Clemson wins but still looks beneath Alabama-Georgia tier

The good of Clemson’s Monday: Its electric defense met expectations. Trenton Simpson is a super athlete at linebacker, reminding some of past standout Isaiah Simmons. The defensive line, stacked with future pros such as Myles Murphy (Hillgrove High), K.J. Henry and Bryan Bresee, kept Tech quarterback Jeff Sims often under duress. He averaged 6.5 yards per completion in the first half, where Clemson built a 14-3 lead.

Sims went deep on the first play of the night, and Andrew Mukuba intercepted the pass. Tech didn’t test Clemson much afterward, focusing on a shorter passing game intended to prevent the defensive front from finding a rhythm. But Clemson’s team speed and tackling prevented the Yellow Jackets from bursting any big plays.

Tech’s run game, now without Jahmyr Gibbs, had 14 rushes for 19 yards during an abysmal first half. The Jackets finished with 75 yards on 30 attempts. Sims threw for 163 yards on 23-of-36 passing. Tech simply couldn’t compete with the Tigers’ defensive talent.

As for the bad: Clemson’s offense, the biggest issue with their team a year ago, didn’t impress for most of the evening. Swinney described it as, “not mid-season form.” It starts with the quarterback, whose maddening inconsistency remained from a season ago.

DJ Uiagalelei went from a rising star to arguably college football’s greatest disappointment in 2021. After Uiagalelei showed promise in relief of Trevor Lawrence in 2020, his first season as a starter was disastrous.

This season, Clemson has insurance in heralded freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik. There’s been early outside thought that Uiagalelei could be the Kelly Bryant to Klubnik’s Lawrence. The Tigers famously benched Bryant during the 2018 season for a freshman Lawrence, who guided them to the title. Swinney has remained committed to Uiagalelei as his starter while assuring that Klubnik will get snaps in appropriate situations.

The incumbent quarterback was shaky Monday. Uiagalelei’s offense went three-and-out on the first possession. He lost a fumble in the red zone on the second. He had two memorable completions in the first half, both to Beaux Collins. One was against busted coverage during the team’s second touchdown drive, which concluded when Collins snagged a pass near the corner of the end zone. But Uiagalelei mostly struggled to move the ball.

Even as Clemson’s offense remained steadily inconsistent, Swinney stood by Uiagalelei. The quarterback rarely looked comfortable in the first half - think about a pitcher who lacks confidence in his stuff – but to Uiagalelei’s credit, his accuracy improved in the last two quarters. He also made plays out of the pocket and got the ball to his playmakers in space.

Uiagalelei led a nine-play, 76-yard touchdown drive capped by his own rushing score late in the third quarter to build a 24-10 lead. Perhaps his best play of the game came on that drive when he evaded a sack and flipped underhanded to Shipley to convert a third down.

“I tried to get out of the pocket, kind of got stopped, tried to buy time to get the ball away,” Uiagalelei said. “I was going to the ground, looked to my left and saw Shipley standing there and flipped it to him. He did the rest.”

The Tigers’ defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession. Uiagalelei led Clemson on consecutive scoring drives that iced the game with a 34-10 lead with 6:27 remaining. He finished 19-of-32 passing for 210 yards and two total touchdowns.

“DJ had to fight through some adversity, just really show some grit and moxie,” Swinney said. “He made some big plays, some with his feet, extended plays. He made some beautiful throws. I thought our guys made some plays. … We missed a few, but we made some big plays we didn’t make last year to support him.”

Uiagalelei, on his second half: “I felt confident out there. The game kind of slowed down. ... When it slows down, it’s real fun. It makes the game a lot easier.”

Swinney turned to Klubnik with five minutes remaining, and he went 4-for-6 passing for 49 yards and led a touchdown drive during his first taste of college football. He made a nice tight-window throw to Drew Swinney in the red zone before finding Will Taylor for a touchdown. Swinney praised Klubnik’s poise, accuracy and decision making. Uiagalelei, a supportive teammate, said Klubnik “is a good player. He’s going to be a baller.”

So began what Clemson believes will be a rebound season. The 2021 results were unacceptable for its standard. Aside from the three losses, the Tigers had one-score victories over Tech, Boston College, Syracuse, Louisville and Iowa State. The latter victory came in the Cheez-It Bowl, an event Clemson probably didn’t know existed before December.

Those results largely fell on an impotent offense. For much of Monday, that same offense reared its ugly head. Clemson didn’t look like a playoff team, certainly in comparison with Alabama and Georgia, who dominated their opening games with similarly physical defense but also explosive, versatile offense.

Still, Clemson, which returned 15 of 22 starters from last season, showed most of the necessary elements. The defense should rank among the nation’s best. It held Tech to 2-for-16 on third downs and only 238 total yards. It produced two fumbles (neither recovered) and an interception (it could’ve had at least three picks). Clemson blocked two punts that led to 14 points.

The Tigers are steady quarterbacking away from possibly reentering the conversation with the top two – the defense looks that menacing – but Uiagalelei didn’t cement himself as the solution. The door to Klubnik is cracked, even if Swinney wouldn’t open it Monday until the game was out of reach. Swinney nonetheless felt the team showed a better aerial attack.

“Y’all (the media) wrote about how terrible we were as a passing offense, and rightfully so,” Swinney said. “We were godawful. We needed to get better, and I thought we got better. We were 60% completion. We were 7-for-15 on third down, made some big plays, and we left some stuff out there.”

If Clemson has any hope of winning the championship this season, or even earning its seventh College Football Playoff berth, it must be even better. It needs stability at quarterback however it can get it. If Uiagalelei doesn’t replicate his late improvement, eventually Klubnik might get his audition.