Clemson Football: Studs and Duds from loss to LSU

Duds

Empty Drives

You can’t go 1-of-11 on third downs and expect to win at any level, much less in the National Championship game.

The most unfortunate aspect of this stat is the fact that on more than half of these third down conversions, Clemson had less than five yards to gain.

The Tigers came up with empty drive after empty drive when they needed points the most. Any time the defense got a stop and it looked as if momentum could swing in favor of Clemson, the offense would go three-and-out. It was disheartening and disappointing.

A.J. Terrell’s performance

We want to stress that A.J. Terrell is not a dud, but his performance against LSU Monday night certainly was.

Terrell was beaten on several occasions by WR Ja’Marr Chase. As a matter of fact, Chase’s big plays from Burrow was the only thing that kept LSU in the game early.

Had the Bayou Bengals not converted on those two big passing plays- where Terrell was in coverage, but was just beaten- the outcome could’ve been very different. Terrell just didn’t seem like his focus was completely there, for whatever reason.

Abandoning the run

The best offensive threat of the game for Clemson didn’t touch the ball in the fourth quarter. Travis Etienne’s last designed run came with 10:49 left in the third quarter.

Despite the fact that Clemson got the ball back trailing by three in the second half, the Tigers elected to go air-Trevor and make their offense one-dimensional, getting behind the sticks on early downs.

Abandoning the run was a costly mistake in this one and it’s something that needs to be closely looked at by the coaching staff as they look to get back to the CFB Playoff in 2020.