5 things we learned from Clemson’s win against Georgia Southern

Clemson defeated Georgia Southern 38-7 on Saturday in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Here are five things we learned from the game:

The defense wanted to make a statement after the Texas A&M game

Clemson’s defense had one of its worst games in the Brent Venables era at Texas A&M, allowing 501 yards of offense, including more than 400 passing yards. The unit performed much better Saturday against Georgia Southern, even if the competition was down a level. The Tigers did not have busts and played their assignments well while holding Georgia Southern to only 140 total yards and seven first downs. The Eagles ran 18 plays for 30 yards and had one first down in the first half.

“I think we’re on an upward trend,” Clemson linebacker Tre Lamar said. “We were upset that we didn’t finish out that second half like we wanted (at Texas A&). So this week we made sure that we played all four quarters like we wanted to win. I think we did that today.”

Clemson continues to be more explosive in 2018

The Tigers had two more plays of 40 yards or more on Saturday, upping their total to nine on the year. Clemson is tied for second in the nation in plays of 40 or more yards after finishing with 19 such plays all of last season. Clemson also is tied for second with 14 plays of 30 or more yards after having 28 in 2017.

“Probably the biggest positive offensively after three games is the explosive play is alive and well in our offense,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’ve become very explosive once again.”

Clemson fans showed up despite the weather

Swinney wasn’t sure what to expect from the crowd for Saturday’s game with Hurricane Florence moving through the Carolinas and rain and wind expected to arrive in Clemson later Saturday afternoon. But the stadium was mostly full and an announced crowd of 79,844 was on hand for the game.

“Unbelievable. I told our players that after the game, just how fortunate we are to be at a place like Clemson,” Swinney said. “To be quite honest with you, I thought we’d probably have a pretty average crowd for Clemson standards today ... I really didn’t know what to expect. The place was almost full and that is just awesome. I appreciate our fans so much.”

The offensive line continues to be a work in progress

Clemson finished with 595 yards of total offense and rushed for more than 300 yards, but it was far from a flawless performance by Clemson’s offensive line. Perhaps the most disappointing series of the day occurred on Clemson’s first scoring drive when the Tigers were stuffed three times from inside the 2-yard line before finally scoring on fourth down. Swinney inserted Clemson’s second string offensive line for the next series.

“I was a little frustrated it took us four plays to get one yard on the goal line,” Swinney said. “I just wasn’t real happy right there. So just put the other guys in, and it was that simple. And I thought they responded. Went right down the field. I think the next couple of drives we scored.”

The Tigers defensive line continues to dominate

Clemson had five sacks against an offense that rarely drops back to throw the ball. The Tigers have played two triple option teams through the first three games and are still tied for third nationally with 12 sacks. Junior defense end Clelin Ferrell is tied for the national lead with five sacks.

“That’s hard to do because they don’t throw it very much. When they did throw it, we sacked them a lot. I think they were only throwing it like eight times a game coming in. A little different,” Swinney said. “Furman was about 20 times a game. So these guys don’t throw the ball a whole lot. But we were able to create some havoc when they did.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2018 at 3:26 PM.