The Clemson Tigers recorded their fourth straight win of the season over the Florida State Seminoles last Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium. Here are the grades for the Clemson offense, which are split up by position groups.
Quarterback: A-
Once again, Cade Klubnik continues to play at an elite level with another great performance against the Seminoles. Following the game, he said that he played an “A-” or “B+” game, so that was agreed on.
When Klubnik had the protection, he was able to let the ball fly. While there were more shorter passes and screens than what fans have seen in recent games, there was great command behind center once again, despite it being a hostile environment. The team began the game with a three-and-out, where the junior was a little bit shaky. After that, it mirrored a lot of the command of what the team has seen in Clemson’s recent successes.
Continuously, Klubnik has used his legs to extend plays, which was something that was great to see. Adding 62 yards of his own on 11 carries, adding this dynamic to his game is something that will continue for the Clemson offense to continue drives. Adding this aspect to his game has been something we have all been waiting for since he committed to Clemson as the top ranked dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2022, and we are finally beginning to see it.
One of the only other things that brought down this grade was the red zone offense. While the whole offense takes the blame for this, there could have been other things done to prevent kicker Nolan Hauser from bailing the team out of this game.
Running back: A
We have been waiting to see the usage that Phil Mafah had in Clemson’s five-game winning streak to conclude the 2023 season, and we finally got that last Saturday night.
Florida State was notoriously known for its opponent’s running back’s success, and fans saw that once again with Mafah, who averaged 6.2 yards per carry. While the 2024 season has been headlined by the Clemson passing offense, where many have seen the infamous Garrett Riley Air Raid offense, this was the first game where we have truly seen a balance between the running and passing offense, with the Tigers using the run more often in the second half on Saturday night.
Mafah manhandled defenders, making many different highlights over the course of the game. He is playing very complimentary to the offensive line and receivers, with the two groups blocking at an elite level to give the senior opportunities to find open space. It almost seemed on several plays he was one tackle away from scoring touchdowns also. This is something to hope for going forward: Mafah’s usage in the win.
Wide Receivers: B+
One thing that has been a pleasure to see out of the wide receiver room has been the usage and the sharing of the ball in the receiver room. Only one receiver had four or more receptions and four receivers had either one or two receptions. Nine different players caught a pass on Saturday night.
The receivers do a great job of finding space on drives, which was seen with the Antonio Williams touchdown to score the first seven points of the game. It was in the red zone where there is a need for a change.
Something that the room needs to work on is the physicality in the red zone. This is a very young group that has beaten secondaries before simply by outplaying them with their talent. Against Georgia, fans saw the Bulldog secondary beat the receivers with their physicality. The same thing was seen, to an extent, with Florida State, who has an excellent secondary.
It will come with time, but if more physicality is seen, where guys like Troy Stellato can thrive, there will be a lot more success in the red zone in the coming weeks, which is something that this team needs to work on if they want to be a national championship contender.
Tight Ends: B
The tight ends did the job. No blocking penalties and several big catches, especially one in particular, were the main reasons for this grab.
The catch by Josh Sapp was the biggest play for the tight ends on Saturday night, which needed immense concentration and turned into a great play for the Tigers. Sapp’s catching ability is something underrated that we have seen over the last two season, and watching his usage as a receiving tight end will be interesting to watch in upcoming weeks.
Olsen Patt-Henry continued his progressions as a great blocker for the tight end spot, and Jake Briningstool had three receptions for 22 yards. Something that could be useful for the Tigers to use in the red zone, if struggles continue, is to put the ball into the senior’s hands. He’s a matchup nightmare for anybody with a 6-foot-6 frame, and jump balls would give him an advantage as well.
Did the job, but nothing out-of-this-world, and that is completely okay given the team being played. A B seems fair.
Offensive Line: A-
Something that has been interesting to hear over the last 36 hours has been the performance of the offensive line due to the extended pressure that Klubnik had compared to the last games before it. The offensive line continues to perform at an elite level.
No lineman had more than three pressures (Linthicum had three pressures and gave up the only sack) and there were no penalties again on the starting offensive line. Viewers could tell that Klubnik had a lot of time in the pocket at times, and when the blitz came, the junior was able to recognize it and execute quickly.
Regardless of the performance by the line, there were many opportunities that were allowed by the line. Klubnik found openings with his legs and Mafah did as well. The outside blocking did a great job with the jet sweeps as well, and how the line was able to communicate in an away environment, in Clemson’s first true away game, was great to see as well.
