Clemson Football: Odds, ends, notes and thoughts on the Tigers

Nineteen or so hours removed from the Clemson football victory over Wake Forest in double overtime I’m under no illusions.

Dabo Swinney says this team is a work and progress and that is certainly true.  Many fans don’t want to hear it, but Swinney’s also right on another topic – it’s hard to win in college football.  Each week we see upsets and near upsets and some take winning games like yesterday’s for granted, because Clemson “should” beat Wake Forest.

I think most of us know the reasons it was a close game. injuries on the defensive side of the ball chief among them.

I was impressed with the offense, especially when they got down 28-20 and the margin of error was close to zero.

In some ways it looked like the old Clemson offense, the one where the quarterback made plays when he had to, either with his arm or legs and that’s what D.J. Uiagalelei did.

You may also be interested to know that, at least as of this morning, there were 0 drops by Tiger receivers yesterday.  It’s amazing what an offense can do when receivers catch the ball.

I’m not sure if it’s the final grade or it’ll change later in the week, but D.J. Uiagalelei had his second highest passer rating of the season at 87.6, second only to a 91.8 against Furman.

Even more impressive is for quarterbacks with 50 or more drop backs Uiagalelei is 6th in the country in passer rating.

Let that sink in and then remember what you’re hearing from the national (and some local) media.

Davis Allen, Beaux Collins, Joseph Ngata and Jake Briningstool all had their highest rated games of the season.

The offensive line continues to be a work in progress, especially on the right side, as true freshman was credited with giving up a sack and three hurries and Walker Parks a hit (and hurry).

Needless to say the back end of the Clemson defense was atrocious and while it’s not fair to expect the same level of performance as veteran starters that were out with injury, they have to be better than Saturday.

Game Day is coming to Clemson football as the Tigers play host to the undefeated North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday evening

I’m no defensive back coach, but it’s hard to watch what’s happening on the field when the other team puts the ball in the air.

Game Day and the undefeated North Carolina Wolfpack come to Clemson in what appears to be the biggest game of the season, with a lot on the line, including Clemson’s 36 game home winning streak and effectively, a two game lead in the ACC Atlantic.

North Carolina State is 3-1 against the spread while the Tigers are 2-2 against the spread.