Clemson Tigers' PFF Grades and Snap Counts From Their Week 2 Win Against Georgia Southern

The Clemson Tigers bounced back from their Week 1 blowout against No. 7 LSU by taking down Georgia Southern, 22-7, in the team’s home-opener this past Saturday.

The contest was not pretty whatsoever, as only two touchdowns were scored all game. However, the Tigers found a way to win thanks to a defense that allowed just 22 total rushing yards and kicker Nolan Hauser, who accounted for 15 (five field goals) of Clemson’s 22 total points.

That said, let’s take a look at the PFF grades for each player who saw action yesterday; snap counts will be in parentheses next to the player grades.

Offense

WR Tyler Brown: 71.1 (56)
WR T.J. Moore: 70.3 (78)
RB Gideon Davidson: 62.9 (41)
WR Bryant Wesco Jr.: 61.0 (75)
OG Gavin Blanchard: 60.3 (25)
TE Logan Brooking: 60.0 (2)
OL Dietrick Pennington: 60.0 (1)
OG Elyjah Thurmon: 59.9 (54)
OG Ronan O’Connell: 59.9 (71)
WR Gordon Sellars III: 59.6 (2)
OG Grant Wise: 58.2 (8)
C Harris Sewell: 56.7 (79)
OT Brayden Jacobs: 56.3 (79)
RB Jarvis Green: 55.5 (13)
TE Christian Bentancur: 55.3 (35)
WR JuJu Preston: 55.0 (10)
QB Tait Reynolds: 54.8 (67)
RB Chris Johnson Jr.: 54.6 (26)
TE Olsen Patt-Henry: 54.2 (56)
QB Christopher Vizzina: 53.5 (12)
OT Collin Sadler: 53.3 (79)

For the second week in a row, the Clemson offense struggled heavily. The bright spots throughout the contest were definitely the wideouts, with T.J. Moore logging seven receptions for 103 yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile, Tyler Brown impressed with some tough catches, totaling four receptions for 44 yards. Bryant Wesco Jr. had some drops but wasn’t necessarily bad, snagging six catches for 35 yards.

Outside of that, though, it was pretty rough as the offensive line struggled heavily once again — even with fifth-year Collin Sadler back — allowing 11 tackles for a loss and six penalties. Sophomore running back Gideon Davidson was underwhelming outside of a 21-yard run in garbage time. If it weren’t for that play, he would’ve had 13 carries for just 41 yards, which is a 3.15-yard average. Despite his grade, SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr. played much better than Week 1, totaling 53 yards on just seven touchdowns out of the backfield (7.6 yards per carry).

True freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds also played a majority of the game due to an elbow injury redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina suffered in the first quarter. There were multiple positives but also plenty of negatives that came with his 216-yard performance. Heading into ACC play next week, he’s expected to make his first career start against North Carolina.

All this to say, the offense has been absolutely awful through the first two weeks. To put things in perspective, the Tigers rank in the bottom five nationally in total offense, have totaled fewer than 500 yards, are averaging under five yards per play and have scored just two offensive touchdowns. There’s going to have to be massive changes if the program even wants to put up a fight during conference play.

Nevertheless, I don’t expect much to change depth-chart-wise, aside from the team continuing to rotate guys on the offensive line — possibly having players explore different positions on the line — and Reynolds now being the starter.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Johnson Jr. starts to get more touches out of the backfield next week, either.

Defense

CB Ashton Hampton: 81.9 (69)
LB Sammy Brown: 78.2 (55)
DE London Merritt: 75.6 (28)
DE Will Heldt: 74.3 (32)
DE Jahiem Lawson: 73.8 (40)
CB Branden Strozier: 73.1 (7)
S Ronan Hanafin: 70.7 (47)
LB CJ Kubah-Taylor: 70.0 (10)
CB Corian Gipson: 70.0 (44)
DT Devarrick Woods: 69.0 (28)
S Jerome Carter III: 68.3 (65)
LB Fletcher Cothran: 65.0 (16)
LB Kobe McCloud: 64.6 (6)
S Corey Myrick: 63.2 (59)
DE Darien Mayo: 60.9 (30)
DT Andy Burburija: 60.3 (25)
DL Caden Story: 60.3 (21)
DT Dietrick Pennington: 58.9 (2)
LB Jeremiah Alexander: 58.4 (38)
DE CJ Wesley: 57.2 (4)
DE Armon Mason: 57.2 (8)
DE Ari Watford: 56.9 (7)
DT Champ Thompson: 53.2 (22)
CB Elliot Washington II: 53.1 (64)
DT Amare Adams: 49.6 (33)
CB Misun Kelley: 43.4 (10)

As mentioned, the defense was one of two strong suits in the home-opener alongside the Hauser-led special teams.

After allowing over 300 rushing yards against LSU, the edge rushers came to play, with Will Heldt and Jahiem Lawson combining for 3.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks while allowing just 22 rushing yards on 18 carries. London Merritt also played well in limited action again and almost even snagged an interception early in the third quarter.

The defensive tackles, on the other hand, continued to struggle outside of Texas State transfer Devarrick Woods, who recorded two defensive stops on the night. It’s clear that Clemson’s weakness comes at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and if neither improves moving forward, it’s going to be a long season.

Outside of a trip-up by Elliot Washington — which was also on Ronan Hanafin — that led to a 42-yard touchdown, the secondary played up to par. More specifically, junior Ashton Hampton excelled, accumulating three pass breakups, with one being a near-interception.

Heading into Week 3 vs. North Carolina, I don’t expect much to change on the defensive side of the ball after a performance like Saturday.

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