Clemson vs. Pitt – Syndication Server

After strong start, Clemson’s D falls flat

It was bound to happen eventually. Despite Clemson’s championship-caliber defense, the Tigers have had to embrace a bend, but don’t break mentality. That dam finally broke against the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense and darkhorse Heisman candidate, …

It was bound to happen eventually.

Despite Clemson’s championship-caliber defense, the Tigers have had to embrace a bend, but don’t break mentality. That dam finally broke against the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense and darkhorse Heisman candidate, Kenny Pickett.

Clemson’s defense has outperformed the offense all season, but Brent Venables’ unit could only hold on for so long during Saturday’s 27-17 loss to No. 23 Pitt. The offense hasn’t played up to the standard that’s been set by previous Tigers’ teams and that’s putting it mildly.

After jumping out to an early lead, Clemson’s defense was able to keep Pickett and Pitt’s offense on its heels for the first quarter. That only lasted so long as Pickett, who Dabo Swinney described earlier this week as a “rhythm quarterback,” was able to get into a flow once the game bled into the second quarter.

In fact, Clemson’s defense allowed a total of 195 yards of total offense in just the second quarter alone.

Pitt had all the offensive momentum heading into the break and even though Clemson received the second-half kickoff, that offensive energy carried over into the game’s remaining 30 minutes of play.

Of course, it didn’t help that D.J. Uiagalelei threw a pick-six on a shovel pass on the opening drive of the second half. That wound up being the difference.

Anytime Clemson’s defense needed to get off the field, they weren’t able to. That really hadn’t been the case in the six games prior. Clemson had been able to rely on its defense to keep them in games, but that just wasn’t the case against a potent.

Pitt punted the ball four times during the course of Saturday’s game, unfortunately for Clemson, the Panthers’ last punt came with 11 minutes and 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter. A telling stat for a defense unable to get off the field.

With the defense reeling and obviously out of gas late in the fourth quarter, Pickett called his own number and was able to convert on a 3rd-and-6. He got up and pumped his fist. That play in question was a microcosm of Clemson’s late afternoon defensive performance.

The defense was tired, unable to get any push up front, while Pickett did what he’s done all season, make a play when called upon. He completed 25-of-39 passes with 302 yards and two passing touchdowns.

Sure, Pitt’s offense only had the ball for three offensive possessions in the second half, but they controlled the ball for over 20 minutes, running 37 plays, gaining 162 yards and scoring just six points. Those stats don’t jump off the page, but they were able to control the ball and convert when it mattered.

Coming into the game, Clemson’s defense had only allowed 12.50 points per game, with 14 being the most points the Tigers have allowed in regulation. The nation’s No. 2 scoring defense was no match for the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense, allowing Pitt to score 27 points in a 10-point defeat.

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Venables: Clemson’s defense ‘lacked the precision it takes against a good team’

Following Clemson’s 27-17 loss at the hands of No. 23 Pitt on Saturday afternoon, Brent Venables spoke with reporters and gave a blunt assessment of his unit, which had its worst game of the season. After getting off to a slow start, Clemson’s …

After getting off to a slow start, Clemson’s defensive coordinator wasn’t sure what adjustments Pitt made offensively, but indicated that the Panthers ran the same routes and plays. It was more so that the Tigers didn’t execute as they have all season and weren’t precise enough, a word Venables repeated throughout his postgame press conference.

“I thought our first five drives were excellent,” he said postgame. “That sixth drive, they moved the ball 90 yards down the field in 13 plays. They were just more precise. We make a couple of really good plays, then we would lose leverage on a route or just lack the precision that it takes against a good team to stop them.”

Venables highlights the next drive, which he called arguably, “the most inopportune drive of the night.” Clemson’s defense got less than a minute’s rest as the offense went three-and-out in 26 seconds. On the drive in question, Pickett connected with Taysir Mack, who took advantage of coverage breakdown, for a 39-yard touchdown on a crucial fourth down.

“We did not play very well on that last drive in the most critical situations. We got them to 4th-and-6, lost leverage on a post route,” Venables said. “We can’t allow them to make an easy play like that on fourth down. The drive prior, they make a really nice play…we come right back again, we were just tired there, right before. We did not go out there with the right kind of urgency to get the stop we needed to.”

In the second quarter alone, Clemson allowed 195 yards of total offense. They were able to keep Pitt in check for the game’s first 15 minutes, but the defense eventually gave way, as Clemson’s offense wasn’t able to consistently string together drives.

