Studs & Duds for Clemson football against The Citadel
The Clemson football team took care of business Saturday afternoon in its home-opener against The Citadel.
The Tigers took the field in front of nearly 19,000 Clemson football fans and put on a first half, leading to a 49-0 victory.
While it may have just been The Citadel and there are plenty more challenging games on the schedule as we progress, there are still plenty of things we can take away from the victory. Here’s a look at some studs and duds for Clemson football against the Bulldogs.
Studs
Trevor Lawrence didn’t play very long, but he proved what he needed to when he was on the field.
The Clemson football quarterback is clearly locked in and he has improved his accuracy ten-fold over the course of the offseason. Lawrence finished the day completing 8-of-9 passing attempts (the one incompletion was a drop) for 168 yards and three touchdowns to no interceptions.
Lawrence could’ve put up any number of stats on Saturday and he finished the day with a QB rating of 98.7.
Dominating defense
We understand it was just The Citadel, but you’ve got to give some credit to that Clemson football defense.
No matter the opponent, a shutout is always an accomplishment and the Tigers pitched a shutout while getting a ton of different bodies into the game. The Citadel finished the day with just 162 total yards of offense and they had just eight first downs for the entirety of the afternoon.
More Studs
Bryan Bresee & Myles Murphy prove they are monsters… again
For the second-straight week in a row, Bryan Bresee was named the College Football freshman of the week by Pro Football Focus. He finished the afternoon with two tackles and a pass deflection while his fellow freshman counterpart Myles Murphy had two tackles for loss in the victory.
It wasn’t just about their stats, it’s about the way they play. Both guys stick out like a sore thumb when you see them line up and they’re consistently getting in the backfield and creating havoc.
Frank Ladson Jr. was listed as one the Tigers we wanted to see improve after Week 1 and it’s clear Clemson came out with a plan to get him involved. Ladson finished the day as Clemson’s leading receiver with three catches for 87 yards (29.0 YPC) and two touchdowns, with a long of 54 yards.
It was good to see him get involved and absolutely show out Saturday afternoon.
D.J. Uiagalelei‘s two rushing touchdowns
D.J. Uiagalelei has all the talent in the world to be a special quarterback for Clemson football. One of the bright spots of the day was seeing the freshman QB score two touchdowns in the first half and show that strength and toughness to fight for extra yardage.
He finished the afternoon completing 8-of-11 attempts for 75 yards with the two rushing touchdowns.
James Skalski‘s scoop-and-score
The elation from the defense when James Skalski scored his touchdown could be felt throughout the stadium. It was his first career touchdown and it was good to see the leader of the Clemson football defense score some points.
Duds
The second-string offensive line
The starting offensive line had some troubles early, but it was the second-string offensive line that was more concerning as the afternoon progressed.
The unit struggled to get any kind of a push and gave up its fair share of negative yardage plays. It’s clear that Clemson has work to do to develop depth at that position as we move forward- and they’re going to need to do it in a hurry.
Derion Kendrick‘s unsportsmanlike penalty
Derion Kendrick hasn’t had the best summer and he was suspended for the first game of the season. He didn’t start the game Saturday, but came in on the second play. Later in the game, he drew the ire of the coaching staff when he was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty.
It was good to get Kendrick back into the fold and it’s clear that he’ll be a major piece moving forward and that he’ll learn from this summer- and the unsportsmanlike- to become a better player.
Overall sloppiness from backup offense
Much of this had to do with the offensive line, but it was definitely a brutal second half to watch. The backup offense couldn’t get anything going, no matter really who was at quarterback. The running backs weren’t able to reel off any big plays and it’s clear the unit has some work to do moving forward to build depth.
The Clemson football team will have a bye week this Saturday before returning to action the following weekend against the Virginia Cavaliers.