Clemson Holds Off Georgia Tech: Position Grades 

A game that many expected to be over quickly saw not only a weather delay but Clemson seem to be in a delay on offense throughout much of the game.

The Tigers allowed a very overmatched Georgia Tech team to hang around and get a chance at tying things up at the end of the game.

Fortunately the defense bailed out the offense with a late goal line stand and Clemson was able to come away with a 14-8 win to move to 2-1 on the season.

Position Grades

Quarterback: Quarterback play, once again, wasn’t the best. DJ Uiagalelei continues to baffle those that still remember how he played against Boston College and Notre Dame last year. Again, he overthrew wide open guys and wasn’t consistently accurate. Now into the third game of the season he’s still struggling with touch on his passes.

In the second half he did show more life and more glimpses of what he can do but the questions remains. No matter how you want to look at it, right now the Tigers aren’t getting enough from the QB position… D

Running Back: Both scores came on the back of freshman running back Will Shipley. He showed that he is special and put the ACC on notice Saturday that he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. He’s now separated himself, by far, from Kobe Pace and Lyn J Dixon.

Shipley had the most yards on the ground for the running backs with 88 yards, while Pace ended up with 13 and Dixon had 11. Shipley’s one mistake came on the Clemson’s last offensive play from scrimmage when he fumbled the ball in his own end zone causing a safety with seven seconds left in the game… B–

Wide Receiver: Another game that this group and Uiagalelei did not seem to be on the same page for the majority of the game and thats really concerning. Justyn Ross led the team with 61 yards on seven catches while Joseph Ngata ended the game with 25 yards on his two receptions. This group has the ability to be one of the greatest the Tigers have ever had, according to Dabo Swinney, but to do that they have to find a way to get on the same page with Uiagalelei… C

Offensive Line: This group continues to be a very weak link for this team. they did give the offense a chance to rush for a total of 158 yards and and the only two touchdowns in the game but, keep in mind, that this was against a defense that was only rushing three. Many want to talk about Uiagalelei’s play and it has not been good but that is not being helped by horrible protection up front. Their grade for this game… D

Tight End: Davis Allen again led the way with 13 yards on his two receptions while Braden Galloway had one catch for one yard. Galloway also had one drop in the second half that would have turned the drive into a short yardage situation and helped out tremendously. They looked good overall blocking as well… C

Special Teams: Special team was again well utilized. Will Taylor continues to bring another dimension to this group that has not been seen in a while. Will Spiers’ services were helpful, while BT Potter’s strong leg was again on display. Especially, after the safety at the end of the game. Potter then kicked off and caused the Yellow Jackets to fair catch the ball around their 20 yard line… A

Defensive Line: This group continues to be an unmovable force. Bryan Besee showed exactly why he came in so highly ranked as he continues to prove that he is one of the better, young DTs in the country. This front four is leading the way on the defensive side of the ball. The only thing that needs to be of concern here is whether they can get more help from their offense so they don’t get too worn out by the end of the game… A+

Linebackers: Another game where James Skalski led the way and seemed to be anywhere the ball was and had nine total tackles (four solo). LaMonta Bentley showed out in his first start. The one negative was Trenton Simpson getting ejected in the first half for targeting… B

Cornerbacks: As usual, defensive coordinator Brent Venables’ corners played tight coverage throughout most of the game. There were a couple passes completed downfield, but not enough to cause concern. Andrew Booth Jr and Mario Goodrich both made some good plays and tackles. The Yellow Jackets had the ball deep in the Tigers Territory twice in the second half at the end of the game when it was obvious that they would be passing the ball but never had a pass completed in the end zone… A

Safety: It was good to see Nolan Turner back in the lineup, as he had three tackles (2 solo) in the game. Andrew Mukuba again seemed to be all over the field and continues to prove how great he is as a freshman. For him, the sky is the limit… B+