Kobe Pace – Page 9 – Syndication Server

‘The best atmosphere I’ve played in’: Clemson players rave about Death Valley crowd Saturday night

Last season, due to COVID, Clemson limited capacity at Death Valley to 19,000 fans for each of its home games. But last Saturday, with Clemson back to full capacity in 2021, Death Valley was packed and rocking for the first night game there in quite …

Last season, due to COVID, Clemson limited capacity at Death Valley to 19,000 fans for each of its home games.

But last Saturday, with Clemson back to full capacity in 2021, Death Valley was packed and rocking for the first night game there in quite some time.

Clemson sophomore running back Kobe Pace said Monday the fans helped fuel the Tigers in their 19-13 victory over Boston College.

“The crowd was there. I loved it,” said Pace, who recorded a career-high 125 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown on Saturday. “It was there the whole game. Just the atmosphere there was crazy. It was there. I loved it, and we fed off the energy from the crowd.”

With the crowd at Death Valley cheering the Tigers on, Clemson won its 31st consecutive home game to extend its school record for both the longest home winning streak and longest home unbeaten streak in school history (as well as extend the nation’s longest active home winning streak).

Clemson junior cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. can’t think of a game in which he’s played in a better environment than the one Saturday night.

“Our fans are loud,” Booth said Monday. “They were there when we needed them the most. It was crazy out there. That was probably the best atmosphere I’ve played in. That was crazy. Our fans were great Saturday, and we can’t thank them enough for how we showed up and showed out.”

The 79,159 fans that were in attendance certainly made their presence felt and had an impact on the game.

Boston College had five false starts in the contest, the most by an FBS opponent in Death Valley since NC State in 2016 (six).

“It was so nice to see the crowd back in Death Valley for a night game again,” Clemson super senior safety Nolan Turner said Monday. “I can’t even really remember the last true home night game we had. It must’ve been 2019. But it was super special to get the crowd back. They’re such a big part of the game, the crowd noise that helps on our side of the ball on defense, and they really do play such a big factor. Death Valley gets loud. It really does, and there’s not a whole lot of places that compare to it.”

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Pace: ‘I am just trusting my eyes’

Kobe Pace had his breakout game at running back Saturday night in Death Valley helping lead the Tigers over Boston College. Pace went in-depth about his long TD run, the improved running game and much more during his Monday press conference.

Kobe Pace had his breakout game at running back Saturday night in Death Valley helping lead the Tigers over Boston College.

Pace went in-depth about his long TD run, the improved running game and much more during his Monday press conference.

Pace named ACC Running Back of the Week

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that running back Kobe Pace has earned ACC Running Back of the Week honors for his performance in Clemson’s 19-13 win against Boston College on Saturday. Clemson has now earned a total of 547 weekly …

Clemson has now earned a total of 547 weekly honors since 1968, including six honors this season. Pace’s selection represents Clemson’s eighth Running Back of the Week selection since 2018, joining seven selections by Travis Etienne in that span.

Pace recorded a career-high 125 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown on Saturday. Pace’s 125-yard performance on the ground represented Clemson’s first individual 100-yard rushing effort of the season. He recorded both a career-long rush (59 yards) and a career-long reception (33 yards) in the contest.

Pace also added 41 receiving yards on two receptions and 44 return yards on two kickoff returns. His 210 all-purpose yards represented Clemson’s first 200-yard all-purpose performance since Etienne in late October of last season, a versatile performance for which Pace was also named Monday to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll.

In addition, placekicker B.T. Potter was also selected Monday as one of three Lou Groza Award Stars of the Week. Potter tied his career high in field goals, going 4-for-4 on field goal attempts to finish with 13 points in Clemson’s 19-13 win.

–Courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications

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What It Means: Latest close call offers glimmer of hope for Clemson’s offense

There D.J. Uiagalelei was. Still throwing passes. There wasn’t any time left on the clock. No defense to try to crack. No fans watching his every move. Around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, long after Boston College’s players and coaches as well as the 79,159 …

There D.J. Uiagalelei was. Still throwing passes.

There wasn’t any time left on the clock. No defense to try to crack. No fans watching his every move.

Around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, long after Boston College’s players and coaches as well as the 79,159 fans in attendance had filed out of Memorial Stadium following Clemson’s 19-13 win, Uiagalelei was back on the field throwing against air. With a student manager on the receiving end, Clemson’s quarterback repped some of the throws he had missed — throws that, if he’d connected on them, could have made for a much comfortable margin of victory.

A lot has been said about Uiagelelei’s rollercoaster start to his sophomore season, but no one can accuse Clemson’s quarterback of not caring or working. Still, Uiagalelei knows he can be better. Because even before he started that late-night throwing session, during his postgame interview with reporters, Uiagalelei admitted as much.

It left the Tigers’ quarterback, who’s often shouldered the blame for Clemson’s offensive woes even if it hasn’t always been warranted, talking about a hopeful performance from the unit he leads instead of a breakout one.

“Just got to continue to finish in the red zone and turn those field goals into touchdowns, but we took a huge step (Saturday),” Uiagalelei said.

Clemson only reached the end zone once Saturday night, but the offense’s performance was far from the slog it’s typically been this season. Through four games, the Tigers had the lowest yards per play in the ACC and ranked among the nation’s worst offenses in total yards. Clemson racked up 438 yards against Boston College — 143 more than its season average — and ripped off 6.4 yards per play. The only game in which it’s been higher? South Carolina State.

Perhaps the best news for the Tigers was most of that production came on the ground behind their retooled offensive line that underwent more alterations. With right guard Will Putnam (toe) unable to go, Matt Bockhorst slid over from center and Marcus Tate re-entered the starting lineup at left guard. The end result? An offense that began the day averaging less than 126 yards on the ground (99th out of 130 FBS teams) finished with 231 rushing yards, easily the most Clemson has rushed for against an FBS opponent this season.

A good chunk of that came on a 59-yard touchdown run by Kobe Pace — the Tigers’ longest play from scrimmage — but it wasn’t the only chunk play on the ground. Freshman Phil Mafah, getting his first career snaps with Will Shipley (leg injury) out and Lyn-J Dixon (transfer) no longer around, ripped off multiple runs of at least 10 yards, including a 28-yarder. Even Uiagalalei, who continues to be utilized more and more in the run game, had scampers of 14 and 15 yards.

It helped the Tigers make eight trips into Boston College territory. Two possessions after Pace’s scoring run early in the first quarter, Clemson put together a 10-play, 94-yard march that reached the Eagles’ 2. But the Tigers had to settle for a field goal that put them up 10-3 at the time.

B.T. Potter kicked three more field goals on drives that reached at least Boston College’s 25 before stalling out. And that was the Tigers’ biggest issue.

“We’ve got to finish some of the plays that are there,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’ve got several plays that we need to finish that, they’re there. And we’ve got to just continue to develop that chemistry and get it done.”

Boston College stoned a handful of goal-line runs before Potter booted that first kick through the uprights, but there were a handful of opportunities to put the ball in the end zone through the air against man coverage that Clemson hasn’t seen much this season. Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said Boston College likes to play that type of coverage with a high safety anyway, but the Tigers’ effectiveness on the ground lent itself to the Eagles dropping more defenders in the box and leaving their corners on an island with Clemson’s receivers.

Elliott dialed up some deep balls to try to take advantage of those matchups, and Uiagalelei’s receivers didn’t always help him out, particularly late in the fourth quarter when Joseph Ngata dropped a pass inside Boston College’s 5 a few plays before Potter kicked his final field goal to give Clemson the six-point advantage. But Uiagalelei had chances to connect with Ngata and Beaux Collins on a handful before that. He overthrew all of them.

“Playing quarterback, you’ve got to have an intensity to just be able to lock in,” Uiagalelei said. “You can’t worry about anything that’s going on around you. I thought I did a pretty good job (Saturday), but there are a couple of throws, I wish I had those back. One to Joe. A couple to Beaux. It’s all good though. Just need to keep learning.”

Uiagalelei finished 12 of 26 passing for 207 yards but was oh so close to putting more points on the board for the Tigers. Touch and accuracy on the longer passes has been an issue for him all season, and Swinney said the Tigers will have to start hitting on some of those if the offense is going to truly break through.

