Well Tiger fans, I am sure Saturday’s 24-20 victory over Pitt was much closer than you would have liked for it to be. The main thing is still the main thing: Clemson won and still has a chance to play for an ACC Title, no matter how slim those chances may be. However, there is much more than that to unpack from this one.
This game was a microcosm of Clemson’s season. Cade Klubnik had some of the best drives of the season and also some of his worst. The Clemson front four was as good as we have seen them, but the secondary did not play well. Everything was up and down for the Tigers all afternoon, just like it has been all 2024.
Cade is obviously the hero from Saturday. His game-winning 50-yard rushing touchdown was one of the single best plays we have watched out of any Tiger this year. He turned a QB draw that was designed to pick up a first down into a touchdown. It was reminiscent of Tahj Boyd in the Orange Bowl against Ohio State or Trevor Lawrence’s big run against OSU in the Fiesta Bowl a few years back. Add Klubnik’s agile game-winner to the list.
However, Cade also had some very bad drives. He was 3-11 through the air at one point in the second half. The Tigers could not move the football att all in the third quarter and early fourth. Phil Mafah was a non-factor, so the offense was dependent upon the arm and legs of their QB. Klubnik was sacked five times, as blame could fall both on the offensive line and their quarterback. On the same note, of Klubnik’s 288 passing yards, 149 of those was hauled in by Antonio Williams. The pros and cons, just like most of the year, were evenly distributed out among the offense.
Defensively, progress is being made. However, let’s start out with the negatives. Pitt RB Desmond Reid was able to get loose a lot against the Tigers. He had a lot of chunk plays that Clemson did a horrible job of tackling. However, the Tigers took away the Pitt run game for the most part in the second half and forced 54 pass attempts from backup QB Nate Yarnell.
Yarnell, a junior who has played sporadically during his time at Pitt, was better than I thought. Clemson sacked him EIGHT times, but when he had time, Yarnell was able to drive the ball down the field. The Tigers secondary played far from their best football, but still played good enough to win.
Now, the biggest positive from the day was the Clemson front seven. This was the single best performance from this group all year. TJ Parker was unreal. He had four sacks but got to the QB a lot more than that. The Tigers had eight sacks and 16 tackles for a loss. RJ Mickens wreaked a lot of havoc in the backfield as well, as this was the Clemson Defense we expect to see on Saturdays.
All in all, Clemson survived. The offense was good until it wasn’t, and then Cade saved the day. The defense was great all day, but the secondary was exposed a couple of times. Clemson fans need to be rooting against SMU and Miami for the final two weeks of the season to keep their ACC Championship hopes alive. Things may look bleak, but if this season of college football has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected.
