Clemson Football: Studs and Duds from the NC State victory
Duds
Lackadaisical second half
Maybe lackadaisical is too strong of a word? In the second half, you can tell that the coaching staff called off the dogs- despite what many media members want to say- and the players were less than enthused.
The game had been decided since the midway point of the first quarter and it seems that many of the Clemson football players didn’t necessarily lose focus, but perhaps just didn’t care.
The Tiger starting defense gave up a touchdown in the third quarter after letting NC State drive down the field and they just didn’t seem focused. The second-string offense only scored one touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Overall, Clemson football scored just 13 points in the second half.
A couple of drops
The two drops were absolutely uncharacteristic of Tee Higgins Saturday night. Higgins is a dominant wide receiver and he just let the ball slip between his fingers.
At times that happens without much rhyme or reason. The incompletion in the end zone, we have to say, may be the prettiest incompletion we’ve ever seen.
Lawrence put the ball right on the money and that would’ve been a highlight play had it been reeled in. Even so, Higgins will continue to improve and there’s no concern moving forward when it comes to the talented wide receiver.
The Tigers can’t win with the media
The Clemson football team was ranked No. 5 in the initial CFB Playoff rankings last week. The Tigers ‘weren’t dominant enough’ according to the committee and many media members.
So, what did Clemson do? The Tigers went out and beat NC State by 45 points. Well, now they’re running up the score.
Clemson can’t win with the media no matter what it does. There’s no magic amount of winning margin and many media members are going to continue to harp on whatever they can find. Either you’re too dominant, or not dominant enough.
CFB Playoff implications following Week 11. dark. Next
The same logic doesn’t apply to Ohio State, however, who kicked an onside kick up three touchdowns against Maryland and then proceeded to hang 73 on the Terps.