Clemson Football: Studs and Duds from the NC State victory
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Justin Foster, Tyler Davis on the DL
We don’t give enough credit to some of those defensive linemen up-front. If you go back and watch the film, you’ll see two defensive linemen that really stand out: Justin Foster and Tyler Davis.
We get so caught up in talking about guys like Logan Rudolph, Xavier Thomas and KJ Henry, Foster is one of those unsung heroes. He was nearly unblockable Saturday night and did a great job setting the edge and getting into the backfield.
Playing defensive tackle, Tyler Davis doesn’t see his all over the stat sheet. Even so, he was in the backfield, created pressure and even came away with a fumble recovery Saturday night. The true-freshman has been nothing short of amazing this season and he absolutely deserves first-team All-ACC honors.
This game was just more proof of that fact.
Travis Etienne just being Travis Etienne
When most Clemson football fans think about Travis Etienne’s performance in this one, it’s nothing all that special.
Why? Because every single time Etienne steps on the field, especially as of late, he just seems to fill up the stat sheet.
Even though Etienne didn’t reel off a long run (his longest of the night was 26), he still rushed for 112 yards on 14 carries (8.0 YPC) and scored two rushing touchdowns. In addition, he had three catches and a receiving touchdown on the night. That’s just Travis Etienne being Travis Etienne.
Chad Smith
Chad Smith was all over the field Saturday night. We talk a lot about the performance of Isaiah Simmons at linebacker- and rightfully so- but it was Chad Smith who led the Tigers in tackles Saturday night (7). He had a tackle for loss and recovered a fumble.
On that fumble recovery, he came up about three yards shy of scoring a touchdown.
Smith had himself a night and was instrumental in the Clemson defense continuing its dominance.
John Simpson’s touchdown
Perhaps the best moment of the night came in the second quarter when Clemson OL John Simpson scored a 1-yard touchdown.
With 4:30 left in the second quarter, Simpson lined up in the ‘fridge package’ behind freshman DL Tyler Davis and punched it into the end zone. Seeing his joy and excitement was a perfect picture of what the Clemson football program is all about.