We are live and on site tonight as Clemson welcomes Florida Atlantic to town. Clemson won the toss and elected to defer. We will get to see the Clemson defense on the field first tonight!
First Quarter Thoughts:
Robert Gunn III blasts one 5 yards deep into the endzone for a touchback and it is finally game time in Death Valley.
With Andrew Mukuba out again tonight we knew that Khalil Barnes would need to step up tonight and he did just that when he got a big tackle for loss on the first drive of the game.
The very next play Casey Thompson escaped from a sack, scrambled to his left and threw a ball right to Nate Wiggins who took it back 46 yards for a touchdown. Clemson takes the early lead on defense 7-0.
Florida Atlantic gets the ball back and is able to get one first down before ultimately having to punt the ball to Clemson. Now we’ll get our first look at the Clemson offense tonight.
The offense comes out humming and Cade was seemingly making the right decisions. Cade Klubnik and the Clemson offense take their first deep shot of the game and hit Tyler Brown for a 30 yard touchdown pass over the middle of the field. Robert Gunn III doinks the PAT and Clemson holds the lead 13-0.
The Tigers defense flexed their muscle again and forced Florida Atlantic into a 3 and out, but the owls tried a fake punt that was snuffed out and stopped. Clemson taking over at the Florida Atlantic 34 yard line.
Phil Mafah got a big rush up the middle for a first down but the offense ultimately stalled out and missed another field goal opportunity. Clemson has got to find something consistent at kicker and fast. The Tigers still lead 13-0.
I mentioned earlier that Khalil Barnes needed to have a big game in coverage tonight, and on this possession he picked up a big interception on the first play. Barnes is going to be a big time player for Clemson for a long time.
It’s been a very quiet first few games for tight end Jake Briningstool, but on his second catch of the night he gets his first touchdown of the season. Clemson leads 20-0
Overall, the offense and defense played complimentary football this quarter and it showed on the scoreboard. This is the start that the fans needed to see, now we’ll see if they can keep it going through the rest of the night.
Second Quarter Thoughts:
Welcome to the air show Adam Randall! Cade hit Randall on the left sideline for 28 yards for his first catch of the game. On the very next play PHil Mafah takes a rush off the right edge for 19 yards for his first touchdown of the night. Clemson leads 27-0 with 12:19 left.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Khalil Barnes with a big play! Initially ruled a fumble but replay will take this one back since the fumble bounced out of bounds for a split second. Florida Atlantic will keep possession but Khalil Barnes has been all over the field tonight.
More of the same for the defense, and the offense continues to move the ball with ease. Clemson got down to the goal line and Cade Klubnik gets in on the ground with a QB sneak. Clemson up 34-0 and this is starting to feel like what Clemson football should look like.
Halftime Thoughts:
With the big game coming up next week against Florida State, we needed to see Clemson come out hot, fast, and CLEAN. That is exactly what we got in the first half tonight. Cade played a clean half, making a lot of good decisions. Phil Mafah really popped with some big runs, and we saw 8 different guys catch a pass. This was nearly a perfect half of football, and exactly what the fans needed to see. Something to keep an eye on is Will Shipley this half. With the disagreement that he and CJ Spiller had on the sideline near the end of the first half it will be interesting to see if anything changes in the second half.
Third Quarter Thoughts:
Tyler Brown with possibly his first bonehead play of the season. He comes up and tries to field a punt, he can’t handle it and it bounces away from him. Florida Atlantic takes over in Clemson territory.
The defense showed up in a big way and kept the shutout intact. Wade Woodaz gets a big interception on 4th down and returns it all the way back to the Florida Atlantic 13 yard line.
After a big play by the defense, the offense gets stopped on 4th down and gives the ball back to FAU on their own 3 yard line. After such a clean and efficient first half from the offense they have started the second half off pretty sluggish.
Tyler Brown had the muffed punt on his last attempt but made up for it in a big way this time. Tyler Brown took this one back to the 26 yard line, with a 44 yard return.
And just a few plays later Cade hit Tyler Brown again for a big third down conversion. Before the completion to Tyler Brown for 17 yards, Klubnik was 1-8 for 2 yards in the second half.
Tyler Brown AGAIN. Cade hits Brown over the middle for a 2 yard touchdown pass and Clemson takes a 41-0 lead with 2:56 in the 3rd quarter.
Fourth Quarter Thoughts:
The biggest disappointment of the night came early in the fourth quarter when Clemson ultimately gave up the shutout. Florida Atlantic finally gets on the board and makes the score 41-7 with 12:07 left in the game.
Hunter Helms gets into the game late in the fourth and the day is done for Cade Klubnik.
Domonique Thomas punches the ball into the endzone to extend the lead to 48-7 with 8:00 left in the game.
FAU was driving late in the game threatening to score again, but the Tiger’s defense stood up and got a takeaway with 3:45 left in the game. Paul Tyson is now at QB to end the night for the Tigers.
FAU would score with about a minute left to make it a little bit closer. Clemson still leads 48-14
Final Thoughts:
Clemson came out hot in the first half and jumped ahead early. Both offensively and defensively there were no problems in the first half. That is what you needed to see this week with such a big test looming next week. The second half started a little sluggish for the offense but they bounced back a little bit to add to the lead.
Clemson wins this one 48-14
