Football
DJ TAKES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD AS NO.4 CLEMSON BEATS FURMAN 35-12 IN DEATH VALLEY
- 2022-09-11 12:30:46
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CLEMSON, SC - The offense got off to a better start against Furman than it did in the opener against Georgia Tech, scoring a touchdown on the opening possession to the delight of the Death Valley crowd. You might say they picked up where they left off because the offense scored 27 unanswered points in the second half in Atlanta, followed by 28 points in the first half against Furman.
The defense allowed a lot more yards and first downs than anyone was expecting, although they stiffened in the red zone and allowed just 12 points. The backups even came up with a goal line stand in the 4th quarter to get a turnover on downs. Also, Fred Davis had a nice game with a TFL and a fumble recovery that was forced by Malcolm Greene. Barrett Carter followed up his great game last week with his firs career interception. However, Wes Goodwin and any of the players would tell you that they are disappointed with their overall effort on Saturday. I can't remember the last time they allowed a team to convert 10 of 18 third downs, let alone an FCS team like Furman. Give the Paladins credit, though, they have a good team and might win the So-Con. That quarterback is a player. But the Tigers still should have been more dominant and made better adjustments. They were burned time after time with the screen plays, particularly when blitzing on 3rd and long. Thanks to all those screens, the defense only had 2 sacks, although they had 9 tackles-for-loss. The good news is that it will humble the defense a little bit and give them plenty to work on and improve next week. If they had shut Furman out like I predicted, there is little room for improvement. Incidentally, Tyler Davis did not play because he was a little banged up last week, so that didn't help matters. Dabo said he will be fine, but they just wanted to rest him.
Enough of the defensive "struggles." The big takeaway from the game is that DJ took another step in the right direction with probably his best game since he was a freshman in 2020. He was 21-27 for 231 yards and 2 TD's! And those numbers should have been even better, but his receivers dropped a couple passes again. He did post his first interception of the season, but it was an unlucky deflection. He made a few sensational, NFL caliber throws like the scramble drill pass to Beaux Collins in the corner of the end zone and the throw across his body, rolling right, to Antonio Williams in the middle of the field for 23 yards. It was Beaux's second straight game with a touchdown in which he broke off his route in the scramble drill. The sophomore seems to have made a leap from the neck up, as is often the case from freshman to sophomore, and he and his former high school teammate, DJ, seem to really be on the same wave length. Ngata made a big play and came up just short of a touchdown, which was good to see after he had just one catch for 7 yards in the opener. Sophomore Jake Briningstool caught his second career touchdown, and Davis Allen made another big catch on a seam route. DJ also continued to show his improved athleticism thanks to the lost weight, making a few big plays with his legs like he did in the opener.
The running game was not spectacular, but they got the job done. Shipley rushed for 2 touchdowns for the second straight game and had 68 yards on 10 carries. Pace had 25 yards and his first TD of the season on 6 carries, and Mafah had 20 yards on 5 carries. The offensive line has done a nice job protecting DJ and giving him a pocket, allowing just one sack in each of the first 2 games, but I'd like to see them do a little bit better job with their run blocking and opening up running lanes.
Cade came into the game late in the second quarter to a big ovation, but he didn't have the fast success that he did in his Atlanta debut. He picked up just one first down on a run by Pace and had a three-and-out on his other series in the 4th quarter. I tried to explain to people that just because he had a great first series, that doesn't mean you overreact and replace DJ. Cade is going to be a great one, no doubt, but he still has a lot of learning to do, as any freshman quarterback does, and DJ has shown a ton of improvement from this time last year.
Keep in mind that the team was playing on unusually short rest after getting back from Atlanta early Tuesday morning. And they were playing with heavy hearts, as they were honoring Bryan Bresee's 15-year-old sister, Ella, who had a last-minute set back in her fight with brain cancer and had to return to the hospital instead of attending the game as planned. She spoke with the team and spent a few days with them, and they wore "E11A STRONG" T-shirts during Tiger Walk instead of their usual suits and ties to show their love and support for the Bresee family. Ella was also named an honorary captain for the game. Dabo was wearing the shirt in his post-game press conference rather than his usual suit and tie. We spoke with Bresee after the game as well as Barrett Carter, who spoke tenderly about how much they all care for Ella and the Bresee family. It's really touching how the team has put their arms around them! Dabo spoke very eloquently about the situation and how special and unique Clemson is and the "Clemson Family." If you don't watch his entire press conference below, you should at least watch the last 5 to 10 minutes!
