Grading Clemson's Loss to Georgia

The players and coaches had nine months to try to correct some of the issues that reared their face in the loss to Ohio State. While some of them were significantly better, some took major steps backward

The 2021 season was supposed to be a fresh start. Instead, it offered back-to-back disappointing performances for this Clemson football team.

The players and coaches had nine months to try to correct some of the issues that reared their face in the loss to Ohio State. While some of them were significantly better, some took major steps backward

Quarterback: D.J. Uiagalelei looked shaky at best in his third career start. He had happy feet, a result of the offensive line that we will address, but still took too many sacks, locked in on a single receiver, missed wide-open running lanes and could not get on the same page as his receivers

"I thought he responded in the last quarter and a half and put us in position to score. There were a couple of things on critical third downs where we weren't on the same page between quarterback and receivers, and that can cause a quarterback to start pressing," offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said.

Elliott continued, "When we look at the film, D.J. will see some opportunities to step up in the pocket. He'll learn when he can throw the ball away just to get us to the next play. Right now things look correctable. We'll get better with our timing."

.....C

Running Back: The Tigers were never going to be able to line up and run the ball right at the Bulldog defense, but there were some bright spots. Will Shipley flashed his ability to be special in the passing game, while not being scared to put his head down and go straight at the defense. Lyn-J Dixon, who sat out the first three quarters due to a disciplinary issue, flashed and showed a spark with his speed when he finally entered the game in the fourth quarter. 

"Take out the sacks, we had around 3.0 yards per carry. Biggest thing was just not being able to establish any kind of overall rhythm to get to any kind of run game," Elliott said.

..... B-

Wide Receivers: The return of Justyn Ross did not pan out the way he had hoped, as he amassed only four catches for 26 yards, and a misplay on a slant resulted in the game-winning pick-6 for the Bulldogs. However, Joseph Ngata had a career game, as he led the Tigers with six catches for 110 yards—including a 44-yard catch-and-run.

"There were a couple situations where we had some option routes and things (receivers) could do differently, and we weren't on the same page there. You have to work through things as you go through the season from a timing (standpoint). There were a couple of times from a progression standpoint where we didn't start the progression where we needed to. Right after the turnover, I put them in a tough spot; looked down at the call sheet and saw it but then called it the wrong way and put them in a tough situation and that resulted in the sack," Elliott said. 

..... B

Offensive Line: After hearing all offseason and preseason about the chip on this unit's shoulder after the loss to the Buckeyes, the Bulldogs took that chip and threw it on the ground and stomped on it. The Bulldog defensive front just had their way with the Tigers and was able to consistently push the line of scrimmage backward. The run blocking was poor, but even the pass protection was even worse. The Tigers allowed seven sacks against the Bulldogs, after allowing 20 all of last season.

"Disappointed we didn't play better, but again UGA is a great front," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "There is no question we have to do a better job. Tough challenge out of the gate— we started a true freshman at left guard. There is going to be some good and bad on tape. We have to do a better job as coaches of putting them in a better position to succeed as well."

..... F

Defense (As a whole unit): The Tigers had nine months to wash the taste of their last performance out of their mouth, and boy did they.

The Tiger defense came out angry, hit hard, played with aggression, speed, all while holding the Bulldogs to 256 yards, had an interception and made J.T. Daniels look exactly like what everyone thought he was—pedestrian.

The Tiger defense allowed only three points and gave the Tigers every chance to tie the game or even win the game. This game was not on them. This is a bad group of defenders.

“Just proud of our guys, how they responded from the end of last year,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “They responded tonight to adverse conditions and some tough situations. Just love the leadership, the grit, the toughness that they showed, discipline. We’ll get better from it.”

....A+