Ups and Downs: Clemson Celebrates Cheez-It Bowl Victory in Orlando

From postgame baths to bad decisions, the Cheez-It Bowl had a little bit of everything for a No. 19 Clemson squad that won its 10th game of the season.

Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY NETWORK

No. 19 Clemson won its 10th game of the season and helped Dabo Swinney get his 150th career victory with a 20-13 victory over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl on Wednesday in Orlando. 

The Tigers never trailed in the game and got a stellar defensive effort to close the season with eight wins in their final nine games.

Here's the good and the bad from Orlando:

Ups

Defense shines: So Clemson was without the following going into the game: Brent Venables (head coach at Oklahoma), linebacker Baylon Spector (broken hand) and starting safety Nolan Turner (foot). During the contest, the Tigers lost veteran leader James Skalski and star cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. Still, this was the best unit on the field consistently throughout the game like it had been all season. With Wesley Goodwin successfully running the defense, Clemson held Iowa State, which was without star running back Breece Hall, to 270 total yards, more than 160 yards fewer than their season average per game. 

Offensive wrinkles: Clemson wasn't completely different without offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, who left for the head coaching position at Virginia earlier this month, but the Tigers did offer a few adjustments with Brandon Streeter calling plays. There was seemingly a player in motion on nearly every snap, something the Tigers weren't doing early in the year. They also made a concerted effort to throw the ball to the running backs, who combined for nine of the team's 21 receptions. One thing that didn't change was Will Shipley's usage as he had the team's only offensive touchdown and went over 100 total yards.

Pick-6: Less than a minute after the offense scored, the game changed in a big way when a batted ball ended up in the hands of Clemson cornerback Mario Goodrich, who returned the interception 18 yards for a touchdown. It marked the second time this season Clemson's defense was responsible for six points, and it turned a 10-point lead into 20-3. It was the last score of the night for the Tigers. 

Clemson has now recorded multiple defensive TDs in 12 straight seasons. The last time Clemson had fewer than two defensive TDs in a season was 2009, Swinney's first full season as head coach, when Clemson supplemented a single defensive touchdown with six special teams TDs.

— Ross Taylor (@ClemsonFBRoss) December 30, 2021

Taking a bath: In the spirit of the bowl game's sponsor, it was good to see Dabo Swinney get doused with a bucket of Cheez-Its right before the game ended. Some of them even stuck to his orange shirt. The only problem was there was too much time on the clock so a ton of the cheezy snack was piled on the field. Meanwhile, long-time offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell received a Gatorade bath from his linemen in what is likely the final game of his career.

Downs

Roughing the...receiver?: Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter was called for roughing the passer after he jumped in the air and tipped a pass thrown by a receiver. The tipped ball was intercepted, returned and fumbled but the play never happened because of the penalty, which didn't make much sense. Iowa State ended up scoring its only touchdown of the game later in that drive. 

What was that?: Clemson's offense had its share of head-scratching moments. One came in the third quarter up 17 points as quarterback DJ Uiagalelei rolled to his left and tried to squeeze a pass to a tight end. There were four red jerseys and just one Clemson player on that side of the field, so when one ISU defender tipped the throw, another one intercepted it, leading to a Cyclones field goal. It's the biggest blemish in what was a fairly solid performance for Uiagalelei, who completed 66 percent of his passes, his second-highest mark of the season. 

Costly penalty: Another big mistake came on what was turning into a successful drive for the Tigers in the fourth quarter until offensive lineman Will Putnam jumped on an Iowa State defender after the Clemson ball carrier was clearly down. He was quickly flagged for the personal foul, going from second-and-2 to second-and-17. The Tigers were unable to pick up the first down and had to punt the ball back to Iowa State. Clemson's fortunate neither of those two miscues turned out worse for the Tigers.

Scary moment: Booth's injury came in the third quarter after he got into it with Iowa State receiver Jaylin Noel, who took Booth to the ground. Booth got up very woosy and struggled to stand, sending Clemson's trainers onto the field. He was visibly upset, and a closeup of the altercation during a play showed why Booth might've had trouble getting up. He was taken into the medical tent for evaluation. What's really bad is that there was no penalty of any kind called by the officials. They really missed this one.

Am I crazy or is this a blatant punch on Andrew Booth?#Clemson pic.twitter.com/PK2nKd2Lv5

— Tony Clements (@TonyCMKE) December 30, 2021

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