Tigers Trample Tech
Visiting Clemson Employs An Embarrassment Of Riches To Embarrass The Yellow Jackets By A 73-7 Score
There are “team wins” and then there is the wall-to-wall whipping Clemson put on host Georgia Tech on Saturday. Consider: a 66-point margin of victory. 17 different Clemsonites caught a pass. 10 different Tigers carried the ball. That is a true team win. Though the Tigers certainly have several superstars, it did not seem to matter much which Tiger was doing the tossin’ or the totin’ or the tacklin’. They tallied 35 points in the 2nd quarter alone–that’s hard to do simply from a time standpoint. They rolled to a 52-7 halftime lead and then added 21 second-half points for good measure. Their domination of Georgia Tech was compleat. They scored seemingly at will. They shut down Tech’s heretofore productive offense. They made only a few mistakes, mere road bumps on their ride down the expressway to excellence.
It was the kind of game that will prompt some historical research– eg most points, biggest margin, etc. All those details matter not. Clemson got a fresh ”W”, whereas Georgia Tech got a fresh perspective on their football reality, relative to football royalty. And it was certainly a sobering perspective for a team that’s carried a generally positive tone through an up-and-down start to the 2020 season. That view said “we’re a long way from the top of the heap”.
Clemson’s QB Trevor Lawrence was at least as good as advertised. He went 24 of 33 for his short day of work, abbreviated as it was by the ballooning margin and the obvious opportunity to get some underlings into the game. Lawrence’s 24 completions were good for 404 yards and 5 TD’s. He did throw one interception, so there’s that. Mainly he took full advantage of Tech’s defensive strategy to hold down the Tigers’ run game. The Jackets did have modest success with that approach, “holding ” Clemson to 171 yards on 39 carries.
Tech’s offense, by comparison, had but one fleeting moment of success– a 1st quarter 59-yard TD pass from Jeff Sims to Jalen Camp. That play created a very brief tie score, which was broken only seconds later when Lawrence launched an 83- yard scoring pass of his own.
It was an accurate indicator of Tech’s overall offensive ineffectiveness that the 59- yard pass play accounted for over 25% ot their offensive output for the day. The 204 yards they totaled was almost evenly split between the halves. Minus that one big pass play, Tech averaged 2.5 yards per snap, earning only seven first downs for the entire game.
To make things worse, the turnover bug returned. After giving away none in the recent win over Louisville, the Jackets lost 2 fumbles and gave up an interception to Clemson. Maybe as important, they did not make much of the 2 turnovers they collected from Lawrence and company. Dominance on the line of scrimmage on both sides explains much of those statistical deficits. Tech QB Jeff Sims was sacked 4 times and harried on almost every passing play. Once the Jackets were in a big hole, Clemsons strong defensive front was able to be extra aggressive, and the offensive stats showed that.
Geoff Collins was circumspect in his post-game analysis. He stated that his team needed to focus on the myriad issues brought to light in this record-setting setback. One quick week after exulting in a big win over Louisville, the to-do list for offense, defense and special teams post-Clemson looked extensive.
Tech travels to Boston next to take on the Boston College Eagles (3-2). Collins and crew will be looking to get back on track with a road ACC win. To do so, they must walk a fine line between learning the available painful lessons from the big loss to Clemson while not being dispirited by the outcome. Collins has on many occasions praised his team’s resilience and focus. Saturday in Massachusetts they will have a chance– really, more of a need– to display those qualities.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports