Quick Thoughts: Clemson's freshman defenders shine in win over Jackets

The defense harried and harassed Georgia Tech QB Haynes King all afternoon (Photo by Tyler Good).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Nov 11 16:27:28 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The Tigers appear poised to make a late-season run at a better bowl destination than was thought possible a few weeks ago, and it’s the kids who are helping lead the way.

Clemson defeated Georgia Tech 42-21 on a cold, cloudy afternoon in Death Valley Saturday, but it was over long before the final gun, and the final score isn’t indicative of just how dominant the Tigers were. When freshman Shelton Lewis intercepted Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King and returned it 46 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown, the Tigers led 42-7 and were able to play a ton of reserves along the way.

Clemson intercepted King four times, and freshmen recorded all four interceptions. Shelton Lewis, Kylon Griffin, Avieon Terrell, and Khalil Barnes all had picks against King, who entered the contest with ten on the season.

In all, ten freshmen recorded a tackle, with Barnes registering five, including two tackles for loss.

Just how dominant was the defense? Georgia Tech entered the game with the second-best offense in the ACC at 465 yards per game. The Jackets were held to just 254 yards, the second-lowest total of the season (they had 250 against Miami). In Tech’s other games, it recorded yard totals of 488, 578, 474, 380, 417, 452, 635 (against UNC), and 514 (against UVa).

King was 13-of-31 for 129 yards, but most of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the Tigers emptied the bench. The passing yardage was the lowest for Tech this season, and the Jackets recorded their second-lowest output on the ground. But, as mentioned, most of those yards happened after the Tigers went up 42-7. At one point, King had just one yard passing in the second half, and the Jackets had just 100 total yards after three quarters. In all, Clemson sacked King four times, and he was unable to get anything going on the ground and finished with minus-3 yards on 11 carries.

That’s dominant.

The offense did its thing and was 7-of-16 on third down, 4-of-5 on fourth down (the fake punt the lone exception), and scored all four times in the redzone (all four were touchdowns). There was one turnover (a Klubnik interception), but Clemson’s defense quickly returned the favor and ended the Tech drive with an interception of its own to end the threat.

Running back Will Shipley was back and while Mafah carried the load, it was interesting to see Shipley used less as a main back and more as a change-up to Mafah’s style. Shipley’s quick feet led to 77 yards on just 11 carries, including a 36-yard touchdown run. Mafah had 17 carries for 96 yards, and maybe, just maybe, the coaches have figured out how to use the two in tandem.

The 465 yards of total offense was the second-highest total of the season (they had 679 against Charleston Southern) and was the first time breaking 400 yards since gaining 429 against FSU.

Along the offensive line, a combo that seemed to work at times had Tristan Leigh at left tackle, Collin Sadler at left guard, Will Putnam at center, Harris Sewell at right guard, and Blake Miller at right tackle.

In all, a good win, and hopefully for the Tigers, the offense gained some much-needed confidence against a Tech defense that has been less-than-stellar all season. But the defense stood out again, especially the youngsters (with a nod to DeMonte Capehart, who has been playing really well).

The Tigers go for three in a row next week against UNC (3:30 p.m.) in Death Valley.