All Clemson

Clemson 47 Syracuse 21: Position Grades

The top-ranked Tigers came away with almost a four touchdown win over Syracuse on Saturday but sometimes the score doesn't always tell the entire story. All Clemson takes you back to the 47-21 win and grades out each position group fared.

JP Priester

For the better part of three quarters on Saturday, it looked like this Clemson team, or more specifically the offense, was going through the motions. Against a team that was a 46.5 point underdog.

With about two minutes left in the third quarter, and the Tigers only up one score, Bryan Bresee forced a fumble that Andrew Booth Jr picked up and returned 21 yards for a touchdown. It was a huge momentum shifting play that propelled Clemson to a 47-21 win. 

It was the Tigers 35th consecutive win in the regular season, the longest streak in ACC history. 

Position Grades:

Quarterback: Not Trevor Lawrence's sharpest outing. The junior quarterback just seemed a little off all day, hitting on just 63% of his passes after having hit on more than 70% over his previous five games. He also threw a pick-six just before halftime and had at least one other off-target throw that should have been intercepted. Despite not being at his best, Lawrence still threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns... B-

Running Back: After averaging less than 5 YPC last week against Georgia Tech, something that has rarely happened in the senior backs career, Etienne bounced back and averaged close to 5.5 YPC on Saturday. He scored three touchdowns, but he also fumbled for the second straight week. He was having issues with cramping and missed significant amounts of time, but then came back and had a strong fourth quarter. All this on a day in which there just wasn't much room to run over those first three quarters. Lyn-J Dixon had just 3.1 YPC and still seems as if he tries to do to much at times, and Chez Mellusi averaged just 1.3 YPC... B-

Wide Receivers: This group struggled against Syracuse and the Tigers are still waiting for someone on the outside to step up and consistently make plays down the field. Six games in and Amari Rodgers is still at times carrying this group. Against the Orange there were more drops, and guys were struggling to get separation against physical defensive backs... C+

Tight Ends: Davis Allen continues to impress. He had another touchdown grab against the Orange. Along with Braden Galloway, the Tigers have a nice one-two punch at the position. Both have shown an ability to make plays in the passing game and both have shown they are capable of helping in the running game... B+

Offensive Line: Six games into the season and the offensive line is still struggling to open up running lanes on the interior. Syracuse had allowed more than 300 rushing yards in each of its last three games, including giving up 338 to Liberty one week ago. This is a team the Tigers should be able to run at will against and once again failed to do so. The pass protection also wasn't what it had been in previous games. Overall, just not a great day, although they were able to start opening some things up in that fourth quarter... D+

Defensive Line: The front four just isn't the same without the services of Tyler Davis. Coming in Syracuse had not been very good protecting the quarterback and the Tigers defensive front just wasn't able to get the kind of pressure most had anticipated. The Orange were able to rack up 150 rushing yards against a defensive front that had not been giving up a whole lot in the run game. It was good to see Xavier Thomas pick up his first sack of the season... C+ 

Linebackers: Another position group that was missing a starter after James Skalski was held out after getting banged up last week against Georgia Tech. Backup Jake Venables didn't have one of his better performances, and Baylon Spector wasn't making plays all over the field the way he had been of late. Mike Jones Jr. had a solid day, picking off a pass and getting the initial pressure on Rex Culpepper that resulted in Booth's scoop and score... C+

Secondary: There was some good and not so good on the backend of the defense on Saturday. Nolan Turner and Jalyn Phillips both had big interceptions, there was the scoop and score by Booth, but there were a couple of busted coverages in the secondary, one that led to an 83-yard touchdown reception by Nykeim Johnson. If Culpepper was a little more accurate there could have been at least one more long touchdown throw. Not having Derion Kendrick surely didn't help, but the safety play has to be better than it was for the first three quarters on Saturday... C+ 

Special Teams: The Tigers opened the game with a 49-yard kickoff return by Lyn-J Dixon. After that it was a mixed bag of results. Clemson had another kick blocked, this time a punt and B.T. Potter was just 2-3 on field goals, missing on a 37-yard attempt. However, Will Spiers continues to be impressive punting the ball, averaging 53.6 yards on five punts, one being 64-yarder. Spiers also picked up a first down on a fake punt in the first half... B

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JP Priester
JP PRIESTER

Jason Priester: Born and raised in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. I have been covering Clemson Athletics for close to five years now and joined the Maven team in January.

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