The Tigers have an extra week to work on it, and getting healthy would help. Clemson enters its open date with receivers Justyn Ross, Frank Ladson Jr., E.J. Williams and Will Taylor banged up to some extent. The same goes for tight ends Davis Allen and Braden Galloway. Swinney said Ross and Galloway both took blows to the head Saturday while Taylor sustained a knee injury, though Swinney didn’t know the severity of it afterward.

Clemson kept itself afloat in the ACC title race with Saturday’s win, but the Tigers will almost certainly need to put more points on the board against the rest of its schedule if it’s going to stay that way. Awaiting Clemson are back-to-back road games starting Oct. 15 at Syracuse, which has scored at least 24 points in four of its five games. The Tigers then head to Pittsburgh, which is scoring more points than anybody in the FBS (52.4 per game).

“We’re just in the process of refining all the details,” Elliott said. “And once we’re able to combine the details with the passion and fight, I think these guys are going to explode.”

Whether the Tigers can put it all together by then remains to be seen, but the offense Clemson trotted onto the field Saturday looked like a unit that’s getting closer to doing just that.

Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!

Pace, Mafah provide necessary jolt in bounceback win

Kobe Pace was supposed to emerge as “the guy” in Clemson’s backfield. Phil Mafah was supposed to redshirt. Sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned, but for Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC), its rushing attack couldn’t have picked a better week to break …

Kobe Pace was supposed to emerge as “the guy” in Clemson’s backfield.

Phil Mafah was supposed to redshirt.

Sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned, but for Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC), its rushing attack couldn’t have picked a better week to break out. And, it did so during Clemson’s 19-13 win over Boston College Saturday night in The Valley.

Despite a rough start to Saturday night’s game, Pace bounced back to record a career-high 125 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

On Clemson’s second offensive possession, Pace burst through an open lane on the right side and hit his head on the goalpost on his 59-yard touchdown run, which was the longest run of his young career and the Tigers’ longest play from scrimmage on the season.

He also added 41 receiving yards on two receptions and 44 return yards on two kickoff returns. Pace’s 210 all-purpose yards represented Clemson’s first 200-yard all-purpose performance since Travis Etienne did so against Boston College in 2020.

“I thought he did a good job,” Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said postgame. “Really proud of him and how he responded because he had the false start penalty (on the first drive) and obviously Coach (Swinney) was coaching him very hard. He comes back and he puts together a really, really good game. Caught the ball on the perimeter well for us. He just looked like the guy that we all saw coming out of spring ball, just looked confident.”

The Tigers have been waiting for that version of Pace to emerge. It took Will Shipley being sidelined with a lower-body injury and Lyn-J Dixon entering the transfer portal, but Pace finally arrived when Clemson needed him the most.

He had a critical false start penalty and was stuffed on Fourth-and-1, but he didn’t allow it to define his night. Pace was screamed at by Swinney on the sideline after his mental mistake, but he didn’t sulk. He put his head down and went to work.

“What you saw, what we all knew was there that we hadn’t seen up until this game, was all those yards after contact,” Elliott added. “He’s a big guy that can put his pads down and he can run through tackles. So, I’m proud of him for that. Hopefully, this is just encouragement to him and some motivation to keep pushing forward. We’re gonna need him to lead us down the stretch until Shipley gets back.”

As for Mafah, the different element he brings to Clemson’s running back room was evident the first time he touched the ball Saturday. Not only is he a bruiser, but he has a very unique skill set for his size.

Clemson didn’t want to play Mafah in more than four games this season, which would have allowed him to redshirt. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Tigers have had to change their approach and it left people wondering why he wasn’t in the mix, to begin with.

“Phil Mafah, hey I’ve been waiting to see him play all year,” Clemson starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei said. “I know they were gonna redshirt him, but we had some injuries. I told Phil this week, man, we go to bible study together, me and Phil. We talked about God’s plan. God has a plan for all of us. He’s got to be able to stay the course of God’s plan. You never know and you have to worry about God’s timing. You always want to be on your time, but there’s only one time, and that is God’s time.

