Notable PFF grades, snap counts for Clemson in loss to Gamecocks

Sammy Brown was one of the standout performers on defense, despite being limited to under 40 snaps.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Monday, December 02 2024

Taking a deeper look at who played and what kind of performance they put on the board out of the 17-14 loss to South Carolina.

Clemson-South Carolina breakdown

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. Redshirt counts now are lifted with post-regular season play. Everyone can play who was planning to redshirt.

(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. They are not an end-all, be-all, but one tool to evaluate the game.)

Offense

QB: Cade Klubnik 72 snaps (797 on the season), Christopher Vizzina NS (85), Trent Pearman NS (17), Paul Tyson NS (4).

PFF grade notes: Klubnik’s overall grade was in the middle of the pack of his season (73.6), but he had his second-lowest big-time throw percentage (2.6; 1 in 36 passes). He was under pressure a season-low 15% of his snaps but threw the game-sealing interception in that situation.

In plays categorized as play action, Klubnik completed 5-of-5 throws for 112 yards in six dropbacks. In Clemson’s last Power 4 matchup at Pitt there, Klubnik had ten completions in 17 dropbacks with 140 passing yards and two touchdowns. Both of those games featured eight throws of 20+ yards and three completions.

RB: Phil Mafah 61 (645), Jay Haynes 11 (128), Keith Adams Jr. ST (73), Jarvis Green ST (15), David Eziomume NS (26; three games of four for redshirt).

PFF grade notes: Mafah fumbled for just the second time this season but a second time in three games, posting a season-low yards after contact per rush (2.16; min. five rushes), with a single 10+ yard run. His four lowest grades have all come in a row with VT (60.4), Pitt (53.3), The Citadel (58.3; only three run attempts) and South Carolina (57.3).

WR: Antonio Williams 67 (592), Bryant Wesco 65 (379), T.J. Moore 58 (446), Cole Turner 7 (254), Adam Randall 4 (224), Misun Kelley 4 (80), Hampton Earle ST (42), Noble Johnson NS (50), Tyler Brown* NS (70).

PFF grade notes: Moore, Wesco and Williams each caught three passes for first downs, with Williams leading the way with four missed tackles forced and 41 yards after catch. The trio were the only wide receivers targeted on the game (27 of the 34 targets).

TE: Jake Briningstool 53 (597), Olsen Patt-Henry 23 (252), Josh Sapp NS (107), Christian Bentancur ST (17; three games), Markus Dixon NS (29).

PFF grade notes: Neither Tiger tight end to see offensive action graded above 55 (54.8 for Briningstool; 54.3 for Patt-Henry). Briningstool hauled in all three targets his way for 35 yards.

OL: Ryan Linthicum 72 (840), Blake Miller 72 (802), Tristan Leigh 72 (619), Marcus Tate 56 (522), Walker Parks 48 (608), Harris Sewell 40 (495), Chapman Pendergrass ST (39), Ronan O'Connell ST (7; four games), Mason Wade NS (29; three games).

PFF grade notes: Miller graded out best in the group (69.8), which saw some struggles grades-wise in the three-way interior rotation with Sewell (54.8), Tate (51.7) and Parks (43). Sewell was knocked in pass blocking (22.7) and Parks was an offensive starter low in grading (43; 42.6 run blocking; 47.3 pass blocking).

PFF unit performance grades: Offense - 59.8; Passing - 69.4; Pass blocking - 64.2; Receiving - 57.6; Running - 68.6; Run blocking - 47.2.

Defense

DL: T.J. Parker 51 (483), Cade Denhoff 47 (280), Peter Woods 44 (278), Payton Page 44 (466), A.J. Hoffler 22 (226), Stephiylan Green 16 (276), Tré Williams 13 (278), DeMonte Capehart* 7 (205), Jahiem Lawson 5 (324), Hevin Brown-Shuler NS (49; at redshirt count for games), Champ Thompson NS (41; two games), Darien Mayo NS (33; three games), Vic Burley NS (84), Armon Mason NS (93), Zaire Patterson NS (26), Caden Story NS (56).

PFF grade notes: Parker was again a bright spot in an otherwise tough day for the Clemson defense, with a 78.2 grade, three pressures and four stops. On the low side, Page was one of two sub-50 grades for a starter (48.3), with four missed tackles attributed to him. Capehart played his first snaps since early November vs. Louisville but less than double-digit plays (7).

LB: Barrett Carter 63 (675), Wade Woodaz 63 (544), Sammy Brown 36 (294), Jamal Anderson ST (78), Dee Crayton ST (154), Drew Woodaz NS (14; two games), C.J. Kubah-Taylor NS (7; two games).

PFF grade notes: PFF credited Clemson’s defense with 24 missed tackles on Saturday, and two of the top three offenders there were in the linebacker group with Woodaz (4) and Carter (3). Carter suffered a starter-low 37 grade, while Brown was on the high end with a 74.2 mark, 82.5 tackling grade and three stops in a little more than half of the snaps of his LB starter teammates. Returning from missing two games with a leg bruise, Woodaz was one of four starters to rate below 55 on the grading scale (54), with a 27.7 tackling grade, but he did have a defense-best five stops.

DB: Avieon Terrell 64 (654), Khalil Barnes 63 (655), R.J. Mickens* 62 (587), Ashton Hampton 36 (328), Jeadyn Lukus 26 (495), Kylon Griffin 22 (354), Shelton Lewis 10 (185), Ricardo Jones ST (146), Rob Billings ST (31), Ronan Hanafin ST (87), Tyler Venables ST (160), Corian Gipson ST (14; four games), Kylen Webb NS (25), Sherrod Covil NS (123), Branden Strozier NS (73), Noah Dixon NS (6; two games), Tavoy Feagin NS (11; two games), Joe Wilkinson NS (3; two games).

PFF grade notes: Mickens and Griffin had multiple missed tackles (2 each), but they were in different areas in overall grade (70.8 for Mickens; 53.4 for Griffin). In his second start, Hampton had a season-low grade (53.5).

PFF unit performance grades: Defense - 57; Run defense - 58.5; Tackling - 29.5; Pass rush - 54.6; Coverage - 56.5.

Players noted as out for the season: OL Ian Reed, DB Myles Oliver, OL Watson Young, LB Kobe McCloud, OL Dietrick Pennington, OL Collin Sadler, Elyjah Thurmon, WR Troy Stellato, OL Trent Howard.