Clemson's offensive woes at Miami show in PFF grades

Cade Klubnik took his most deep shots of the season, but he also faced the most pressure he has all year at Miami.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Tue Oct 24 14:48:37 GMT-04:00 2023

Taking a look at the playing time and notable Pro Football Focus grades position by position from the 28-20 double OT loss at Miami:

Offense

(The number by a player's name initially is the game's snap count. The snaps are all offensive and defensive snaps and do not count special teams. Snap totals for scholarship players and depth chart members are listed in the feature. The entire participation report is attached below.)

(PFF grades tend to run lower than school grades, so high 80 grades are on the high end, and it's a harsher grade below 60 or so).

PFF unit performance grades: Offense - 65.2; Passing - 66.2; Pass blocking - 51.9; Receiving - 77.5; Running - 49.8; Run blocking - 59.8.

QB: Cade Klubnik 70, Hunter Helms NS, Paul Tyson NS, Christopher Vizzina NS. Notes: With Miami challenging his receivers in man-to-man coverage, Klubnik posted his best yards per attempt average of the season (9) with a season-high nine throws of 20+ yards and completions on three (two of the three being touchdowns) for a 65.4 PFF grade in those passes. Klubnik faced pressure on an incredible 48.8% of his dropbacks (bringing the season average up to 33.6%), with the one interception and just four completions for 77 yards in the situation. With the pocket kept clean, Klubnik hit 14-of-20 throws for 237 yards and both touchdowns for an 86.7 grade.

Adding to the Tigers' turnover woes with a fumble also, Klubnik has a failing PFF grade there (fumbles specifically) in five of the seven starts this season (40.5 vs. Miami; 26.3 vs. Duke the worst).

RB: Will Shipley 54, Phil Mafah 25, Domonique Thomas ST, Keith Adams Jr. NS, Jarvis Green NS, Jay Haynes* NS (did not travel). Notes: Both Shipley (52.6) and Mafah (51.8) posted season lows for run game-grade, and Shipley was tagged with the second-worst starter grade offensively Saturday (50.5).

WR: Tyler Brown 62, Beaux Collins 55, Troy Stellato 40, Antonio Williams* 23, Adam Randall 14, Brannon Spector 6, Hamp Greene 1, Hampton Earle ST, Clay Swinney ST, Ronan Hanafin ST, Noble Johnson NS (did not travel). Notes: Williams returned for those 23 snaps and led the WR group in grade (74.3; second-best overall on offense) before sustaining an injury that will keep him out for multiple games moving forward (toe). Tyler Brown (73.7) and Adam Randall (73.5) also posted solid grades.

TE: Jake Briningstool 48, Sage Ennis 22, Josh Sapp 2, Olsen Patt-Henry NS, Markus Dixon NS (did not travel). Notes: Briningstool made PFF’s national team of the week for a team-best 87 grade, seeing a Clemson TE single-game high in yards (126) with five catches in a career-high ten targets. Ennis led the Clemson offense in run blocking grade (79.4).

OL: Will Putnam 70, Blake Miller 70, Marcus Tate 62, Mitchell Mayes 52, Tristan Leigh 39, Collin Sadler 31, Harris Sewell 17, Trent Howard 9, Ryan Linthicum NS, Dietrick Pennington NS (did not travel), Bryn Tucker NS, Ian Reed NS, Zack Owens NS (did not travel). Notes: Outside of Tate’s effort (74.1 grade), it was not a good night for the Clemson O-line starters, with the next-highest grade being 61.9 (Miller) and the rest 58.4 or lower, with another rough game for Mayes (47.6; 6 pass blocking mark). Even the best reserve lineman grade was sub-50 (Sadler, 49.6). The overall pass-blocking grade (51.9) was the worst since last year's loss to South Carolina (45.4).

Defense

PFF unit performance grades: Defense - 76.4; Run defense - 76.4; Tackling - 77.2; Pass rush - 53.3, Coverage - 82.8.

ED: TJ Parker 61, Justin Mascoll* 32, Cade Denhoff 27, AJ Hoffler 1, Zaire Patterson NS, Jahiem Lawson NS, David Ojiegbe NS. Notes: The Tigers missed Xavier Thomas (one-game suspension for team rules violation), where the pass rush grade was the worst since 2017 (53.3; 2017 vs. NC State, 51.4 in a 38-31 win). Parker and Mascoll tied for the team-best in pressures (2), and there were only five total on the night versus the freshman Miami QB Emory Williams.

DL: Tyler Davis 51, Ruke Orhorhoro 51, Peter Woods 33, Payton Page 23, DeMonte Capehart 14, Caden Story ST, Stephiylan Green NS, Tré Williams* NS (did not travel). Notes: Woods led the Tiger defense with a 77.2 grade, grading at 83.8 in the run game. Davis rated second-best among Clemson D-linemen (74.2).

LB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. 76, Barrett Carter 76, Wade Woodaz 40, Kobe McCloud ST, Jamal Anderson ST, Dee Crayton ST. Notes: Trotter was all over the field with a team-high 11 tackles, giving up three catches, but those only went for 18 yards. Carter was knocked for his run defense (49.3 grade) and his pass rush (50.9) and ended up with his second-worst overall grade this season (59.7). Carter did post the best coverage grade for the defense, however (74.6).

DB: Andrew Mukuba 74, Sheridan Jones 62, Nate Wiggins 55, Jalyn Phillips 55, RJ Mickens 50, Khalil Barnes 11, Toriano Pride 10, Avieon Terrell ST, Shelton Lewis ST, Sherrod Covil ST, Kylon Griffin ST, Jeadyn Lukus NS, Branden Strozier NS, Kylen Webb NS, Rob Billings NS (did not travel), Myles Oliver NS (did not travel), Tyler Venables* NS (did not travel). Notes: Back in the lineup from injury, Wiggins continued to impress with the second-best overall grade (74.6) and solid marks in coverage (72.4) and run defense (75.4). He was targeted six times, and the Hurricanes did register the first TD against him all season – and a first against him since at Florida State last October. With Wiggins back, Pride was limited to 10 snaps after his standout game against Wake Forest, and Lukus did not play at all despite traveling to south Florida.