Clemson football looks like the Clemson football of old right now.
On Saturday night in Tallahassee, the Tigers won their fourth straight game and continued riding a wave of momentum that started in the season’s second game against Appalachian State. It was, at times, a mixed bag of positives and negatives and the closer-than-anticipated final score betrays the actual dominance Clemson showed on the field.
First, a bit of the negative. The Tigers looked human up front at times. The Seminoles’ defensive front was able to hurry quarterback Cade Klubnik a few times and even got to the junior signal caller for a few sacks. On special teams, Clemson had two of Nolan Hauser’s seven field goal attempts blocked. The true freshman connected on the other five, however. It would appear that Clemson football once again has a sure-footed, reliable kicker in the vein of B.T. Potter or Chandler Catanzaro.
As for the blocked kicks, head coach Dabo Swinney was none too pleased.
“Obviously very disappointed in the blocks,” said Swinney after the game. “Just really poor technique and fundamentals there that we’ve got to get cleaned up. Just absolutely horrible on the left side, at tight end and wing. Awful. It’s that simple. Just absolutely did not do what we coach them to do, so that’s on us as coaches. We put that on tape. If you put that on tape, you better get ready (for other teams to attack it).”
Dabo Swinney
Defensively, it would be nice to see some more aggression more often. As has been the trend through five games, the Tigers’ defense was more bend but not break in nature. Florida State quarterback Brock Glenn was able to find some holes in the Clemson secondary, but more often than not his receivers did not oblige by hauling in the reception. Not every team Clemson plays will be so generous. Glenn did connect on two touchdown passes, one to cut the Clemson lead to 10 in the third quarter, but the Seminoles would get no closer.
But there was plenty of good to be excited about, too.
Klubnik continued his stellar play, connecting on 19 of 33 pass attempts and threw two touchdown passes to Antonio Williams and T.J. Moore respectively. Both plays were explosive in nature, continuing to demonstrate the big play capability of the Tigers’ offense.
Also on offense, senior running back Phil Mafah recorded a season-high in rushing attempts with 25 for 154 yards. He did not find the endzone, but it was the kind of heavier work load that fans and analysts have been clamoring to see.
Then, there was the aforementioned Hauser. For a true freshman, Hauser has jumped right into the fray and made an immediate impact. He has “missed” only three kicks all season, two field goals and one PAT, but all three attempts were blocked and not at all on Hauser himself. He gives Clemson a steady special teams presence with an ability to put points on the board if a drive stalls in the red zone.
The Clemson football team outgained Florida State by a wide margin, too. The Tigers put up 500 yards of total offense to just 250 for the Seminoles and held FSU to just 22 total rushing yards in a dominating effort by the front seven. If that trend continues and Clemson can force teams to be one dimensional, this Tigers squad will be all the more dangerous.
All told, it was a solid showing for Clemson’s first true road game in front of a hostile crowd. Florida State dropped to 1-5 overall, but the Seminoles put up a game fight by anyone’s standards. It was the type of grind it out contest that will serve the Tigers well going forward.
The game also saw Dabo Swinney make history. With the victory, the Tigers’ head man became the all-time winningest coach in ACC history with his 174th career victory, eclipsing former Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden in the house that Bowden built. It was a special moment to cap off the night.
Now, Clemson turns its attention to Wake Forest. The Tigers will kick it off with the Deamon Deacons at 12 noon on Saturday in their second straight road tilt before returning to the friendly confines of Death Valley.
