpack and building depth along the way.
Here’s a look at our offensive and defensive grades following the win that clinched the ACC Atlantic Division for Clemson football.
Offensive Report Card:
The offense came out and was very efficient in the first half. The Tigers jumped out to a 28-0 lead, thanks to a couple of short fields as a result of NC State turnovers, and took complete control of the game.
Trevor Lawrence completed 20-of-27 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 59 yards and another touchdown. Lawrence was the victim of a couple of dropped passes that could’ve vaulted his stats even more, but the cold weather may have had something to do with that.
Travis Etienne carried the ball 14 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns while Justyn Ross had four receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown, and Tee Higgins had four receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Other than the two drops and a slow second half, much of which had to do with the second-stringers being in the game, the offense did exactly what it was expected to do. I would’ve liked to see the backups perform at a higher level- especially that offensive line- but you can’t argue the result.
Grade: A-
Defensive Report Card:
The defense didn’t allow any points until the second half. The Tigers played the starters for quite along the defensive unit and a lot of that probably had to do with trying to build experience and chemistry down the stretch.
The defense forced two turnovers in the first quarter that led to points and didn’t allow NC State to get anything going offensively for the majority of the first half. Even when the backups played in the second half, the Tigers still only gave up 290 total yards and 13 first downs to the Wolfpack. NC State had a total of four fumbles and much of that had to do with the pressure that the Tiger defense was placing on the ball-carriers and quarterback.
The one complaint with the defense is the final drive of the first half and the first drive of the second half where NC State moved the ball right down the field. That was against the first-string defense and it seemed that the Tigers let their foot off the gas, at least a little bit.
Grade: A-
Next. CFB Playoff implications following Week 11. dark
Overall, you can’t argue with the result. A 45-point victory on the road in cold weather is always impressive, no matter the opponent. Clemson football clinched the ACC Atlantic Division and also improved its impressive winning streak to 25 games. The Tigers are playing on another level right now and it’s clear that they are executing to make a statement to the CFB Playoff committee.