In their home finale this season, the Clemson Tigers showed why they’ve been known as ‘Cardiac Clemson’ for so long.
The difference on Saturday was in the game’s defining moment, they did not choke. The Tigers came away with the 31-28 win against Wake Forest.
Long the bane of Clemson’s existence, the kicking game won where they had failed so many times before as Chandler Catanzaro nailed a 43-yarder to seal the Tigers’ a berth in the ACC Championship as the Atlantic Division Champions.
After pulling a 30-yard field goal wide right, Catanzaro looked perfect and turned to celebrate as soon as the ball took to the air. Catanzaro, in many ways most well known for his miss in overtime last year at Auburn, has been solid in lower-pressure situations this season, hitting 15-of-20 overall.
The game itself however was fraught with one mistake after another as quarterback Tajh Boyd looked lost and bewildered at times, throwing two interceptions. Not to mention the other six passes Wake Forest defenders dropped throughout the game, some being tipped and then dropped by two players.
Adding insult to injury were the losses of both freshman “Superman”
wide receiver Sammy Watkins and left tackle Philip Price. Both injuries are significant, obviously, but it appears Watkins is less serious where as Price’s (sprained MCL) could mean missed playing time. Price has been the one standard constant this year along the line, while his backups, David Smith and Brandon Thomas have been up and down throughout the year.
Although running back Andre Ellington racked up almost 100 yards on the ground for the Tigers, the offensive line was manhandled all afternoon against an undersized Wake Forest defensive line. The lack of push up front, especially at the much maligned guards positions, rarely opened a hole for any of the running backs and in most cases Ellington took initial contact behind the line of scrimmage.
It wasn’t any better on the defensive side of the ball as again missed tackles turned five-yard screens into 25 yards gains for the Demon Deacons. The tackling—that defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has said will be fixed time and time again—was again a major issue amongst the linebackers and secondary. Steele said after the game big plays were not the issue but it could also be argued that the Deacons never attempted a deep pass the entire game.
Even with all that was on the line for the Tigers, it took until the fourth quarter these issues under control enough to let the offense go to work. Boyd settled down and sure-handed targets wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and tight end Dwayne Allen came up big with key receptions to put the Tigers in position to win.
In the end, the Tigers second division title in three years is a sign of the things to come. The recruiting and development of enough players is clearly starting to pay off for Clemson and a victory on December 3 in Charlotte would put the Tigers in their first BCS game.
First however come the tasks of getting to 10 wins, something the Tigers haven’t achieved since 1990. With a win there the Tigers would leave the dreaded list of FBS teams that fall into an infamous group.
Only fourteen teams (Army, Baylor, Clemson, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Iowa State, Kent State, Kentucky, Ohio, Purdue, South Carolina, Temple, Vanderbilt) have failed to achieve a 10-win season, a conference championship, nor a BCS-bowl appearance.
Hard to believe that these nine-win Tigers, even with all of their flaws on the offensive line and on defense, wouldn’t be able to win one of their next three games and get off this list. Make no mistake, this coaching staff wants nothing more than to win all three and you can be sure this week will be spent working towards the first step against North Carolina State.
