Grading the Clemson Tigers: The South Carolina Game

Here are our position grades for the Tigers, in their 52-3 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Here are our position grades for the Tigers, in their 52-3 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Quarterbacks: A+

Trevor Lawrence completed 26-of-36 passes for 295 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed eight times for a career-high 66 yards. Lawrence’s 361 combined yards of total offense were the fourth-most of his career and his second-most of the season (437 at Syracuse).

Lawrence’s 295 passing yards were Clemson’s fourth-most against South Carolina in school history. Including his school-best 393 passing yards against South Carolina, Lawrence is responsible for two of the top four passing yardage performances against the Gamecocks in school history.

"There was a point when I walked over to him during the game and took my headset off and I just said, 'Man, it is so fun to watch you play quarterback,' head coach Dabo Swinney said.

Running Backs: A+

Travis Etienne (53) broke the ACC career total and rushing touchdowns with a three-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Etienne accounted for 51 rushing yards on 15 attempts and two rushing touchdowns. With the two touchdown performance, Etienne (53) breaks the ACC record for career rushing touchdowns held by Pitt’s James Conner (52).

"Travis Etienne, I know he’s not good enough to be a Doak Walker finalist," Swinney said with a laugh. "but he is the all-time leading ACC touchdown scorer and he’s not done yet. People have missed out on a beautiful career from No. 9.

"He's had one of the most dominant seasons this year I've ever seen from a player. He's scored more touchdowns than anyone in the ACC ever and yet he's not good enough to be a finalist for some running back award." 

Wide Receivers: A+

Tee Higgins hauled in his ninth and tenth receiving touchdowns of the year, making him the first Clemson receiver to post back-to-back seasons of double digit touchdown receptions. Justyn Ross also added a 16-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 21-0 lead.

"Tee Higgins is the first receiver ever to have 10 TD receptions in back-to-back years," Swinney said.

Tight End: C+

After a week of grading as a C+, the tight ends returned to mediocrity, as JC Chalk caught three passes for a total of 3 yards. 

The Tigers appear to be simply biding their time until the playoffs, when they expect to get Braden Galloway back from his one-year suspension.

Offensive Line: A

The Tiger offensive line earned the game ball from head coach Dabo Swinney. In fact, according to Swinney, the Tiger offensive line held a very talented South Carolina defensive front to only one sack—which came against the second team offensive line.

"There was one [play] they did a little different look that caused a little bit of confusion and miscommunication there," co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. "That’s what you want to see out of a championship caliber team is that they can respond to adversity and I thought we responded to adversity well and finished on a positive note.”

Defensive: A+

The Clemson defense held South Carolina to only 172 total yards and only 73-yards in the second half. Derion Kendrick recorded his second interception of the season, and Isaiah Simmons added 10 total tackles, two of them being for a loss and a sack.

"The story is our defense," Swinney said. "That’s 15 in a row where we’ve held the opponent to 20 or less and that hasn’t happened since 1937; I’m not even sure they had the forward pass in 1937, there probably wasn’t a lot of forward passing in 1937."