5 things we learned from Clemson football’s win over Furman
Cornerback Fred Davis II called it “humbling.”
Linebacker Barrett Carter lamented mental errors.
And defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin promised clean-up was on the way after No. 5 Clemson football’s less-than-stellar effort in Saturday’s 35-12 win over Furman.
The Tigers were successful from a 1,000-foot view — they won the game and allowed just Furman one touchdown — but their play-to-play performance in a 23-point win over an FCS opponent left much to be desired.
Furman outgained Clemson 384 to 376 in offensive yards, converted 10 of 18 third downs, averaged 8.5 yards per plays and racked up seven completions of 15-plus yards each.
“A lot of things to clean up, obviously,” Goodwin said.
Coach Dabo Swinney and Goodwin said Clemson didn’t have a ton of information on Furman, which dominated Division II North Greenville last week. Blown assignments led to consecutive passing plays of 27 and 28 yards on the Paladins’ opening drive, too.
Goodwin said Clemson also got “overly aggressive” rushing the passer on a number of successful Furman screen passes and was sloppy tackling, an issue Swinney also harped on after a Week 1 win against Georgia Tech.
“Tip our hats to them,” Goodwin said. “We didn’t really necessarily know what kind of offense we were getting.”
A positive counterpoint, he said, was Clemson’s red zone and goal line defense. Furman got inside the 20 three times but only netted six points (two field goals) from those trips. Clemson also forced two turnovers and stuffed Furman on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter.
It was, more or less, the same result as Clemson allowing 10 points to Georgia Tech. But the way the Tigers got there Saturday left coaches and players frustrated.
“We’ve just got to clean it up,” Carter said.
A few things Clemson will emphasize leading into next weekend’s Louisiana Tech game: improving screen game defense, getting off the field on third down, tightening up coverage to cut down on easy completions. Goodwin said he’s confident the group can improve.
“As soon as it happens, they can tell you what went wrong and what we need to clean up in that situation,” he said. “Monday, we’ll spend half of our meetings correcting things and then just build it into our practice plan throughout the week.”
Here’s what else we learned from Clemson’s win over Furman.
DJ Uiagalelei dishes
Starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was on the money most of Saturday. He completed 78% of his passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns and had a 166.7 quarterback rating.
And he shared the love. Ten different Tigers caught passes with Beaux Collins, Joseph Ngata, EJ Williams and Antonio Williams all registering 30 or more receiving yards. True freshman Williams also led Clemson in targets (six) in his second career game.
Cade Klubnik struggles
On Saturday, true freshman quarterback Klubnik looked like … well, a true freshman quarterback. He played two series — one in the second quarter, one in the fourth — and Clemson didn’t sniff opposing territory on either drive.
After a fiery debut against Georgia Tech, Klubnik finished in the red against Furman. He was 1-4 for -2 yards and rushed twice for -2 yards for -4 total yards while also taking Clemson’s lone sack of the night when he stepped out of bounds on a third down.
Balanced tackling
Linebacker Barrett Carter continued his upward trajectory with a diving interception Saturday as well as three tackles and a quarterback hurry. But Clemson got a lot of production from his linebacking counterparts, as well as some defensive backs.
Linebackers Trenton Simpson and Keith Maguire tied for the team lead with eight tackles apiece; safeties Tyler Venables and Jalyn Phillips and linebacker LaVonta Bentley each had seven tackles; and cornerback Fred Davis II had six. Their production helped Clemson hit nine tackles for loss on a night where its pass rush wasn’t top tier.
Special teams recap
Monday was a great night for Clemson’s special teams as the Tigers blocked two punts in a game for the first time since 2007 to spark their offense against Georgia Tech. Saturday made for a more middling showing.
Kicker B.T. Potter nailed all five of his extra points but didn’t attempt a field goal, and punter Aidan Swanson averaged 35.5 yards per punt with a long of 41 after averaging 44.0 yards per punt (long of 51 Monday). Returner Will Taylor also muffed a fourth-quarter punt that particularly irked Swinney because Clemson’s second-team offense lost a possession of reps.
This story was originally published September 11, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
