Halftime Analysis: Tigers lead after electric, chippy first half

Clemson's defense has played well at times.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Sat Oct 01 21:28:52 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – It's electric. It's chippy. It has big plays and too many commercials. It has bad calls and breathtaking plays. The first half had it all.

Fifth-ranked Clemson and No. 10 NC State lived up to all of the hype in the first half, but Clemson had a 13-10 edge at intermission.

Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei completed 12-of-17 passes for 120 yards and carried the ball seven times for 24 yards and the Tigers' only touchdown.

NC State's offense ran 27 plays for 123 total yards.

PLAYERS OF THE HALF: BT Potter scored seven of Clemson’s 13 points on first-half points on field goals of 20 and 26 yards and an extra point with 31 seconds remaining in the game.

Will Shipley continues to make this offense go. Shipley carried the ball eight times for 42 yards and added two catches for 27 yards, including a 26-yard catch and run that setup Clemson’s only touchdown of the first half.

STAT OF THE HALF: With 5:47 to play, NC State had run just 17 plays. 14 of those plays came on the Wolfpack’s opening drive.

WHAT’S WORKING FOR THE TIGERS: NC State plays its patented 3-3-5 defense and the middle of the field has been there for Clemson’s offense. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has found tight end Jake Briningstool a time or two across the middle, but the offense needs to keep going there to loosen the defense up.

*Attitude and effort – Things didn’t go Clemson’s way for much of the first half, especially with the official (Dabo Swinney let them know exactly where he stood on the matter for several minutes), but this team never got down. The defense gave up a touchdown and the offense with less than two minutes to play drove right down the field to answer.

WHAT’S NOT WORKING FOR THE TIGERS:

*Big plays – Once again, the Clemson defense was subject to giving up the big plays. The Tigers’ defense gave up five plays of 10-yards or more. On NC State’s opening drive, quarterback Devin Leary found Devin Carter for a 32-yard gain to set up a Wolfpack field goal.

*Penalties – Clemson’s offense was flagged for critical procedural penalties in the second quarter that consistently put them behind the chains. The Tigers were only flagged for two false start penalties, but once was deep in their own territory. The other was when Clemson was driving in the second quarter and it put the offense further behind the chains. Clemson’s defense was also flagged for two questionable penalties – targeting and pass interference.

WHAT THE TIGERS NEED TO DO WIN: The Tigers have to clean up the penalties and mistakes that are killing the drives. Someone has to step up and make a play, whether it's Uiagalelei or a wide receiver or a running back. It looks like plays are there, but the Tigers are missing what head coach Dabo Swinney calls the "layups" with overthrown receivers or penalties at critical times. The defense has played well, but has to keep the pressure on NC State QB Devin Leary.