Closer Look: Clemson-Wake Forest grades and notes |
We are a third of the way through the regular season, and identities and trends are being formed in all phases of the game for Clemson.
The Tigers' heart-stopping double OT win at Wake Forest Saturday had its fair share of highs and lows for the Tigers, but they ultimately advanced to 4-0 going into another mega-matchup at home with NC State this Saturday (7:30 p.m./ABC). We take a closer look at the game with the aid of Pro Football Focus: Offensive MVP QB DJ Uiagalelei - The offensive MVP is Uiagalelei, who completed 26-of-41 passes for a season-high 371 passing yards with a career-high five passing touchdowns, leading his team to a 51-45 double-overtime victory. Uiagalelei also added 52 rushing yards on 14 carries. According to PFF, Uiagalelei graded out the highest (78.0) of any Clemson offensive player. For the season, Uiagalelei is also the highest-graded Tiger offensive player (87.3). It’s interesting to note that Uiagalelei threw nine touchdown passes in 13 games last season, with ten interceptions. He has thrown 10 touchdowns this season (in just four games), against just one interception (and that was on a tipped ball). Offense
Uncommon effort. What a play, @DJUiagalelei pic.twitter.com/mrzN1wfHjS
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) September 24, 2022
I have a feeling that you are going to LOVE this.
— Morgan Thomas (@TheMorganTShow) September 25, 2022
DJ Uiagalelei Passing Chart.
Clemson vs Wake Forest. Game 4
43 passes because I included the 2pt conversions. pic.twitter.com/dGEbIXlw5d
More notables
TE Davis Allen
Allen graded out third (72.1) on the offense but had four catches for 36 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores came on plays in which he had to work to get open and help out his quarterback. His catch in the endzone – when he went high to snag the pass and landed on his back – was a thing of beauty.
Late in the first half, it looked like Collins might have aggravated the shoulder that caused him to miss two weeks of fall camp, but Collins stayed warm on the exercise bike and came back to register the second-highest grade (73.1) of any offensive player. Collins had four catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
The youngster continues to grade out among the highest freshman wide receivers in the country, and he had three receptions for 51 yards in the win over the Demon Deacons. Williams started the game, the first of his career, and had a big kickoff return late in the game that helped set up a Clemson score.
Unit grade notes: Clemson totaled 90 snaps against the Demon Deacons, and six players were in the game for all 90 – Uiagalelei and the five offensive linemen. None of five those five drew particularly high grades, but Marcus Tate (61.6) led the way in both run blocking and pass protection. Tate, who struggled last season, also has the highest season grade of the starters (84.5) in pass protection. The Clemson receiver pass routes graded their best yet in a game per PFF (69.9).
Defense
Defensive MVP
DT Tyler Davis - Davis made a big impact in the latter stages of the game and graded out at 85.5 for his 45 snaps according to PFF. His top grade was a defense-leading 84.7 mark in rush defense but he also led the group in sacks (2) and ranked second in tackles (4).
More notables
DE Myles Murphy
Murphy led PFF’s grading defensively (90.2) with by-far the best mark as a pass rusher (93.4). He posted four QB hurries and a batted pass in alternating between 35 snaps lined up on and outside an offensive tackle and 14 snaps lined up as a defensive tackle (most of the season). He had three QB hurries and a sack going into the game.
DT Bryan Bresee
Bresee is notable for on-field excellenge but also his coming back to play after the recent death of his 15-year-old sister Ella due to brain cancer. Bryan missed last week’s game but still played the most snaps of any interior defender (51) and logged the most tackles on the team (5), most QB hits (2), three QB hurries and a key batted pass late.
Clemson’s cornerbacks
Obviously, it was not a good performance anywhere on the corners in a secondary unit that was very much impacted by injury. No cornerback graded above 50% in coverage with freshman Toriano Pride the best of the worst (46.2) and Fred Davis at the bottom (33.2). Four cornerbacks were targeted for a TD pass each, with LB Trenton Simpson and safety Jalyn Phillips tagged for the other two. Davis was targeted five times and gave up four receptions for 106 yards. Nate Wiggins also had four penalties called on him and surrendered 17 yards per reception in seven targets his way. He had the lone breakup credited in Sam Hartman’s 29 pass attempts.
Unit grade (+ special teams) notes: Clemson ranks 28th in defensive grade through four games according to PFF and 70th in coverage grade (72.5). On the plus side, they are third nationally in special teams (91.2). Game-by-game, Clemson performed its best against the run (88.2) and in pass rush (90.2) by a wide margin against Wake, but the coverage grade (39.2) makes it the worst defensive effort overall yet.
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