I was down in Clemson this past weekend for homecoming and it was great to be back in Death Valley. The noon start time was a bit of a buzzkill but it was great to see some Tiger football in person nonetheless. I'd much prefer a 3:30 start but oh well.
Clemson got off to a hot start, opening with two straight TD drives in the first quarter. KB looked great, he was spreading the ball around, the running game was doing well. And then it was like the offense hit a wall. For some reason they just couldn't sustain drives the rest of the first half. Even to start the second half they looked pretty bored with the game. But they kicked it back into gear down the stretch, getting the lead to 28-0 with two more scores. Kelly Bryant did exit with an ankle injury but I think he's expected to play Friday at Syracuse. It came right before the Tigers extended the lead to 21-0. KB was trying to muscle into the endzone and twisted his ankle a bit. He stayed in to hand the ball off to Etienne for the TD on the next play but that was it. Zerrick Cooper came in and they ran some weird plays for him, and he didn't look very good at all. Hunter Johnson came in and they ran exactly the plays I'd expect them to run for a freshman QB in semi-garbage time, and he looked great leading them to their fourth TD drive and his first career TD pass.
The defense, once again, carried the team for the most part. There weren't very many flashy plays, no turnovers created, and they needed a couple missed field goals to keep it scoreless for a bit but it was the same ole dominant Clemson defense. They held Wake Forest to fewer than 4 yards per carry which was solid because that QB had some nifty moves when he took off to run. They hardly let Wake Forest throw the ball anywhere on the field, holding them to 14-30 passing. Clemson allowed a couple garbage time TDs to Wake but no big deal. Woulda loved to keep that shutout but whatever. It wasn't a flashy win by any means on either side of the ball but I'll take it. I honestly hate when they play like that, but whadaya gonna do? Can't be perfect all the time.
Clemson's got the Friday night game up at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse this week. Hopefully KB is ready to go, but I'd be confident in either of the other two guys to beat god damn Syracuse regardless. Defense travels anywhere. Go Tigers.
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