Notable PFF grades and playing time breakdown: Clemson-Georgia |
Taking a deeper look at who played and what kind of performance they put on the board out of the 34-3 loss to No. 1 Georgia.
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. A full list of snaps by game is attached below. (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 57 snaps, Christopher Vizzina NS, Trent Pearman NS, Paul Tyson NS. PFF grade notes: QB grades on PFF, in particular, can tend to be reevaluated after the initial analysis, but as of Monday morning, Klubnik was rendered a 61.6 total grade and 62.8 as a passer. For reference, he averaged a 64.4 grade in his first year as a starter in 2023 (63.9 as a passer). The initial grade ranks ninth-best of his all-time starts. His 3% big-time throw rate is slightly above his career average (2.4), and his turnover-worthy play rate (2.9) is below his career average (3.5), with just one of those in 30 dropbacks Saturday. He was deemed as under pressure on 33.3% of his dropbacks with a 44.4% completion rate (4-9). He graded best when blitzed (65). With some coming with the game out of reach late, Klubnik finished with five passes of 20+ yards, completing one for 36 yards to Antonio Williams (Clemson’s biggest play of the game and the only one of over 20 yards; Georgia had eight plays of 20+ yards.). He suffered two drops in the short passing game (0-9 yards). RB: Phil Mafah 50, Keith Adams Jr. 3, Jay Haynes 2, Jarvis Green NS (not on travel roster), David Eziomume NS. PFF grade notes: Mafah’s run-game grade (71.4) came in well below his season averages from 2023 (87.4) and 2022 (83.9). He averaged just 2.3 yards per attempt after contact, compared to a 3.67 average last year. Obviously the opponent is under consideration, but he had no rushes of 10+ yards, after averaging one every eight carries last season. WR: Antonio Williams 45, Tyler Brown 26, Cole Turner 29, Troy Stellato 19, Adam Randall 15, Bryant Wesco 12, T.J. Moore 6, Ronan Hanafin ST, Hampton Earle ST, Noble Johnson NS, Misun Kelley NS. PFF grade notes: Williams led all offensive grades (70.3) with six catches in seven targets for 76 yards with no drops. The highly-touted freshmen Wesco and Moore each caught a pass in one target each over 18 combined snaps. Backing up what you watched, Randall (55.2) and Turner (53.9) were at the bottom of the grades, with one catch for one yard in five targets combined. TE: Jake Briningstool 48, Olsen Patt-Henry 15, Josh Sapp 10, Markus Dixon ST, Christian Bentancur NS. PFF grade notes: Briningstool had probably the best catch of the day, with one arm on a scramble drill play, but PFF continues to grade him harshly on the blocking end (36.7 in the run) and therefore had him at the bottom of the offensive grades (53). He also had a drop on Clemson’s first offensive drive. OL: Ryan Linthicum 57, Blake Miller 57, Tristan Leigh 57, Walker Parks 53, Collin Sadler 36, Marcus Tate* 25, Dietrick Pennington ST, Harris Sewell NS, Trent Howard NS (not on travel roster), Elyjah Thurmon NS, Mason Wade NS, Ronan O'Connell NS. PFF grade notes: Parks led the OL (67) with consistent grades in run (67.2) and pass blocking (65.6). Pitching in for the injured Tate early in the second half, Sadler graded the lowest on the line (58.3), getting knocked most in the running game (55.1). PFF unit performance grades: Offense - 63; Passing - 62.8; Pass blocking - 66.2; Receiving - 58.1; Running - 68.2; Run blocking - 58.6. DL: T.J. Parker 48, Peter Woods 43, Payton Page 41, DeMonte Capehart 32, Tré Williams 26, Stephiylan Green 17, Cade Denhoff 15, Jahiem Lawson 12, A.J. Hoffler 5, Vic Burley 4, Caden Story NS, Zaire Patterson NS (not on travel roster), Darien Mayo NS, Hevin Brown-Shuler NS, Champ Thompson NS. PFF grade notes: Woods tied with Mickens for the top defensive PFF grade overall (72.6), but finding his way in a more hybrid role, he did suffer his second-worst PFF pass-rush grade (59), well below his season average last year (75.9). It was also a quieter day for Parker (66.2 grade), who closed last season with an 80.7 grade in the Gator Bowl. They likely won’t face a better offensive line this season, however, so it's probably only going up from here. LB: Barrett Carter 61, Wade Woodaz 60, Kobe McCloud 2, Dee Crayton ST, Jamal Anderson ST, Sammy Brown ST, CJ Kubah-Taylor NS. PFF grade notes: It was another lackluster season opener for Carter, who graded at 25.2 on tackling with a 50% missed tackle rate. He was evaluated in the middle of the pack overall defensively (62.1), with Woodaz leading the unit (64.9) and McCloud heavily knocked for his role in a big Georgia play in the second half (defense-low 29.5 grade). DB: Jeadyn Lukus 62, R.J. Mickens 61, Khalil Barnes 61, Avieon Terrell 60, Kylon Griffin 51, Tyler Venables 10, Ashton Hampton 2, Sherrod Covil ST, Branden Strozier ST, Rob Billings ST, Corian Gipson ST, Kylen Webb NS, Shelton Lewis* NS, Tavoy Feagin NS, Ricardo Jones NS, Joe Wilkinson NS. PFF grade notes: In that co-leading best D grade, Mickens was targeted four times with two catches for 10 yards total. He had three stops in his five tackles (deemed as a play that’s failed for the offense). With some injury doubts pregame, Lukus played every snap and got in on six tackles, but the Bulldogs finished with a 135.9 QB rating versus him with seven catches in eight targets for 57 yards and a TD. Terrell was targeted ten times with six catches for 81 yards (52 after catch). PFF unit performance grades: Defense - 66.4; Run defense - 59.8; Tackling - 65.4; Pass rush - 57.4; Coverage - 72.4. Players noted as out for the season preseason: OL Ian Reed, DB Myles Oliver, OL Watson Young. ST - Special teams-only NS - No snaps listed * Been noted as injured by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.Clemson-Georgia breakdown
Offense
Defense
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