Clemson (6-3) will take a break from seven consecutive ACC games to play its final non-conference home game against Connecticut (1-8) on Saturday. Kickoff from Memorial Stadium is set for noon. The game will be televised by the ACC Network.
Clemson’s defense vs. UConn’s offense: Clemson had one of its poorest showings of the season on defense last week against Louisville’s dual-threat quarterback Malik Cunningham, who had more than 100 yards rushing by early in the third quarter before an ankle injury slowed him down.
The Cardinals finished with 223 rushing yards against a top-25 run defense nationally and 397 total yards, but Clemson won’t be facing any kind of rushing threat against UConn, whose quarterback, Steven Krajewski, is averaging just 12.3 yards on the ground. The Huskies’ leading rusher, Nathan Carter, is averaging just 52.1 yards per game.
In fact, there’s just not a whole lot UConn is doing well offensively. The Huskies rank 113th or worse out of 130 FBS teams in rushing, passing and scoring. Only four teams are averaging fewer yards than UConn (281.6 per game).
Meanwhile, Clemson is in the top 50 in nearly every major defensive statistical category and still owns the country’s No. 8 scoring defense (16.2 points per game). Oh, and UConn is playing its backup quarterback after Tyler Phommachanh, who has family ties to Clemson’s backup, recently suffered a season-ending knee injury. Advantage: Clemson
Clemson’s offense vs. UConn’s defense: The objective for Clemson’s offense this week, offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said, is to build on the breakthrough of sorts it’s experienced of late.
There’s more improvement the Tigers need to make. But with back-to-back fourth-quarter comebacks, Clemson has shown its most consistent signs of life this season over the last two weeks.
The offense followed up its 24-point performance against Florida State — the first one this season against an FBS foe in regulation — with a season-high 30 points against Louisville. Clemson did it without a consistent running game, which produced just 125 yards behind an offensive line that started its sixth different lineup.
D.J. Uiagalelei helped by having arguably his best all-around performance against the Cardinals, throwing for a season-high 220 yards and accounting for three touchdowns. His first scoring toss — a 46-yarder to Beaux Collins in the first quarter — was a perfectly placed deep ball that hasn’t always been there from the sophomore quarterback this season.
Uiagalelei is still dealing with that sprained knee, so there’s a chance Taisun Phommachanh could see his role increase Saturday. Clemson will also be without receiver Joseph Ngata, and other injured players are questionable. But the Tigers’ roster is filled with the kind of talent and athleticism that UConn’s defense simply won’t be able to contend with.
The Huskies have only held one team to fewer than 24 points this season, and their schedule to this point has included Wyoming, Vanderbilt, UMass and Holy Cross, which put up 38 points in a 10-point win back on Sept. 4. Advantage: Clemson
Special teams: Not much to analyze here. Clemson has Will Spiers (43.4 yards per punt) and B.T. Potter, who bounced back from that uncharacteristically off night against Florida State by making all three of his field goals against Louisville. UConn doesn’t.
The Huskies are averaging 13.5 per punt return, good for 16th nationally in that department. But it’s hard to envision any of UConn’s returners running away from the caliber of athlete they’ll see Saturday. Advantage: Clemson
Bottom line: How bad have things been for UConn this season? The program’s hiring of former NFL coach Jim Mora Jr. as its next head coach earlier this week has gotten far more attention than anything the Huskies have done on the field. For Clemson, this is all about executing, getting up early, getting its starters out of the game and avoiding any more serious injuries.
Prediction: Clemson 38, UConn 10
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