The defense had kept Kenny Pickett silent much of the first quarter, appearing to rattle the darkhorse Heisman candidate for a period of time. That didn’t last, though. Pickett played like he has all season for the remaining three quarters.

“Now, it’s 14-7 going into the half,” Venables said. “We came out and again, we looked like we were tired out there. We didn’t play with the kind of precision that we needed to. [Pickett] was running around too much. I felt like we allowed them to push the pile too often, after stopping them, they’d fall forward for 3 or 4 more yards.”

That continued to be the theme for the duration of the second half. Pitt only possessed the ball on three offensive drives, but the Panthers managed to take over 20 minutes off the clock, scoring just six points in the process.”

“I just thought we played with great effort,” he added. “Our guys played hard, but we didn’t play as physical as we needed to and we weren’t as precise as we needed to be in real critical situations. We had a chance to still win the game and that was all the way into the fourth quarter. We’re within striking distance and we just couldn’t at times get out of our own way for the plays that were there, and there was plenty of them.”

As Venables indicates there were plays to be made and plays to be had but, Clemson’s defense was just unable to get off the field when it mattered the most. Something it had been able to do in games prior.

“This game will punish you. Good teams will punish you. When you play a good team, you got to be precise. Certainly, you gotta be physical. They’ll make you pay. It’s a very humbling game. I just thought they got into a good rhythm and we couldn’t make the play or a play to change the rhythm of it.”

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Mafah’s first career touchdown gets the Tigers on the board

After two uninspiring offensive drives, Clemson is finally on the board. On second-and-goal, Phil Mafah scored his first career touchdown from 1-yard out. B.T. Potter drilled the extra point to cap off an eight-play, 80-yard drive which took 3 …

After two uninspiring offensive drives, Clemson is finally on the board.

On second-and-goal, Phil Mafah scored his first career touchdown from 1-yard out. B.T. Potter drilled the extra point to cap off an eight-play, 80-yard drive which took 3 minutes and 29 seconds.

Though, the drive didn’t come without a tough blow. The team’s starting left guard Matt Bockhorst was severely injured on the play prior to Mafah’s rushing touchdown. Bockhorst limped off the field with the help of two trainers, putting no weight on his injured right leg.

Bockhorst’s replacement, true freshman Marcus Tate, paved the way for Mafah’s running lane, allowing him to go untouched into the end zone.

The drive was aided by a 36-yard catch and throw from D.J. Uiagalelei to Ajou Ajou on a crucial third-and-6 from their own 42-yard line. Additionally, Uiagalelei, Mafah and Will Shipley combined for 36 rushing yards on the drive.

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This ESPN analyst expects Pitt to ‘give Clemson that work today’

Throughout the course of this Saturday’s version of ESPN’s College GameDay show, Desmond Howard touted Clemson as having a Championship defense. While the Heisman winner and former University of Michigan standout acknowledged that Pitt and Kenny …

Throughout the course of this Saturday’s version of ESPN’s College GameDay show, Desmond Howard touted Clemson as having a Championship defense.

While the Heisman winner and former University of Michigan standout acknowledged that Pitt and Kenny Pickett will have to show Brent Venables’ defense some respect, he doesn’t expect Clemson to stop the country’s No. 2 scoring offense.

“I think they’re really gonna give Clemson that work today,” Howard said of Pitt’s offense.

Pickett, who is one of the nation’s top quarterbacks this season, has thrown 21 touchdown passes and just one interception. Pickett leads an offense scoring the second-most point in the FBS (48.3 per game) that also ranks in the top 5 in total offense (530.5 yards) and passing offense (358).

Clemson enters Saturday’s contest as underdogs for the first time since the 2016 season. As Rece Davis mentioned earlier Saturday, this very well could be the Tigers’ last stand, as they fight to stay in contention for the ACC.

That all remains to be seen at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

What recruiting rankings tell us about the Clemson-Pitt matchup

The Clemson Insider thought it would be interesting to analyze the matchups on Clemson’s 2021 schedule from a recruiting standpoint by going back and looking at where the Tigers’ projected starters were ranked as recruits versus where the projected …

In this article, we break down Clemson’s game against Pitt at Heinz Field on Saturday, Oct. 22. Below is a rundown of the projected starters for both teams, as it stands now, and their high school star ratings and prospect rankings according to the 247Sports Composite:

Clemson offense:

LT – Jordan McFadden (3-star, No. 819 national, No. 66 OT)

LG – Paul Tchio (4-star, No. 103 national, No. 3 OG)

or LG – Marcus Tate (4-star, No. 127 national, No. 8 IOL)

