Louisiana Tech at Clemson: 5 Things to Watch For

Five storylines to follow as No. 5 Clemson hosts Louisiana Tech on Saturday night in primetime in Memorial Stadium.

For the first time this season, the Tigers are operating on a normal week. 

This week, instead of playing on a Monday night, or facing a quick turnaround off of that Monday night contest, No. 5 Clemson is back into a normal routine ahead of its primetime matchup on Saturday night against Louisiana Tech.

5 Things to Watch

1. Bringing the Juice: After a stellar performance in the opener against Georgia Tech, the Clemson defense did not play well in the win over Furman. While the Tigers only allowed 12 points, the Paladins had close to 400 yards of offense, routinely burning the Tigers with the short passing game, particularly on screens. They also had issues getting stops, as Furman was 10-for-18 on third down.

Head coach Dabo Swinney was not happy with the effort, noting that the defense did not play with the same "juice" that it displayed against the Yellow Jackets. This Bulldogs offense thrives off the short passing game, so a repeat performance could be disastrous for this Clemson team. 

It will be interesting to see which version of this defense shows up. During Brent Venables' tenure as defensive coordinator, some of the best performances on that side of the ball tended to come following a game in which the defense wasn't at its best. Can Wes Goodwin duplicate that success?

With the passing of Ella Bresee on Thursday, the younger sister of DT Bryan Bresee, it wouldn't be all that surprising to see this unit show up and show out against the Bulldogs.

2. WRU Gets a Boost: After tearing an ACL in the spring, wideout Adam Randall makes his much-anticipated debut this weekend. Coaches and players raved about the play of the true freshman ahead of his injury, and while Swinney said Randall would be on a "pitch count," this is a guy who has the ability to still make a major impact. 

No one in that receiver room has yet to really step up and show he can be that alpha of the group. Maybe Beaux Collins, who is tied for the team lead in catches (11), grows into that role as the season progresses, but if not, maybe Randall can be that guy. 

3. Secondary Play Must Improve: While the less-than-stellar performance by the defense against Furman has already been referenced, it was the corners that might have had the worst day. They continuously gave up inside leverage, getting burned on slants and crossers. 

Most of the passes from Paladins' QB Tyler Huff were within five yards of the line of scrimmage and with Louisiana Tech running the air raid offense, it's safe to assume the Clemson corners will once again be tested, as the Bulldogs come in averaging 276 passing yards per game. 

Sheridan Jones, Nate Wiggins and Fred Davis are playing most of the snaps, and outside of Jones, there just isn't a ton of experience. Wiggins and Davis are both learning on the job, in a sense, but either way, the backend of this defense has to be better against the Bulldogs.

4. Can Offense Take Another Step Forward: DJ Uiagalelei already looks better than he did at any point last season. Clemson's starting quarterback is finally fully healthy and playing with newfound confidence and it's showing on the field.

However, the Tigers have yet to put together four quarters of consistency on that side of the ball. There was the slow start against Georgia Tech and then the second half against Furman, in which the offense was on the field for less than 20 plays.

While much of that had to do with the defense failing to get off the field, the offense also failed to capitalize on some opportunities. Once again, there were multiple drops, something that must be cleaned up in order for this offense to take that next step. 

5. Lack of Dominant Running Game: Speaking of the offense taking another step forward, the Tigers need to get that running game going. One area Clemson was expected to excel at was that rushing attack, and through two games, it just hasn't come to fruition.

With talented backs like Will Shipley, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah, you'd think the Tigers would be averaging much more than 3.9 YPC through the first two games. Especially when you factor in the level of competition. 

The Tigers averaged just 3.0 YPC against the Yellow Jackets, before turning in a more respectable 5.3 YPC against Furman. However, considering it was against an FCS opponent, you would probably like to see that number a little higher.

Louisiana Tech comes in having allowed more than 230 rushing yards per game, with opponents averaging 5.4 YPC. This could be an excellent opportunity for the Tigers to get that ground game going. They'll need it when the schedule stiffens up. 

The No. 5 Tigers opened as a 32.5-point favorite with a point total of 54.5, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

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