“Tonight, Phil got lucky. Man, God told him he’s gonna be ready to play tonight and gave him time to shine. Phil did just that…I’m so happy for my man Phil, he’s a dawg. Unbelievable for him.”

In Mafah’s collegiate debut, the true freshman running back carried the ball seven times for 58 yards.

Pace and Mafah accounted for 183 of Clemson’s 438 total yards Saturday. Coming into Saturday’s game, the Tigers had averaged 126.2 rushing yards per game, but those stats were heavily influenced by the team’s 46-point win over S.C. State. Clemson’s rushing attack had been virtually non-existent against FBS opponents coming into Saturday’s contest.

If Clemson was going to knock off Boston College, it was going to need its run game to show up. Clemson’s rushing attack did more than just that, aiding the Tigers to their most important win of the season to date.

As the Tigers climb their back into the conversation, they’ll need the 1-2 punch of Pace and Mafah to pick up where they left off Saturday going forward.

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The good, the bad and the ugly from Clemson’s heart-stopping win over Boston College

No. 19 Clemson got just enough offense and another late stand from its defense to pull out another nail-biter over Boston College late Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Tigers’ 19-13 victory. The good …

The good

Where’s that running game been all season?

Outside of an opponent it was able to physically overwhelm (South Carolina State), Clemson hasn’t come close to racking up the kind of yards it did on the ground against the Eagles. The Tigers finished with 231 yards on 40 carries, or 5.8 yards per carry. Only against S.C. State (6.7) has Clemson ripped off more yards per tote this season.

A good chunk of that came on Kobe Pace’s 59-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter, Clemson’s longest play all season. But an offensive line that again had to shuffle things with right guard Will Putnam (toe) out got more consistent push at the point of attack, and the Tigers also got out on the edge some to rip off other runs of at least 10 yards. Freshman Phil Mafah, getting his first snaps of the season, had 58 yards on just seven carries, including 10- and 28-yarders. Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei again got involved in the running game, too, with two of his 12 rushes going for 14 and 15 yards.

Clemson also played its first turnover-free game while the defense had its most opportunistic performance off the season. The Tigers forced three turnovers, nearly matching its season total coming (4), and continued to come up clutch to minimize the Eagles’ damage when they threatened, holding Boston College to 13 points despite five of its possessions reaching Clemson’s 23-yard line or farther. None was more timely than K.J. Henry’s fumble recovery to turn the Eagles away in the red zone in the final minute.

But without B.T. Potter, none of it may have mattered. Clemson’s veteran kicker hadn’t gotten much work this season with the offense struggling the way it has at times, but Potter got four field-goal opportunities from various distances Saturday and connected on all of them to help push the Tigers over the top.

The bad

The reason Clemson had to rely so heavily on Potter for most of its points was because the offense often stalled out after putting together promising drives. Clemson racked up 438 yards of offense and made four trips inside Boston College’s 25, but the scoreboard didn’t necessarily reflect that simply because the Tigers didn’t finish drives in the end zone.

Potter’s field goals came at the end of all four of those possessions, including one where the Tigers got all the way to Boston College’s 2 after marching 94 yards on 10 plays early in the second quarter.

More misses from Uiagalelei in the passing game contributed to that. Clemson’s effectiveness running the ball finally forced Boston College to commit extra defenders to the box and play more man coverage on the back end, giving Clemson more opportunities to strike down the field than it’s had much of the season. But Uiagalelei routinely overthrew his receivers on those deep balls as he continues to search for consistent accuracy and touch in the passing game.

The shot plays are something Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Uiagalelei is going to have to start hitting if the Tigers expect to maximize their offensive potential this season. The sophomore quarterback finished 13 of 28 through the air for 207 yards, his second straight game completing less than half of his passes.

“Just a little off, but it’ll come,” Swinney said. “Same guy who threw for almost 500 (yards) against Notre Dame last year, so it’s in there. Just got to keep rolling.”

The ugly

The injury bug continued to take a massive bite out of the Tigers. Putnam and cornerback Fred Davis, who missed his second straight game with a bum ankle, were ruled out before the game. And once it started, the hits kept coming.

Receiver Justyn Ross left the game in the first half after taking a hit to the head, Swinney said, and didn’t return. Freshman receiver Will Taylor, who doubles as the Tigers’ punt return, was injured early and watched the rest of the game from the sideline with ice on his knee. Fellow receivers Frank Ladson Jr. and E.J. Williams, who had already been dealing with a torn thumb ligament, were also banged up.

So were tight ends Davis Allen and Braden Galloway, forcing seldom-used Sage Ennis and Jaelyn Lae into action at that position. Another cornerback, Mario Goodrich, was also held out because of an unspecified injury he sustained the previous week against North Carolina State.

Swinney didn’t have many updates afterward on the players who were injured during the game, but Clemson’s bye week couldn’t be coming at a better time for an ailing team before the Tigers head to Syracuse on Oct. 15. They were already dealing with the losses of defensive tackles Tyler Davis (bicep surgery) and Bryan Bresee (torn ACL) as well as running back Will Shipley (lower leg), which are longer-term injuries and, in Bresee’s case, season-ending.

“It was crazy,” Swinney said. “Like a M.A.S.H. unit going on. … The biggest thing is just the health of our guys.”

Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!

Clemson outlasts BC in nail-biter

Clemson outlasted Boston College 19-13 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. It wasn’t pretty but behind the boot of B.T. Potter, an efficient ground game and a stellar defensive performance, Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC) was able to eek its way out to a …

Clemson outlasted Boston College 19-13 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

It wasn’t pretty but behind the boot of B.T. Potter, an efficient ground game and a stellar defensive performance, Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC) was able to eek its way out to a much-needed victory in front of its home crowd.

The Tigers never trailed, but Boston College surely had Clemson on its heels for a full 60 minutes on Saturday night in The Valley.

Boston College drove 50 yards down the field with a chance to tie the game and potentially take the lead, but an errant snap went beyond the reach of Eagles quarterback Phil Groseel and was recovered by K.J. Herny, sealing Saturday night’s result.

Clemson’s offense outgained Boston College 438-357. The score would indicate otherwise, but this was the Tigers’ best offensive performance against an FBS opponent this season.

Boston College came out of the locker room at halftime looking like a different team than the one Clemson held to just six points in the first half. The Eagles pinpointed where they needed to attack the Tigers and tied the game just 55 seconds into the second half.

The Eagles did a sufficient job of getting their tight ends the ball on their second-half opening drive. Dennis Grosel connected with his tight ends, Trae Barry and Joey Luchetti on back-to-back plays for gains of 33 yards and 39 yards, respectively.

Boston College drove the ball 75 yards on four plays, capped off by a Pat Gawo III three-yard rushing touchdown.

But that was about all the damage Boston College was able to inflict during the game’s final 30 minutes.

It didn’t come without some opportunities, though.

With just over nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, Will Spiers had his punt blocked. The ball went sideways, and luckily out of bounds, as Boston College took over at Clemson’s 35-yard line. What could have been an abject disaster, ended in a three-and-out, with Clemson’s defense holding tight and drawing a critical false start penalty.

After multiple drives stalled out, R.J. Mickens intercepted an errant Grosel pass with the Eagles pinned deep in their own territory. Clemson was able to take advantage of the short field. However, the Tigers had to overcome multiple mental mistakes to open the door for Potter’s 35-yard field goal, which gave Clemson a 16-13 lead.

That was the momentum shift the Tigers would need. They would never relinquish that lead.

Xavier Thomas sacked Grosel on a crucial third-and-3, marking the end of the fourth quarter. From there, Boston College couldn’t do much of anything. They were able to string together 167 yards of offense in the second half, but Clemson made life for Grosel uncomfortable and did a good job of taking away the ground game.

Garwo had 57 rushing yards on just 12 carries. He came into the game averaging 6.8 yards per carry, but was only able to muster 4.8 yards per touch on Saturday night. However, Boston College netted just 46 rushing yards on 34 attempts.

As for Grosel, he completed 23 of 40 passes for 311 yards with two interceptions. He was sacked four times and hurried another six, but he certainly found the turf more than that.

