Clemson 42 Miami 17: Position Grades

After the top-ranked Tigers impressive 42-17 win over No. 7 Miami on Saturday night, All Clemson takes a look back at each position group and how they performed.

Clemson once again proved on Saturday night why they are currently one of the alpha dogs of the college football world. 

With Ohio State yet to start and most of the SEC heavyweights resembling the top teams from the Big-12, the Tigers flexed their muscles, particularly on the defensive side, in Saturday nights 42-17 win over No. 7 Miami. 

Position Grades: 

Quarterback: Trevor Lawrence threw for 292 yards, completed more than 70% of his passes and had an efficiency rating of more than 150 for the fourth straight game. He's now thrown 355 consecutive passes without being intercepted and has now passed Phillip Rivers for the second longest streak in ACC history. His three touchdown passes ties him with Russell Wilson for fifth most all-time in the ACC. Lawrence was on the receiving end of several viscous shots from the Miami defense and just kept coming back, once again proving how tough he actually is..... A+

Running Back: Travis Etienne was a one man show on Saturday night. The Tigers senior running back rushed for 149 yards and had a career high 8 catches for 73 yards. Etienne refused to go down on first contact, and punished would-be tacklers all night long. It was the kind of performance that will put his name right in the thick of the Heisman discussion. Overall the Tigers rushed for almost 6 yards per carry against a pretty talented defensive front..... A+

Wide Receivers: Amari Rodgers continues to lead the way with this group while some of the younger guys continue to develop. His 7 catches were a career high and he caught passes on the Tigers first three plays from scrimmage. Frank Ladson Jr had three catches, but his drop of what would have been an easy touchdown catch is what really stands out. Brannon Spector continues to impress in a reserve role, but overall there is still some improvements than can be made, mostly from a consistency standpoint..... B-

Tight Ends: After being relatively quiet the past two games, the tight ends were heavily involved in the offense against Miami. Braden Galloway had 4 catches for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns. Davis Allen added a 22-yard touchdown reception and also had a key block on the long Etienne run..... A+

Offensive Line: A mixed bag of results here. Like last week against Virginia, there wasn't much room for the running backs to run in the early going, but as the game progressed the lanes started to open up. Jackson Carman had some struggles in pass protection, and at one point was even pulled temporarily after his second holding penalty. This is group is still gelling however, and will get better with each passing week..... B-

Defensive Line: The front four was dominant all night long. Tyler Davis was back after missing the previous two games and his presence along the interior was very noticeable. Miami quarterback D'Eriq King rarely had time to throw and the constant pressure led to accuracy issues and after not throwing any interceptions in his first three games, he was picked off three times on Saturday night..... A+

Linebackers: One week after being named ACC Linebacker of the Week, Baylon Spector turned in another performance worthy of the honor. He had a team-high 5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. Jake Venables was second on the team with 4 tackles and had 2 tackles for loss and a sack. James Skalski also had 3 tackles, as this group was flying all over the field on Saturday night. Miami couldn't muster anything on the ground, as Cam'Ron Harris was held to 3 yards on 8 carries..... A+

Secondary: This group has gone from being questioned after each of the first two games to now looking like one of the strengths of the team over the last two games. With teams rarely throwing towards Derion Kendrick, they choose to try and attack Andrew Booth Jr. on the other side of the field. With his play over the past two weeks, Booth has started to show that teams will just have to pick their poison when deciding which of the two to throw at..... A

Special Teams: After being perfect on field goal attempts through the first three games, the Tigers had some flaws exposed against Miami. All three of B.T. Potter's field goal attempts were blocked and one was returned for a touchdown as the first half ended. That is something the coaches will have to get shored up. It wasn't all bad though, as Will Spiers averaged more than 50 yards per punt..... C

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page.

Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter