Thumbs up, thumbs down: Clemson vs. Furman

Thumbs up

Amari Rodgers

Rodgers, a sophomore receiver, made one of the biggest plays of the day replacing former Tiger Ray-Ray McCloud as the primary punt returner when he took a Furman boot 62 yards in the first quarter. Rodgers also led Clemson with 44 yards on three catches and scored the first touchdown of the Tigers’ season on a 40-yard pass from Kelly Bryant.

Lyn-J Dixon

The true freshman saw his first career carry in the second half and took his second handoff 61 yards. The Georgia native led all rushers with 89 yards on just six carries for an average of 14.8 yards per run.

Trevor Lawrence

The freshman quarterback came off the bench to toss three touchdowns and a game-high 137 yards in his first career game. Lawrence completed 60 percent of his passes and averaged 9.1 yards per attempt.

B.T. Potter

The true freshman kicker recorded six touchbacks on seven kickoffs Saturday. He averaged 61.4 yards per kick after easily winning the job in fall camp.

Thumbs down

Clemson on third downs

The Tigers’ offense was just 4-of-12 on third-down conversions against the Paladins. Clemson, which ranked seventh in the country on third-down percentage a year ago, was also 2-of-4 on fourth-down conversions.

Slow-starting offensive line

Taking into consideration the FCS opponent, the Tigers’ front didn’t dominate out of the gate. Clemson had just 30 first-quarter rushing yards, and while Dabo Swinney didn’t hang the three sacks allowed on his offensive line, he admitted there were some missed blocking assignments and it took a little longer into the game to get going.

Red-zone scoring

Neither team fully accomplished what it wanted to in the red zone. Furman converted 50 percent of its chances inside the 20 and had one turnover there. Clemson was 5-for-5 in red-zone scoring, but co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott was disappointed in one of those trips resulting in a field goal instead of a touchdown.

Turnover margin

The Paladins attempted just nine passes the entire game, which should’ve given them a chance to win the turnover battle. However, Furman put the ball on the ground five times and lost a pair of fumbles in the second half. Meanwhile, the defense wasn’t able to force any Clemson miscues, even with two Tiger QBs taking their first-ever collegiate snaps.

This story was originally published September 1, 2018 at 6:09 PM.