With Justyn Ross on the sideline in sweats, Clemson’s offense leaned heavily on the run game, as it did for the majority of the first half. The Tigers rushed for 162 net yards on 17 carries in the game’s first 30 minutes. Those rushing numbers were, of course, inflated by Pace’s 59-yard scamper, which gave Clemson an early 7-0 lead.

Behind a new-look offensive line, the Tigers were able to rely heavily on both Pace and Phil Mafah, who made for an electrifying 1-2 punch.

Will Putnam was ruled unavailable pregame. An injury that was suffered during the week enabled the Tigers to insert Marcus Tate at left guard, while shifting Matt Bockhorst to right guard and placing Hunter Rayburn at center.

Between Pace, Mafah and Uiagalelei, the Tigers carried the ball 40 times for 231 yards.

In addition to Ross, Clemson played the majority of Saturday’s game without Will Taylor, Davis Allen and Braden Galloway. Having to dip deep into its depth at the skill player position, Clemson took the football out of Uigalelei’s hands, for the most part. After completing 9-of-15 passes in the first half for 99 yards, Clemson’s starting quarterback went just 4-of-13 with 108 yards, aided by some big completions to Joseph Ngata.

He finished the contest 13 of 28 with 207 yards passing. It was an atypical performance for Uiagalelei this season, but it was enough to deliver Clemson a much-needed win heading into its bye week.

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Pace gives Clemson early lead with Tigers’ longest play of the season

Clemson got on the board first thanks to a long scamper from Kobe Pace. His second career rushing touchdown capped off a five-play, 82-yard drive, which took one minute and 42 seconds. Pace, who was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 on Clemson’s opening …

Clemson got on the board first thanks to a long scamper from Kobe Pace.

His second career rushing touchdown capped off a five-play, 82-yard drive, which took one minute and 42 seconds.

Pace, who was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 on Clemson’s opening drive and called for a false start penalty, redeemed himself with a 59-yard touchdown run to give Clemson the game’s first score.

B.T. Potter drilled the extra point, giving Clemson a 7-point lead.

On the drive, Pace had one carry for 59 yards and one reception for eight yards.

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Will Clemson’s running backs rise to the occasion? Swinney thinks so.

With the exit of veteran Lyn-J Dixon and freshman standout Will Shipley being out for the time being after sustaining a lower leg injury versus NC State, Clemson’s running back room is looking much thinner than it did at the beginning of camp, a …

Despite the lack of experiential depth though, head coach Dabo Swinney is encouraged by the growth he has seen in guys like true freshman Phil Mafah and veterans Michel Dukes, Kobe Pace, and Darien Rencher.

“Mafah can play,” Swinney told the media on Tuesday. “We love Mafah, but there’s only so many touches and it’s kind of where we were. We were going to try and hold him, but we gotta cut him loose and rock and roll. Our number at running backs is five. We always try to have five on scholarship here and we had six to start the season. Now we have four, but we’ve got more than most people. We’ve got four guys, kind of like ET [Etinosa Reuben]. “

Sophomore Kobe Pace was listed as Clemson’s starter for Saturday’s matchup along with Mafah at backup against Boston College. With that, the opportunity arises for younger guys to step up and perform for the Tigers when they need it most, another one of those guys being junior Michel Dukes. A guy Swinney thinks could be huge for this team if he decides to rise to the occasion.

“It’s an opportunity for Mikey Dukes, who’s one of the best athletes on this team, a guy who’s a sophomore, but hasn’t really taken the step yet to where he’s detailed, consistent day-in and day-out, and all the little things,” Swinney said.

“That’s really kinda what’s held him back and that’s why he’s been where he is. Now, athletically, physically, he’s gifted, but maybe this is an opportunity that he’s going to step up and take advantage of cause he’s going to get a chance. We’ll see, obviously Rencher is a steady guy that we can trust and Mafah’s a great young talent. Again, we were hoping that we could create some separation there, but probably won’t be the case.”

Clemson plays host to an undefeated Boston College on Saturday at Memorial Stadium with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.

Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!

