Notable PFF grades for Cade Klubnik, Tigers out of Louisville loss |
Taking a deeper look at who played and what kind of performance they put on the board out of the 33-21 loss to Louisville.
The number by a player's name initially is the game's snap count. The snaps are all offensive and defensive snaps and do not count special teams. Snap totals for scholarship players and depth chart members are listed in the feature. (PFF grades tend to run lower than school grades, so high 80 grades are on the high end, and it's a harsher grade below 60 or so. They are not an end-all, be-all, but one tool to evaluate the game.) QB: Cade Klubnik 104 snaps (538 on the season), Christopher Vizzina NS (57), Trent Pearman NS (14), Paul Tyson NS (4). PFF grade notes: Klubnik’s overall PFF grade was his fifth-best on the season (71.2), but specifically as a passer, it was his third-lowest mark (68). With the Cardinals mainly sitting back and playing two safeties high, he was only blitzed on 16.1% of his season-high 62 dropbacks, and he actually graded better under pressure (33.9% of dropbacks; 80.8 grade) than when he was kept clean (66.1% of dropbacks; 57.9 grade). His stat line mirrored his first-ever start against Tennessee in the 2022 season’s Orange Bowl (65 dropbacks/55 passes/1 big-time throw), with his second-most career dropbacks and a lone big-time throw. Klubnik also suffered the most drops since the Georgia opener (three each) and tied a season-high for sacks (3). He had a season-low 4.1 yards per pass attempt. On plays PFF tagged as play action, he graded 40.6 in 13 dropbacks. All four of his passes of 20+ yards went incomplete, and the throws of at least 10 yards had a 26.3% completion rate. RB: Phil Mafah 98 (419), Jay Haynes 2 (96), Keith Adams Jr. NS (59), Jarvis Green ST (9), David Eziomume NS (16). PFF grade notes: Mafah paced Clemson’s offensive grades (75.6) with 102 yards after contact and a season-best seven runs of 10+ yards. His 30 carries were the most since last November's Notre Dame game (35). He also had a career-high five catches, but just for 28 yards. WR: Antonio Williams 88 (373), Bryant Wesco 63 (192), T.J. Moore 59 (279), Adam Randall 41 (180), Troy Stellato 30 (257), Cole Turner 15 (176), Noble Johnson ST (38), Hampton Earle ST (28), Tyler Brown* NS (70), Misun Kelley NS (56). PFF grade notes: The freshmen Wesco (12) and Moore (8) were targeted the most and topped the WR grades (71 for Moore; 70.3 for Wesco). Randall (58.7), Williams (55.9), Stellato (53) and Turner (52.5) all had sub-60 grades overall and in the passing game. TE: Jake Briningstool 81 (418), Olsen Patt-Henry 27 (162), Josh Sapp 4 (80), Markus Dixon ST (26), Christian Bentancur NS (8; one game). PFF grade notes: It was a forgettable night for Briningstool, who suffered an offense-low 43.5 grade with three catches and one drop in seven targets for 22 yards. He has now had two grades north of 85 and four at 55.8 or lower this season. OL: Ryan Linthicum 104 (562), Blake Miller 104 (542), Tristan Leigh 104 (538), Marcus Tate 104 (466), Harris Sewell 59 (247), Walker Parks 55 (379), Elyjah Thurmon ST (71; over redshirt limit), Trent Howard ST (50), Collin Sadler* NS (95), Mason Wade NS (29; two games), Chapman Pendergrass NS (17), Ronan O'Connell NS (7; one game). PFF grade notes: Parks suffered an OL starter-low 54.3 grade, which was heavily knocked in pass protection (32.5 grade). He platooned with Sewell, who didn’t grade much better overall (53.5). PFF unit performance grades: Offense - 66.4; Passing - 68; Pass blocking - 66.7; Receiving - 56.9; Running - 78.7; Run blocking - 60.2. DL: Payton Page 50 (298), T.J. Parker 46 (300), Cade Denhoff 26 (169), DeMonte Capehart* 25 (198), Tré Williams* 22 (204), Stephiylan Green 21 (174), A.J. Hoffler 19 (145), Jahiem Lawson 17 (193), Peter Woods* 15 (154), Armon Mason 6 (64), Caden Story NS (48), Zaire Patterson NS (16), Champ Thompson NS (20; two games), Vic Burley NS (74), Darien Mayo NS (21), Hevin Brown-Shuler NS (27; two games). PFF grade notes: Down Woods for most of the game, it wasn’t a high-impact day for the D-line, but Page did grade well (76.7) with four QB hurries. Among those affected by the Louisville cut blocks, Capehart (57.5) and Williams (50.2) were on the lower end of grades here. Parker registered his second-most pressures this season (4) but was shut out on a sack for only the second time in the last six games. LB: Wade Woodaz 61 (418), Barrett Carter 61 (417), Sammy Brown 12 (144), Dee Crayton ST (74), Jamal Anderson NS (37), Drew Woodaz NS (7; one game), C.J. Kubah-Taylor NS (1; one game). PFF grade notes: Woodaz paced the Tigers’ grades on the game (79), with an 85.1 mark against the run and 71.4 in coverage with five stops and only 17 receiving yards allowed in four targets his way. Brown was second-best among LBs (74.2). Carter posted his lowest grade of the season (52.9) with a 41.2 in run defense and 60.2 in coverage, limited to one tackle and a catch for 31 yards marked against him. DB: Avieon Terrell 61 (428), Khalil Barnes 61 (400), Jeadyn Lukus 61 (391), R.J. Mickens 61 (399), Kylon Griffin 39 (217), Shelton Lewis* 10 (175), Ashton Hampton ST (133), Tyler Venables ST (113), Ricardo Jones ST (72), Ronan Hanafin ST (66), Sherrod Covil ST (108), Kylen Webb ST (15), Rob Billings ST (15), Branden Strozier NS (59), Noah Dixon NS (6; one game), Joe Wilkinson NS (3; one game), Tavoy Feagin NS (9; one game), Corian Gipson NS (6; two games). PFF grade notes: Terrell (58.8) and Barnes (54) join Williams and Carter for four Clemson starters who graded sub-60 on the night, with both credited with missed tackles (two for Barnes). Terrell wasn’t burned, though, with just two catches in six targets for 14 yards. Lukus led the secondary grades (73.1) with a 75.5 mark in coverage, tallying a pass breakup and 6.4 yards per catch given up in seven targets. PFF unit performance grades: Defense - 70.3; Run defense - 72.8; Tackling - 68.2; Pass rush - 61.3; Coverage - 70.8. Players noted as out for the season preseason: OL Ian Reed, DB Myles Oliver, OL Watson Young, LB Kobe McCloud, OL Dietrick Pennington. ST - Special teams-only NS - No snaps listed * Been noted as injured by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. Grades and snaps from Clemson-Georgia Grades and snaps from Clemson-App State Grades and snaps from Clemson-NC State Grades and snaps from Clemson-Stanford Grades and snaps from Clemson-Florida StateClemson-Louisville breakdown
Offense
Defense
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