Position Grades: Clemson-Boston College

If you are a fan of ugly wins, then the Tigers and the Eagles had to have you smiling from ear to ear. The Tigers needed four field goals and three turnovers to secure a victory over the Eagles.

Without further adieu, here are our grades for the Tigers.

Quarterback: D.J. Uiagalelei looked, well he looked about as good as he has looked through the first five games—which is not saying a great deal. He continued to find precision in the passing game, as he threw off his back foot, left his back foot stuck in the ground and did not follow through on numerous passes—which led to missed throws and inaccurate passes.

However, he did show flashes of the Uiagalelei that threw for more than 400 yards against this same Eagles' squad last season.

"We missed a touchdown to Beaux Collins," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "We missed two or three big plays. Joseph Ngata had four catches for 111 yards and probably should have had 200-plus. Some missed throws. The good thing is we were in a position to make them."

"(Uiagalelei's) Just missing it. Just a little off. But it'll come. Same guy that threw for almost 500 last year. It's in there. Just have to keep rolling. If we get where we want to this year, we have to be able to connect on a few more of those," Swinney added.

.....C

Running Back: The running back room has been decimated by injuries and the transfer portal. The Tigers lost Lyn-J Dixon to the portal, starting running back Will Shipley to an injury last week and in Saturday's win, Kobe Pace injured his hand. However, the duo of Pace and true freshman Phil Mafah carried the rock with determination, power and sheer aggression.

The Tiger duo amassed 183 yards, led by Pace's 125. Mafah averaged more than 8 yards per carry and showed why the coaching staff was so high on him throughout fall camp.

..... A

Wide Receivers: The wide receivers played OK. But just OK. Too many times it looks as if the receivers are not on the same page as the quarterback and there is no fight for the ball.

They appear content to catch the ball if it happens and complain about pass interference if it doesn't. This squad appears to miss an alpha dog. A Mike Williams, Tee Higgins, Hunter Renfrow. A guy that is going to catch anything that is thrown near them, and is going to fight with everything for every ball thrown his direction.

..... C

Offensive Line: The offensive line had to do some shuffling with Hunter Rayburn taking over at center, Matt Bockhorst moving back to guard with the injury to Will Putnam. And that shuffling paid off.

The Tigers did not allow a sack (Swinney said the sack on the Tigers' final offensive play was designed to be taken if the pass was not there), amassed more than 200 yards rushing and played as a cohesive unit for the first time all season.

..... B

Defense (As a whole unit): The defense was down Bryan Bresee, Fred Davis, Joseph Charleston, Mario Goodrich and defensive tackle Tre Williams played "banged up, however, they continue to answer the bell every single time.

The defense forced three turnovers–two interceptions and a game-ending fumble recovery. The only issue was the fact that the secondary, that had been so solid through the first four games, was exposed at times–as Dennis Grossel completed 23 of 40 passes for 311 yards.

The Tigers limited the Eagles to only 46 rushing yards, amassed four sacks and nine tackles for loss.

....B

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