Clemson looks to take its most complete effort so far to N.C. State

Clemson has ridden its defense to a near perfect start this season. Now the Tigers will see if they can jumpstart an offense that’s been anything but in arguably the most challenging environment they’ve encountered to this point. The seventh-ranked …

The seventh-ranked Tigers (2-1, 1-0 ACC) head to Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday looking to start their first winning streak in ACC play against North Carolina State. Clemson played away from Memorial Stadium in its opener against Georgia, a seven-point setback in which the Tigers didn’t allow an offensive touchdown but didn’t reach the end zone either.

It’s a microcosm of the Tigers’ season so far, one in which Clemson has yet to allow a touchdown but has also had trouble finding it against FBS opponents. Two of them were enough for the Tigers to squeak past Georgia Tech last week with the help of a late goal-line stand.

This week’s task figures to be even tougher inside a venue that holds more than 60,000 fans. Clemson played in front of more than 70,000 at Bank of America Stadium to begin the season, but given that was a neutral-site game, the crowd was more evenly split between Clemson and Georgia fans.

That won’t be the case Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium, where the Wolfpack have won seven of their last eight home games. They’ve won their first two there this season by a combined score of 90-7, though the competition level (South Florida and Furman) hasn’t been what the Wolfpack will see this week.

“It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be hostile,” Clemson offensive lineman Jordan McFadden said. “But at the end of the day, you’ve got to love it. This is why you play football. To play in big-time games.”

This year’s matchup will renew a series the Tigers had dominated before the coronavirus pandemic forced a pause last season. Clemson has won eight in a row against the Wolfpack and 15 of the teams’ last 16 meetings dating back to 2004, including a 55-10 romp in the most recent one in 2019.

That also came on N.C. State’s home turf, but for Clemson to have any hope of repeating that kind of performance, the Tigers will need more out of an offense that’s looked nothing like the explosive units of years past. The Tigers are mustering the fewest yards per play in the ACC (4.82) and have yet to eclipse 14 points against a team other than South Carolina State.

Tech had some success dropping most of its defenders into coverage against the Tigers, who were caught off guard by the tactic. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said Clemson’s offense will be better prepared to deal with what they believe will be more of the same from N.C. State and other defenses after the Yellow Jackets held Clemson to 284 yards and two scores, though it’s not like the Tigers didn’t have opportunities for more.

Clemson got into Tech territory on five of its nine possessions last week with four of those reaching at least the Yellow Jackets’ 19-yard line. Clemson turned the ball over on downs on one of them and fumbled to end another scoring threat in the fourth quarter.

If N.C. State decides to defend Clemson the same way, the Tigers’ game plan could lean heavily on the running game from the start after Clemson got it going more in the second half last week (season-high 41 rush attempts). It could involve Kobe Pace, quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and freshman Will Shipley, who’s in line for his first career start following Lyn-J Dixon’s decision to transfer.

The Tigers feel like they’re not all that far off from being more productive where it matters, though the Wolfpack don’t figure to make things easy with a defense that’s allowing just 2.7 yards per carry and has yet to yield a rushing touchdown.

“I think we’re moving the ball pretty well,” McFadden said. “We just get to the 30(-yard line) or 40 and we stall out. Instead of stalling out, we need points.”

Defensively, Clemson will put the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense up against an N.C. State offense that’s had its share of success early on. Quarterback Devin Leary is seventh in the ACC in total offense while running backs Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person Jr. are each averaging more than 5 yards per carry, though most of that production has come against South Florida and Furman, an FCS team. N.C. State (2-1, 0-0) struggled in its lone Power Five matchup so far, committing three turnovers in a 24-10 loss at Mississippi State.

Even without linebacker Payton Wilson and safety Cyrus Fagan, who are out with season-ending injuries, the Wolfpack have plenty of seasoning on both sides of the ball. They began the year with 20 starters back from last season, which brings plenty of comfort for N.C. State with what it’s doing on both sides of the ball.

“This has got to be one of the most experienced teams in the country for sure,” Swinney said.

The Tigers know they will need their most complete effort of the season in order to get out of North Carolina a winner.

“We’ve got to play well in all three phases,” Swinney said. “If we do that, we’ll have a chance to win the game. If we don’t, it’s going to be a long day.”

Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!