Clemson Drops Thriller at Georgia Tech 

Clemson starts conference play with a loss to Georgia Tech. It was a thrilling game, but tough to swallow loss.  Georgia Tech’s last-second field goal secured the 24-21 win by the Yellow Jackets. The game went back and forth, especially through the second half.

Georgia Tech, on a national stage, proved it is a legit contender in the ACC. The Tigers, on the other hand, have much to figure out if they want any chance at salvaging the season.

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech

Inconsistent Offense

The Clemson offense continues not to meet expectations. There are bright spots that show the talent is there, but the unit can’t find any consistency.

Bryant Wesco Jr,  had a tremendous day, catching seven passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. Cade Klubnik played well for a majority of the game, finishing with 15 completed passes out of 26 attempts for 207 yards and a touchdown. But two bad turnovers by Klubnik put the Tigers in bad positions.

The biggest cause of the inconsistency, though, is the lack of trust in Adam Randall as the featured ball carrier. Randall ran the ball just 15 times for 80 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 5.4 yards per carry on the day. Why Garrett Riley does not rely on him more to get the offense into a flow is becoming baffling.

The use of Klubnik in the run game was much better today than in the first two weeks. He ran the ball 17 times for 62 yards and a touchdown. It definitely helped him to settle into the game much quicker. Getting Randall more involved, though, will take pressure off Klubnik to have to make every play on offense.

Randall has proven over the last two weeks that he has a ton of potential at running back. He’s shown he is able to carry more of the load on offense. Whenever he gets going the offense starts rolling. A great example is his 30-yard run on third and 22 that set up Clemson’s first score. Riley has to rely more on his running back to get the offense flowing.

Defense is Good but not Dominant

The defense for Clemson has played well, but not dominantly. It was said many times by analyst Louis Riddick during the ESPN broadcast that Dabo Swinney has told his defense that transfer Will Heldt has been the best player thus far. Although it was said for motivational purposes, it is true. Heldt has played spectacularly through his first three games as a Tiger. He’s got 12 total tackles, five tackles for loss, and two sacks in his first three outings.

Sophomore linebacker Sammy Brown has shown out, too, but many of the stars of the Clemson defense are not dominating the way they were expected to. TJ Parker has had a moment here and there, but has not had the stat-stuffing games we’re accustomed to seeing from him. Peter Woods started to shine a bit last week against Troy, but did not do much this afternoon in Atlanta to help in the QB run game.

This was a game where the defensive line especially needed to step up, and they did not do it. Jamal Haynes was bottled up pretty well, but Haynes King had his way against the Clemson defense. He ran the ball 25 times for 103 yards and a touchdown. King also controlled the game through the air, completing 19 passes out of 27 attempts for 216 yards.

This was the game the defense needed to show they are every bit as good as advertised all offseason. They came up short a few too many times.

Reality Check for the Tigers

This is a tough loss for Clemson. Losing to a last-second field goal is hard enough, but adding to the tough start the Tigers already have had this season makes it feel worse.

This loss puts the Tigers on the outside looking in on the playoff conversations for now. They can fight their way back in if they can fix enough of the issues to get through their ACC gauntlet. It is going to take a lot of work, though, after the start of this season.

The Tigers have not lived up to the hype of the offseason, but they can still make something out of the regular season. Swinney needs to find a way to rejuvenate his team to go on a run through the rest of the regular season. There is no more room for error if the Tigers want to make it back to the playoffs.