On a lighter note, the "DaboTron" had a successful debut. You can see it in action on my game thread HERE. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the features in full force during next week's night game against Louisiana Tech! Especially the spotlights on Howard's Rock and The Hill as the team makes its famous entrance.
I'll have more after I watch the replay. In the meantime, post-game interviews, highlights and notes are below!
WITH THE WIN....
- Clemson earned its eighth straight victory, dating to last season, the longest active winning streak in the Power Five.
- Clemson won its 19th straight home debut. The win extended Clemson’s longest winning streak in home openers all-time, ahead of its 17 from 1944-60.
- Clemson improved to 97-17-8 in home openers.
- Clemson won its 35th consecutive home game to extend its school record for both the longest home winning streak and longest home unbeaten streak in school history.
- Clemson’s 35-game home winning streak is the nation’s longest home winning streak. No member of Clemson’s roster has lost a home game at Clemson in their careers.
- Clemson (35) tied the 2006-11 Boise State Broncos for the 14th-longest home winning streak in FBS history. Clemson’s streak is only the 15th home winning streak of 35 games or more in FBS history and pulls Clemson within two games of the ACC record (Florida State, 37 from 1992-2001).
- Clemson is now a national-best 54-1 at home in the College Football Playoff era (since 2014).
- Clemson won its 25th consecutive non-conference home game. Clemson’s active 25-game non-conference winning streak at home is the longest such winning streak in program history, as Clemson’s last home loss in non-conference play was in 2012.
- Clemson improved to 35-3 against non-conference opponents at Death Valley under Dabo Swinney.
- Clemson improved to 44-10-4 against Furman all-time. Clemson’s 44 all-time wins against Furman are fourth-most against a single opponent in Clemson history
- Clemson won its 32nd consecutive contest against Furman and extended its unbeaten streak against the Paladins to 33 consecutive games. The last tie between the two teams occurred in 1937, and the most recent Furman victory in the series came during the 1936 campaign. Clemson’s 32-game winning streak against Furman is its longest winning streak — both active and all-time — against any opponent.
- Clemson won its 22nd consecutive home game against Furman to add to its longest single-opponent home winning streak in school history, which dates to 1938 and predates the opening of Memorial Stadium in 1942.
- Clemson improved to 37-0 against Football Championship Subdivision teams since the NCAA formed the division prior to the 1978 season.
- Clemson improved to 119-13 against AP-unranked teams under Dabo Swinney. Clemson is now 96-3 against unranked teams since the start of the 2012 season.
- Clemson improved to 27-2 in September games since 2015.
- Clemson improved to 29-6 under Dabo Swinney in games in which the Tigers enter ranked lower in the AP Poll than they did in its previous contest. Clemson dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 in the most recent poll following a 31-point road win in conference play in the season opener.
- Clemson is now 68-4 when scoring first since 2015.
- Clemson has now won 98 of its last 100 games, including each of its last 61, when leading at halftime.
- Clemson improved to 120-2 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.
- Clemson now has a 118-2 record when totaling more first downs than its opponent since 2011 and has won its last 58 such contests.
- Clemson has now won 99 of its last 100 games when holding teams under 23 points (dates to 2010), including 89 straight prior to a season-opening 10-3 loss to Georgia in 2021.
- Clemson won its 35th consecutive game against unranked opponents when ranked in the AP Top 5, the longest active streak in college football according to ESPN Stats & Info.
GAME NOTES
- Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei completed 21-of-27 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns for a pass efficiency rating of 166.7. He also rushed five times for 36 yards.
- Uiagalelei’s 166.7 passer rating was a career high, surpassing his 164.7 rating at Notre Dame in 2020.
- Other than a 1-for-1 passing performance against Virginia in 2020, Uiagalelei’s 77.8 percent completion percentage on Saturday was the highest of his career.
