Clemson Knocks Off Iowa State 20-13 In Cheez-It Bowl: Rapid Reactions

CJ_Cribb

4 years ago

Rapid Reactions:

First things first. The defense appears to be in good hands with Wesley Goodwin. The Tigers were as aggressive as ever, holding the Cyclones to under 300 total yards.
The run defense was extremely stout. Iowa State never even bothered much with trying to establish a ground game. The Cyclones rushed for just 66 yards on the night.
What a shame that James Skalski’s career ended with him watching from the sideline. Well, not just watching, but also coaching. Whether he plays in the NFL or not, that guy has coach written all over him.
Keith Maguire was lights out in place of Skalski. Maybe the best game of his career. Him, Trenton Simpson, Jeremiah Trotter Jr and Barrett Carter are going to make one very, very good group of linebackers and we got a sneak peak at that tonight.
Will Shipley doesn’t run like a freshman. He has the field vision and patience of a veteran back. He wasn’t perfect, though. He did have a couple of drops and there was also one play in which DJ Uiagalelei was scrambling and Shipley just didn’t realize he needed to come back to his quarterback. All minor stuff that is easily corrected with more experience.
Speaking of Uiagalelei, that was his best game of the season. 21-32 for 187 yards and he should have had four more completions easily, but didn’t due to drops. He did have the one interception, though and it was a bad one.
Uiagalelei absolutely didn’t live up to the hype this season. Never came close to resembling the quarterback we saw in 2020. No one knows all the reasons why but one of those reasons is because the kid is just plain beat up. Has been all season, and the longer the season went on the more beat up he was.
The offense opened the game with a 15-play scoring drive. Then put together a 14-play drive to end the first half and had another 16-play drive on their first possession of the third quarter. That is getting it done. All the way from the play calling to the execution.
Speaking of play calling, already seeing people kill Brandon Streeter online. All I can say to that is football is a very complex sport. Instead of crying about play calls, first ask yourself why that call might have been made in the first place.
Dacari Collins qietly had a solid night, catching six passes.
The win gives the Tigers a tenth win for the eleventh straight season, placing Clemson alongside Florida State (14 from 1987-2000) and Alabama (14 from 2008-21) as the only programs to ever accomplish the feat.