Clemson Football: The Good, the Bad and the Sus – Georgia Tech

Clemson football kicked off the 2022 season Monday night with a 41-10 win over Georgia Tech, but not everything was rosy in the victory.

1. The Good

The defense: There were high expectations for this side of the ball, and rightly so. The defensive line is very deep and the back seven has talent, albeit a little green. A week ago, I questioned if we had perhaps gotten a little carried away with our expectations, considering that lack of experience in places and Wes Goodwin only coaching in his second game.

The returns were solid. They started with an interception by Andrew Mukuba on Georgia Tech’s first play. The defensive line did not allow much running room for the Yellow Jackets. They got decent pressure on Jeff Sims and kept him on his toes. KJ Henry and Brian Bresee had a sack each.

Things weren’t perfect. The Wreck took advantage of Clemson’s aggressiveness with some strategic screen passes. There were soft spots in pass defense, which might have been by design (bend don’t break) to prevent big plays. I would also be disingenuous if I said the defense was on par with Georgia’s 2021 defense that powered them to a national championship. They aren’t there yet, but they were good enough that I think they could get there as the season progresses.

Punt coverage: I was hoping by now that Tim Bourret would have informed us when the Tigers last blocked two punts in the same game. These plays were huge for Clemson, considering some of the continuing problems that result in an inability to sustain drives (keep reading about the bad and the sus).

I predicted a score of 27-9 before the game. The final score would have been 27-10 if it weren’t for the short fields that Carson Donnelly and Wade Woodaz gifted the offense on separate outstanding special teams plays.