- Uiagalelei threw multiple touchdown passes in a game for the fifth time in his career.
- Clemson scored a touchdown on each of the first five drives led by Uiagalelei. Those five drives covered 346 combined yards in 41 total plays.
- Running back Will Shipley rushed 10 times for 68 yards with two touchdowns.
- Shipley has now rushed for multiple touchdowns in consecutive games for the second time in his career (2021 vs. SC State and Georgia Tech).
- Shipley now has six career games with multiple rushing touchdowns, tied with Wayne Gallman for the third-most by a Clemson player in the last 10 seasons. He has scored multiple touchdowns in half of his 12 career games.
- Clemson opened the scoring on a one-yard touchdown run by Shipley on the game’s opening possession.
- Shipley has rushed for a touchdown in five consecutive games, dating to last season. His active streak represents Clemson’s longest since Travis Etienne rushed for a touchdown in seven straight games in 2020.
- Shipley added a 17-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter.
- Tight end Jake Briningstool recorded his first touchdown of the season on a two-yard pass from Uiagalelei on Clemson’s second possession.
- The touchdown was Briningstool’s second of his career and his first since Nov. 13, 2021 vs. UConn.
- Clemson scored touchdowns on its opening three possessions of a game for the first time since Clemson’s second game of the 2021 season against SC State.
- Running back Kobe Pace recorded his first rushing touchdown of the season — the seventh of his career — to complete a nine-play, 75-yard drive in 1:27 of game play in a two-minute situation to end the first half.
- Wide receiver Beaux Collins led Clemson with 57 yards on four receptions and a touchdown.
- Collins recorded his second touchdown of the season — the fifth of his career — on a nine-yard pass from Uiagalelei in the third quarter.
- Collins has now caught a touchdown in consecutive games for the first time since a three-game streak against Louisville, UConn and Wake Forest last season.
- Clemson reached the 30-point mark for the seventh time in an eight-game span, dating to last season. Clemson has averaged 34.8 points during its current eight-game winning streak.
- Clemson recorded the game’s first takeaway in the second quarter when cornerback Malcolm Greene forced a fumble that was recovered by cornerback Fred Davis II.
- The forced fumble and fumble recovery were the first in the careers of Greene and Davis, respectively.
- Linebacker Barrett Carter recorded his first career interception in the third quarter.
- With Carter’s pick, Clemson intercepted a pass in a sixth consecutive game for the first time since a six-game streak late in the 2019 season.
- Defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro recorded his first sack of the season on Clemson’s first defensive possession. It was Orhorhoro’s first sack since Nov. 13, 2021 vs. UConn.
- Linebacker LaVonta Bentley added his first sack of the season in the fourth quarter, pushing his career total to 5.5.
- With two sacks in the contest, Clemson became the first program to post multiple sacks in 50 games since 2018.
- Clemson accumulated 306 of its 376 yards in the first half. Clemson has reached 300 yards in 10 consecutive games, dating to last season.
- Clemson recorded 22 first downs to Furman’s 19. During Clemson’s active eight-game winning streak, Clemson has a cumulative +58 edge in first downs.
- Both teams had two turnovers. Clemson finished even or positive in the turnover margin for a sixth straight game, dating to last season, Clemson's first time doing so since a six-game streak early in the 2020 season.
- Clemson played its 122nd home opener in school history in its 127th season, as there were five seasons in which Clemson did not play a game at home.
- Clemson played on a five-day turnaround, its quickest turnaround between games since 2016 when Clemson played a Thursday game against Georgia Tech following a Saturday game against South Carolina State.
- The game was a rematch of the first game in Clemson history. Guided by Head Coach Walter Riggs, Clemson earned a 14-6 road victory against the Furman Purple Hurricane in the Tigers’ gridiron debut on Oct. 31, 1896.
- Captains for the contest were defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro, placekicker B.T. Potter and wide receiver Drew Swinney. Clemson also named Ella Bresee, sister of Bryan Bresee, as an honorary captain as part of the program’s “Ella Strong” game as she continues to battle brain cancer.
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