C – Matt Bockhorst (4-star, No. 240 national, No. 17 OG)

or C – Mason Trotter (2-star, No. 3403 national, No. 195 OG)

RG – Will Putnam (4-star, No. 101 national, No. 5 OG)

or RG – Matt Bockhorst

RT – Walker Parks (4-star, No. 50 national, No. 5 OT)

TE – Davis Allen (3-star, No. 807 national, No. 39 TE)

WR – Ajou Ajou (3-star, No. 401 national, No. 66 WR)

QB – D.J. Uiagalelei (5-star, No. 10 national, No. 1 PRO)

RB – Kobe Pace (3-star, No. 451 national, No. 32 RB)

WR – Justyn Ross (4-star, No. 45 national, No. 7 WR)

WR – Frank Lasdon Jr. (4-star, No. 39 national, No. 7 WR)

Clemson defense:

DE – Myles Murphy (5-star, No. 7 national, No. 1 SDE)

or DE – Xavier Thomas (5-star, No. 3 national, No. 1 SDE)

or DE – K.J. Henry (5-star, No. 14 national, No. 3 WDE)

DT – Tré Williams (4-star, No. 94 national, No. 11 DT)

DT – Ruke Orhorhoro (3-star, No. 745 national, No. 49 SDE)

DE – Justin Foster (4-star, No. 156 national, No. 11 WDE)

or DE – Justin Mascoll (4-star, No. 142 national, No. 9 WDE)

or DE – Xavier Thomas

SLB/NB – Trenton Simpson (5-star, No. 26 national, No. 1 OLB)

or SLB/NB – Malcolm Greene (4-star, No. 282 national, No. 29 S)

MLB – James Skalski (3-star, No. 680 national, No. 44 OLB)

WLB – Baylon Spector (3-star, No. 609 national, No. 45 S)

CB – Andrew Booth Jr. (5-star, No. 23 national, No. 2 CB)

SS – Andrew Mukuba (4-star, No. 167 national, No. 8 S)

FS – Nolan Turner (NR)

CB – Mario Goodrich (4-star, No. 114 national, No. 4 ATH)

Pitt offense:

QB – Kenny Pickett (3-star, No. 738 national, No. 33 PRO)

RB – Israel Abanikanda (3-star, No. 428 national, No. 30 RB)

WR – Taysir Mack (3-star, No. 1350 national, No. 197 WR)

WR – Jordan Addison (4-star, No. 275 national, No. 10 ATH)

WR – Shocky Jacques-Louis (3-star, No. 531 national, No. 87 WR)

TE – Lucas Krull (NR)

LT – Carter Warren (3-star, No. 454 national, No. 48 OT)

LG – Marcus Minor (4-star, No. 220 national, No. 16 OT)

C – Owen Drexel (3-star, No. 1374 national, No. 18 OC)

RG – Jake Kradel (3-star, No. 682 national, No. 29 OG)

RT – Gabe Houy (3-star, No. 1165 national, No. 1009 OT)

Syracuse defense:

DE – Habakkuk Baldonado (3-star, No. 885 national, No. 51 WDE)

DT – Calijah Kancey (3-star, No. 850 national, No. 63 DT)

DT – Keyshon Camp (4-star, No. 260 national, No. 26 DT)

DE – Deslin Alexandre (3-star, No. 1118 national, No. 55 SDE)

LB – Cam Bright (3-star, No. 1175 national, No. 75 OLB)

LB – Wendell Davis (3-star, No. 950 national, No. 64 OLB)

or LB – SirVocea Dennis (2-star, No. 3130 national, No. 225 OLB)

LB – Phil Campbell III (3-star, No. 970 national, No. 62 S)

CB – Marquis Williams (3-star, No. 835 national, No. 73 CB)

SS – Brandon Hill (3-star, No. 645 national, No. 50 S)

FS – Erik Hallett II (3-star, No. 991 national, No. 88 CB)

or FS – Rashad Battle (3-star, No. 486 national, No. 35 CB)

CB – Damarri Mathis (3-star, No. 669 national, No. 64 CB)

Notes:

While Pitt’s projected starting lineups are mostly comprised of former three-star prospects with only a handful of four-stars sprinkled in on both sides of the football, Kenny Pickett is evidence that recruiting rankings shouldn’t and don’t matter on the field. As often is the case in the conference, the Tigers are much more talented than the Panthers on paper, but they do enter Saturday’s contest as road underdogs.

**All ratings/rankings according to the 247Sports Composite

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